Half Hollow Hills Boys Volleyball Suffolk Champs

Champions always figure out way to battle back in the face of adversity and that's just what the did in their Division I finals match against Smithtown East on Wednesday night at Longwood High School. The Colts won the first game handily, but Smithtown East rallied to win the second. The Colts adjusted and took it from there, winning their final two games to win the Division I county title and improve to 15-0 in league play this season.

The Heroes: Chris Kaimis had a solid all-around game with 17 kills and 10 blocks for the Colts.

Mike Degravia lead the team with his 21 kills. Cody Lau was solid at the libero position, leading with 22 digs while setter Remy Janco had a strong game passing the ball, finishing with 51 assists.

The Turning Point: Things could have kept going Smithtown East's way after they won the second game, but the Colts made the necessary adjustments and quickly put themselves ahead in the third.  Smithtown East kept the score close throughout, but Half Hollow Hills did a great job of passing the ball and not giving up on plays.

"We made sure that in game three we'd come out and go back to game one, calm and composed," said Half Hollow Hills head coach Craig Berini.  "That's our game.  Smithtown took us out of our game. We didn't feel like that was our style."

Quotable: "These kids, from day one, had a mission," said Berini. "I've been coaching these kids since seventh grade. This is really special, and with states and everything lined up for us, these kids put their hearts and soul into every practice and every game, and it showed today."

Who's Next?: The Half Hollow Hills Colts will play in the Long Island championship game at Longwood High School on Saturday at 2 p.m.