Tina Khiani was high scorer for the day with eleven points. Lyana Labrada…
By The Times-Ledger
On Sunday, March 25, the final game of the season, Our Lady of the Snows Novice volleyball team defeated American Martyrs in all 3 games with scores of 15-8, 15-5 and 15-1.
Tina Khiani was high scorer for the day with eleven points. Lyana Labrada served eight points and Diana Lutzak and Rebecca Spitz added seven points each. Erin Dolan scored five points, Danielle Petrone another four points, Melissa Lyons added two points and Kristina Mosquito scored one point. Winning these three games gave OLS continued momentum into the CYO Volleyball Diocesan Championship Playoffs for the second year in a row.
Sat. March 31 saw the top four teams meet for the playoffs, with Our Lady of the Snows and St. Thomas Moore tied for second place. OLS defeated St. Thomas in two games with scores of 15-3 and 15-11. Diana Lutzak opened the scoring, serving eight straight points. Tina Khiani and Emily Pennachio tallied three points each and Erica Della Jacono added one more.
Game Two was action packed as St. Thomas amassed a 10-2 lead. OLS, calling on its team experience, remained unruffled, dug deep and started its comeback. The comeback was keyed by OLS' superb netminding, especially on two successive returns by Ashley Frangella. Emily Pennachio scored OLS' first point in the game, followed by Stefanie Posa with three points. Snows won the game when Erica Della Jacono held the serve for a personal best and scored eleven straight points. During that run, Erin Dolan and Diana Lutzak teamed to help Erica by making a tremendous save at the net of what surely looked like a lost point.
Coach Rita Pennachio, assistant Kathy Lutzak and team are ready for the final match this weekend against Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In a major upset, OLMC, the fourth place team, defeated defending champion St. Gregory the Great, also in two games, 16-14 and 15-11.
