Home cooking for South Side

After surviving a tough road stretch while the school’s new gym floor was being installed, the South Side girls’ volleyball team can now nestle into the new digs and resume their chase for another county title.

The Lady Cyclones were forced to play their first six games away from home while the repairs were being finalized and they fared well by going 4-2, which included four straight wins after a season-opening loss at Mineola. The girls finally christened their new redesigned home floor by defeating Long Beach 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-8, 25-11) to move within a game of Lynbrook and Wantagh for first place in Conference A1 entering last weekend.

South Side is in the midst of six straight home games through Oct. 22 and that stretch could be the key to winning the division and a second county title in three years.

“You definitely felt the difference in their play and their intensity with having that first home game,” coach Cheryl Scalice said. “It’s better to be in a groove at home.”

The Lady Cyclones lost five “significant” starters from the 2018 team that went 11-1 in the conference, but the girls that remained from last year’s squad are determined to avenge a heartbreaking five-set defeat to Lynbrook in the Class A semifinals. The Lady Owls won the rematch in straight sets on Sept. 23, but Scalice thought the brief setback would not deter the girls long term.

Depth has been a strength for South Side throughout the season with several players sitting among the county leaders in various categories both offensively and defensively. Six different players have at least 20 kills, seven have surpassed the 20-dig plateau and 10 have recorded at least one serving ace.

“Each game, we have a different person leading in different categories, which is nice to have that depth all around,” Scalice said. “When we get to a point into the season where they’re all strong at the same time, they could really be unstoppable.”

Senior Katelyn Tollefsen has appeared to shake the injury bug that has plagued her last two seasons and so far has recorded three double-digit kill games and 63 on the season through the games of Sept. 26. Scalice said her health is key to the team’s success.

“Katelyn is an extremely strong offensive player for us,” she said. “Our hopes for Katelyn is to keep her healthy and that’s the top number one goal. She contributes every single day.”

Junior setter Faith LaMacchia is off to a strong start with 100 assists, one of 14 players in the county to reach the century mark, while senior Ryann Hoffman has set up 74 kills. Hoffman and senior captain Annaliese Zola have been the top servers with 15 aces apiece.

Defensively, South Side’s 1-2 punch of Maddie Gamberg and Jaden Garelle have combined for 50 blocks. Sophomore standout Camryn Hoffman has been solid in keeping the ball off the floor with 127 digs, good for third in the county.