Two weeks ago I was at Clarkstown North for one of the best volleyball matches of the year. Clarkstown North went down two games to none vs Suffern, including a big blown lead in Game 2, but came back to win anyway 3-2.

Today was the rematch, this time at Suffern. There was no such excitement or dramatics. Suffern won in straight games, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22.

“We stayed in rhythm,” coach Sean Barnes said. “Last time in Game 3 they got us out of rhythm and we just, we never could get back to what we were doing. Once we lost it we really struggled.”

The only game where I felt like the outcome was in doubt was Game 3. North scored five straight to tie the game at 20-20 on a Katie Westerveldt ace. The teams traded a few points. A Cat Darling kill made it 23-22, Suffern. But Christa Baccas slammed a vicious running kill and North messed up the next service receive, and the match was over.

“We had too many defensive mistakes,” Rams coach Ann Metz said. “We let cheap balls fall. That was what killed us. Nothing wrong hitting wise.”

Meghan King had a good day at the net for North, but Darling wasn’t much of a factor. She had dominated the previous matchup.

Jenna Hrycyk was the hero for Suffern with a game-high 11 kills and 11 digs.

I happened to be sitting next to the Jenna Hrycyk fan club in the bleachers. Melissa Asaro and Taylor Anderson are JV players who were screaming for their hero after every point. In between, they told me about 4,783 things I should put in my article, including: why people shouldn’t yell “balls up” on the court, the girl who growled at them during their last match, the fact that their boyfriends didn’t bring them pizza soon enough, how annoying it is when people lick their finger and wipe it on you, and the sparkly costume they’re going to wear on Freshman Friday. That’s only a small sample.

Girls, I’m looking forward to interviewing you after a varsity match next year, although I don’t know if I have enough room on my tape recorder.