For all the success that the Glenn girls volleyball team encountered last season, a strange feeling gnawed at them entering this fall.
Despite finishing the spring 2021 campaign undefeated, the lack of opportunity to compete in the Long Island championship and potentially the state tournament, which were both canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, left the defending county champion yearning for that opportunity this time around.
In fact, the players expressed that sentiment throughout the season by wearing warmup shirts that read “Unfinished Business.”
On Friday night at Hauppauge, Glenn ensured that it would receive the long-awaited chance to finish it.
Shannon McGrath notched 23 digs, 16 kills and six assists, and Shayna Purow added 39 assists, 12 digs and four kills as No. 1 Glenn knocked off No. 2 Bayport-Blue Point in a rematch of the Suffolk Class B final, 25-22, 27-25, 25-13.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Purow said. “We’ve been working all year for this. We knew the second we left the floor after the county championship in March that we could do that again with this team. We’re happy, we love playing volleyball together and I love my team. We’re very excited to move onto the LIC.”
After finishing undefeated in Suffolk play for the second consecutive season, Glenn (11-0) advances to the Long Island Class B championship at LIU Post at 2 p.m. on Nov. 13.
“We worked really hard and it’s definitely really rewarding,” McGrath said. “Especially considering our entire starting lineup was seniors and this was our last county championship together.”
After picking up two of the final three points to win the opening set, Glenn rallied with three straight points in the second to overcome a 25-24 deficit and put the Phantoms (8-6) in a 2-0 hole. They then built a double-digit lead early in the third en route to another championship plaque.
Isabella Ross, who recorded 10 kills and one block, said last season’s success has certainly had a carry-over effect and has contributed to Glenn extending its current winning streak to 28 games.
“Taking the momentum from last season was a real eye-opener,” Ross said. “We realized that we can do this. Taking that knowledge and feeling and carrying it through our games step by step has helped us get here.”
But now it’s all about completing the message on the warmups.
“Last season was great because we went undefeated, but we didn’t get to go all the way,” Glenn coach Nick Tremaroli said. ” ‘Unfinished Business’ is our motto this year and that’s what we want to do. We have business that we want to get to and we want to get to states, so this is the year we kind of want to take that and push forward.”
