Despite 3-0 Loss, Westhampton Beach Boys Volleyball Challenges ESM

Although his Westhampton Beach boys volleyball team came up short in a 3-0 loss — 25-18, 25-21, 25-20 — to Eastport-South Manor on Thursday, Conor Farnan likes what he’s seeing.

“I think we know them very well, and if we see them again at counties, I don’t hate the matchup,” the senior setter said. “We closed down some hitters, our blocking was solid, our defense was scrappy — and we have to keep that up. If we do, there’s no doubt the sky’s the limit.”

The Hurricanes (4-2) dropped another close 3-1 match to the Sharks in the Suffolk County finals last season. Both teams returned nearly all their starters. Eastport-South Manor (7-0) is undefeated so far this season with head coach Bill Kropp picking up his 400th career win with his Sharks’ sixth of the season.

“We played a good game, not a great game,” Westhampton Beach head coach Josh Tuttle said following the September 30 loss. “We were starting to find our rhythm as the game went on, but it’s been a slow start to the season. We’re definitely not playing our best volleyball, but, it’s all about seeing what we need to improve on and peaking at the end.”

And the Hurricanes have plenty of bright spots to their game. First comes in the form of senior outside hitter Dan Haber, who did it all in the first set. He picked up four of his team-high 12 kills, and added 10 digs, an ace and a solo block. His point from the service line, followed by senior middle hitter Colbie Mason’s block, closed the gap for Westhampton to 9-6, but it was as close as the Hurricanes would come in the first. Haber’s block made it 18-14, and his fourth kill recorded Westhampton’s final point of the set.

“Even though we took the loss, our defense was there, our passing was there — everything that we wanted to have happened, happened, we just came up a little short in some areas,” Haber said. “Everyone’s gotten a lot of experience and it’s really helping our game progress, but seeing where this team is at is crucial so we can game plan how we’re going to play them in counties.”

Senior libero Josh Aponte (12 digs) said the Hurricanes’ defense played scrappier than it has in any other game thus far.

“We were on our toes the entire time, and our serving was solid,” Aponte said. “If we can keep that defensive mentality all the way through, we should be good — if we keep that up we’ll look good in counties. I think we really showed that we can stay in it with them.”

The senior said having a Division I player like Haber on the team doesn’t hurt, either — especially having him back after he was out sick during a 3-0 loss to Bay Shore September 28. Haber racked up another four kills in the second set, going back-to-back with Mason to pull within one, 6-5, and Farnan (28 assists) set him up to do it again at 7-6 and 8-7. Middle hitter and setter Joe Green picked up one of his seven kills to also close the gap to one, 17-16, and Haber helped the team do it again when his kill was returned out at the sideline, bringing the score to 18-17.

“We didn’t have him for our last game, so for him to come back and put up a bulk of our points — it’s really something special to have a really good player like Dan on our team,” Aponte said. “We’ve all known each other for a long time, we have great energy and I’m really excited to see what we can do.”

Junior middle hitter Declan Kerns and Green tied the third set at 2-2 and 3-3, but Westhampton was down as much as 15-5. After a timeout call, sophomore outside hitter Seth Terry capped a three-score spurt with back-to-back kills (six total). Haber and Mason leapt for a block that sent the crowd into a roar and Mason followed it with a tip to bring the score to 20-15. A Farnan push and Sharks return out of bounds off his subsequent serve handed the Hurricanes their final points of the match.

“That was the best we’ve played them. We know it’s only up from here,” Farnan said. “We’re doing a great job, coaches are doing a great job to help us improve. Every day we come out and work hard and I think at the end of the day that’s going to show.”

The coach called the loss a good wakeup call midway through the season, conveying to the Hurricanes that they will have to make a strong second-half push to get back into the playoff position they want.

“We know what we need to do to be the best, and we have the time, the motivation, the work ethic and the skill sets,” Tuttle said. “We just have to put it all together.”

Haber had one thing to add about the potential of seeing the Sharks again on the big stage: “I think this’ll be the matchup, but we’re going to beat them in counties this year.”