By virtue of a point-differential tiebreaker, Hen Hud advanced into the Class A state finals. They will play Burnt Hills, which just knocked off Victor 25-19 in a playoff game.

Hen Hud defeated the Spartans in last year’s championship. Burnt Hills had won the previous two years. That match will be tomorrow at noon.

Hen Hud just split with Section 5’s Victor. The Sailors won the first game 25-18, but lost 25-20 in the second. They finished 4-2 in pool play and now await their fate.

If Burnt Hills loses or splits with Westhampton in the final pool play match of Class A then Hen Hud automatically moves on. If Burnt Hill sweeps, it will come down to a point differential tiebreak between Hen Hud, Burnt Hills and Victor, who all split against each other in head-to-head play.

I’ll have another update as soon as the Class A pool play is finished.

Hen Hud took care of business against Section 11’s Westhampton Beach with an easy sweep, 25-12, and 25-11.

Kami Nethersole had eight kills in game one, as the Sailors went on an 11-3 run to close it out. In game two, Hen Hud went on a 14-3 run to move to a dominant 20-10 lead.

Hen Hud will finish pool play against Section 5’s Victor, which also defeated Westhampton 2-0 and split with Burnt Hills. A 2-0 win for either team would clinch a trip to the finals for either team and probably send the other one packing.

Match one of pool play is over with Hen Hud splitting two games with familiar opponent Burnt Hills. The Sailors defeated the Section 2 Spartans in last year’s state final.

In the first game, Ragin Jackson dominated with five kills and a block. Michelle Jacobson finished the game off with a winner as the Sailors won 25-21.

In game two, the Sailors fell behind big at 9-2. They battled back to being down just 15-14 behind a series of Kami Nethersole kills. Hen Hud would get within one point on two other occasions, but never made it all the way back, losing 25-22.

With the split, Hen Hud remains very alive to move onto the finals. Section 5’s Victor is currently in first place after sweeping two close games from Section 11’s Westhampton Beach. Hen Hud will play Westhampton next in about an hour.

So I was able to successfully make it from my hotel to the Glens Falls Civic Center and get set up and connected to the internet in far less time than anticipated. The good news for all of you volleyball fans is that means I’ll be able to be with you pretty much all day.

I’m used to seeing this place set up for basketball (it’s mainly the home to a minor league ice hockey team) but it’s a good place for volleyball. There are three courts next to each other and I am located right behind the boards near a penalty box.

Hen Hud is about to start its first pool play match on the center court. Keep checking back in for updates throughout the day.

Just checking in from my hotel as I promised. Apparently, this is the place to stay as I saw a group of area players’ parents hanging out in the lobby when I came back from a Wendy’s run.

It’s pretty cold up here, but I’m happy to report that it seems for the first time that I’ve ever been here, it actually isn’t snowing.

I’m going to knock on wood and hope it stays that way. Last time I was in the area was for state basketball last year when it snowed 18 inches! Anyway, time to watch the end of the Knicks game and then hit the sack.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to check in with you all throughout the day, but that will depend on the technology ability of the Glens Falls Civic Center and my ancient laptop from my college days. In any event, I’ll talk to you tomorrow at some point. Goodnight!

I’m about to begin my journey up to Glens Falls for all of this week’s volleyball action. I meant to leave earlier, but I got caught up watching some Frasier reruns. Wow, that was a good show.

Anyway… just wondering what everyone thinks of this group from Section 1’s chances this weekend. Obviously Hen Hud and Haldane are used to being here, but winning it all has proved very difficult. Westlake isn’t as experienced, but perhaps the initial excitement and the momentum the team is riding on right now will be enough to go all the way.

Let me know what you think and I’ll check back in when I check into my hotel.

Yes, rushatthefalls.org is the official web site for the Championships. Thanks Annie for pointing it out, though now I can’t look as smart for providing the schedule myself… Here it is anyway!

Saturday, November 17 at the Glens Falls Civic Center:

Class AA, A and B are in the morning wave, which lasts from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m.

Class C and D are in the afternoon wave, which begins at about 2:30 p.m. and will end around 7:30 p.m.

The top two from each class will advance to Sunday’s finals. That day’s schedule is as follows:

Class B: 10 a.m.
Class A and Class AA: 12 p.m.
Class C and Class D: 2 p.m.

Hope that helps!

Tomorrow will be the regional finals at John Jay High School. There will be five matches with the action beginning at 9:30 a.m. with Class AA. Here’s the full schedule:

Class AA: Suffern vs. Horseheads (Section 4), 9:30 a.m.
Class A: Hen Hud vs. Vestal (Section 4), 11:30 a.m.
Class B: Ardsley vs. Red Hook (Section 9), 1:30 p.m.
Class C: Westlake vs. Millbrook (Section 9), 3:30 p.m.
Class D: Haldane vs. Candor (Section 4), 5:30 p.m.

It will be a long day, (especially since the odds of the 5:30 match actually starting at 5:30 are about the same as Joe Torre managing the Yankees next year) but there promises to be a lot of action. I’ll be pretty busy since I’ll be covering three of the matches, but fellow Team Journal News member Dan Marra will be on-site as well.

We will both be a lot more comfortable indoors, however, than I was covering the Mount Vernon at Yorktown football game last night. Wow, was it cold. I’m going to try to wear a few more pairs of socks for the Iona prep-St. Anthony’s CHSFL playoff game that I’m covering tonight!

Thanks to everyone for the comments thus far. I would like to take this time to respond to a couple.

First off, Volleyball fan, is correct in saying it would be tough to find a better all-around player than Nicole Tamburri. There are several other players you could make an argument for, but the Hen Hud senior is right there because of her ability to control games in a variety of ways and not just through her setting. Her numerous skills have clearly been appreciated by others as well since she will be playing at Iona College next year.

Secondly, in response to Joe’s post, Pelham’s Parisa Dore did leave the match, but also returned, according to Dan Kiernan, who covered this epic contest. From what I saw, she appeared to be okay, so I certainly wouldn’t pinpoint that for the Pelicans’ tough loss. But on the bright-side, Pelham only loses one senior, Kelly O’Brien, from this year’s squad. So expect Coach Finegan to have the Pelicans right back in the championship mix again next season.