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Hampton Bays senior Meegan Lennon gets to a ball.
Hampton Bays senior Meegan Lennon sends the ball over the net. DREW BUDD
Hampton Bays freshman Asha Pensa-Johnson was a force in the middle in the win over Shoreham last week. DREW BUDD
In the second match of the season back on September 10, the Hampton Bays girls volleyball team held a 2-0 lead at Shoreham-Wading River only to see that evaporate in a 3-2 loss.
Freshman Asha Pensa-Johnson had only been playing in her second varsity match of her young career, and as her head coach Andy Fotopoulos put it, she had a bit of a rough time at that point catching up to the speed of the varsity game.
Fast forward only a few weeks later to this past Thursday, September 30, to when the Baymen were now hosting the Wildcats, and Pensa-Johnson had a much different game, accruing about a dozen blocks and earning a number of points for Hampton Bays, leading it to a big 3-2 victory.
It could be said that Pensa-Johnson made her presence known, as Fotopoulos noted that the Shoreham head coach Megan Johnson asked him after the match, “Who is that number 24? Is she new? Did she play against us the first time?”
“She’s not new,” Fotopoulos said his response was. “She’s been here the whole time.”
Pensa-Johnson’s tall and slender build lends itself to be a prime blocker for the Baymen and that was where she made Shoreham pay the most, in the middle of court and at the net, blocking a number of would-be opportunities before they even got started.
Pensa-Johnson said her rapid improvement in such a quick time can be attributed to feeling more comfortable out on the floor.
“I got a lot more comfortable with the team,” she said. “They really helped me feel included. Even though I’m a freshman I’m still with them on the team and as good as them even though I’m younger.”
Pensa-Johnson said her junior varsity coach Alexis Fotopoulos was the one who moved her from the back row to the middle and it made all the difference.
“I really feel like it’s a spot that’s good for me because I’m tall and I move around better and I’m just better at hitting middle than outside. It’s just a good spot for me,” she said. “When you block they’re all cheering after. It makes me feel good that I got that point and that I helped out.”
Pensa-Johnson was referring to the home crowd, which was boisterous at last week’s match. The players had told their coach that things were going to be different at home due to the home crowd and they were proud of the support they received.
“I think they really helped us,” four-year varsity player and senior Brianna Quiros said of the home fans. “Just to see the support the team had behind us, point after point, that’s definitely something that really helped because we sometimes put ourselves down every now and then after giving up a few points and we dig ourselves into these holes, but having that support team really helped.”
Fotopoulos said that both Pensa-Johnson and Katie Mounts, the team’s other middle blocker, both may not have played all too well in that early match at Shoreham, but they certainly came through last week when the team needed to win the match in order to stay in the playoff hunt. With the victory, the Baymen improved to 2-4 in League V (7-4 overall), heading into what is a big week for them. Hampton Bays hosted Bayport-Blue Point on Wednesday and will then play at Center Moriches this Friday, October 8, at 6:15 p.m. The Baymen need to win both games in order to stay in playoff contention.
It was Mounts who recorded an important point in the third set of last week’s win over Shoreham that gave Hampton Bays a 27-26 lead. Meegan Lennon’s point directly following clinched it giving the Baymen a 2-1 edge.
The Wildcats came back to force a fifth and final set after winning the fourth 25-23, but Hampton Bays came through in the end, winning the fifth frame 25-20 to take the match.
“I’m very proud of the team and how hard we played against Shoreham. We really earned and deserved that win because we worked so hard,” Quiros said. “I’ve been on varsity since I’ve been a freshman, we’ve always gone five sets with Shoreham and lost, so for fellow seniors like myself and Aliyah Cukaj, Meegan Lennon, Elle Dunkirk, we all appreciate it. It feels really great to finally beat that team. It sets the bar high for our team especially because it shows we can do great things and it brings an us closer to playoffs.”
