Unbeatable Season for Hen Hud

It has long been said that nobody is perfect. To attain perfection is to perform at a level of faultlessness and precision while overcoming the relentless challenge of your competitors. For a team to finish the season with a zero in the loss column takes unwavering focus and an absolute belief in one another. When the dust settled on the Class A state volleyball championship, the Hen Hud Sailors had finished a perfect season with the sweetest revenge as they swept state rival and two-time defending champion Burnt Hills 3-0 for the team's first state title....

Coming into the pool play portion of the tournament on Friday, the Sailors ran into some adversity in its first match against Wayne, dropping the first game 25-18. This type of bump in the road may have derailed most teams' confidence but the 2006 Sailors are not your average team. Following the first game loss to Wayne, Hen Hud would go on to take the second game 25-19 and win their next seven after that en route to the school's historic first state championship in volleyball.
In the final match of pool play, Burnt Hills, the dominant champion in past years, played a rather uninspired game against Hen Hud, dropping the match 25-19, 25-16. Perhaps the Spartans took it easy and rested their starters because they knew they were assured a spot in the championship match, but word spread throughout the locker rooms that Burnt Hills had expressed a preference to play the Sailors in the finals.

The defending champion learned the hard way to be careful what you wish for, as a spirited Hen Hud team came out determined to take out the Spartan juggernaut and cap the dream ending to the perfect season. The Sailors found themselves in a tough position early in the first game being down to Burnt Hills 22-19, but managed to rise above the deficit behind two Kelsey Wickel aces and an emphatic set point on a Lindsey Hock kill, one of 14 kills for the all-tournament co-captain.
Momentum did not seem to carry over into the second game as Burnt Hills jumped all over the Sailors early to take a 6-2 lead. Yet that did not faze Hen Hud in the least as they once again stormed back to take a commanding 15-9 advantage. This was an advantage that they would never relinquish as sophomore Ragin Jackson had a big game with three straight points to close out the second 25-18 and bring the Sailors within one game of the state title. The sophomore came up huge for coach Diane Swertfager with nine kills and three blocks on the afternoon. "Ragin stepped up in a big way today. She is one of those special players that give me confidence about the future of this program," Swertfager said. "Today she was a sophomore who played like a senior."

Meanwhile on the other side of the net the look on the Spartans' faces was that of exhaustion and despair. By the beginning of the third and final game it seemed that the defending champ had underestimated the girls in blue, but Burnt Hills would not go down without a fight.

The third game was a back and forth battle with countless lead changes and long points. After a long and grueling game it was Hock who came up big with the championship point to lock up the title and start the celebration. The Sailor faithful went crazy in the stands and senior libero Laura Fojanesi nearly jumped out of the Glens Falls Civic Center in excitement as her team rushed the court. It was a beautiful combination of smiles, laughter, screams of joy, and tears of a journey completed. Swertfager just stood aside and watched her girls celebrate with tears in her eyes like a proud mother.

"I just wanted to cry," Swertfager said. "This team never quit or gave up on any point this season. I'm just so happy for our community and all the support they we have received back home."

The third time turned out to be the charm for the five Sailor captains in Hock, Fojanesi, Wickel, Maggie Reuter, and Jessica Harris. All five had played in the past two state championship matches for Hen Hud and both times come up empty handed. This year all five got sweet revenge on the Burnt Hills team that took the title from them in 2004 and made history in the process.

"This is so exciting to be the first team ever to be state champion in our schools history," Harris said. "It is amazing to go out on top and while I don't think we truly realize what we've accomplished just yet we are going to have a long bus ride home to appreciate this moment and reminisce about all the memories we've built over the years."

Fojanesi, who was brilliant for the Sailors in the backcourt with countless digs to keep the ball alive and 38 passes in the match, felt this team had something to prove to Burnt Hills and to themselves.

"We wanted it even more to prove to them and to ourselves just how good we really are," Fojanesi said. "I couldn't have pictured a better ending than this."
Hock who shared all-tournament honors with teammate Nicole Tamburri, who had a tremendous championship match with 39 assists, knew that this team would leave behind a historic legacy as the first state champions but also would leave behind an indelible impression on one another that will last as long as the title.
"It is definitely nice to get revenge from two years ago and amazing to be a part of a history that hopefully will have an influence on future teams," Hock said. "What I will miss and remember the most is the girls I was lucky enough to play with. This was the best team to play with and I know I will miss them the most."

To win their first state title at the expense of Burnt Hills was such a perfect ending that it Swertfager questioned if some higher power had a hand in the outcome.
"All I will say is that God works in mysterious ways," Swertfager said. "You've got to believe there is a higher power at work in all of this. It is just nice to get some sweet revenge against Burnt Hills. And how sweet it is."

This season began with 15 girls, four seniors, five captains, and one dream. The Sailors met every challenge and came out on top every time. They came to Glens Falls looking to dethrone the champion and returned home as the new queens of the court with their unblemished record in tact. One dream realized and no losses to speak of. Who says that nobody is perfect?