Tuckers girls volleyball moves into county finals

Just after Riley Richert slammed over Stella Tatarka’s perfect set-up over the net with her left hand, she waited for the return.

It never happened.

“I didn’t even know that it hit the ground,” the Mattituck sophomore said. “I just thought they got it right back up. The ref blew the whistle, and everyone just started cheering.”

Then, her teammates mobbed Richert to celebrate winning the volleyball match. The third-seeded Tuckers had swept host and No. 2 seed Southampton (9-5) in three sets to win the Suffolk County Class B semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 30.

“High, low,” Richert said when asked about her emotions. “I think everywhere. I can’t even explain. I feel like we have worked so hard for this, we don’t even know what to do with ourselves now.”

They will know what to do Friday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. That’s when the Tuckers (10-5) will meet Bayport-Blue Point for the county crown at Newfield High School. They lost twice to the Phantoms this season by 3-0 results.

But this past Thursday, the Tuckers were ecstatic, securing a special victory, 25-18, 25-21, and 25-23.

“I can’t even express [myself],” said Tatarka, who contributed 21 assists. “I’m shaking. I’m so excited. I knew we had it all day. We pumped up our team so hard, we wanted to win so bad. We played our best game so far.”

Tatarka said it was “everything, because my first year on varsity last year, we made it to the playoffs, but we lost the first round, and it was heartbreaking. As this is my last year, this could be the end. Every game means so much to me.”

She wasn’t alone.

“We worked so hard for this,” said sophomore libero Lizzie Fohrkolb, who finished with eight digs and 17 serve receptions. “I really try to play my best for my seniors, because this is the year that we brought it back from last year. We came back way harder.”

Added senior outside hitter Grace Quinn: “I’m beyond excited. I’m so proud of everyone. I’m so excited to go as far as we can this season.”

Ditto for head coach Kelly Pickering.

“It’s an amazing thing,” she said. “The girls worked really hard for this. I’m really proud of them.”

The teams entered the contest evenly matched, with each team winning at each other’s school by a score of 3-1 during the regular season. Home court advantage was thrown out the window.

“We played a cleaner game tonight than we have all season,” said Pickering, adding Mattituck had 29 service errors in the first match. “Back and forth in match two. We just played real clean today.”

The Tuckers claimed that the key to victory was high energy and communication.

“We all covered the ball really well,” said Quinn, who collected nine kills, 10 digs and two aces. “We moved our feet really well, and our energy is the best I’ve ever seen.”

Mattituck was able to break the Mariners’ first serve 26 times during the match, 10 in the first set, 11 in the second and five in the third.

“It’s just the little wins through every point,” Tatarka said. “Just keeps our momentum going. So, breaking a serve every time keeps us going. Every point means everything.”

Quinn added, “It gives us a lot of momentum, because once you break a serve you want … What we don’t want them to do is to keep serving so our defense has to struggle or have to fight harder.”

In the first two sets, the Tuckers bolted to early leads. They rolled to a 16-7 advantage in the first and a 7-2 margin in the second. They were forced to rally from an 18-16 deficit in the third set. The visitors took the lead for good as senior middle Claire McKenzie (five kills, three aces, two blocks) recorded four points on her service to grab a 21-18 lead they never relinquished.

“We played all around really well,” Pickering said. “We didn’t let them get runs on us the way we have in the past. When we made mistakes, we just picked each other up. We’ve reached the point in the season, and it’s showing where they’re playing together as a team, supporting each other.”

Richert, who plays as an opposite side hitter, added five kills and four aces. Senior Kate Nemschick, co-captain along with Quinn, McKenzie and Tatarka, had one ace and eight digs.