Elissa Shiau has been playing volleyball for years. It’s one of her favorite pastimes. And one day, she hopes to play the sport in college.
“I really enjoy playing,” she said. “It’s something that I love to do. If somebody calls me up at 3 in the morning and asked me to play volleyball, I’d be out of bed and ready to go.”
But the Bronx Science sophomore setter, one of the best at her position in New York City, might have played her final high school match.
Last week, following a low grade on a chemistry test, Shiau’s parents, Howard and Maria, decided to pull her from the team with the hope that when her grades improved – whether that took days or weeks – she would return. Though there were some admitted disagreements between coach Jeremy BasSie and he, Howard said he was surprised when BasSie asked for his daughter’s jersey back.
“If she could’ve gotten her grades up in a couple days, that was OK with me,” Howard said. “The plan was to come back.”
BasSie declined comment on the matter Friday, but told The Post last week that Shiau and Science were not the right fit for each other.
“It’s sad when a player and program turn out to not be the right fit for each other,” BasSie said then. “However, I look forward to the opportunities for other individuals to step up and shine. The future of Bronx Science volleyball is still very bright.”
Coincidentally, last week Shiau also won the NYPost.com Poll asking, Who is New York City’s top girls volleyball setter? The poll began a day before she was removed from the team. Shiau received 292,172 votes, good enough for 49.24 percent of the record 593,329 votes tallied. Poly Prep’s Jacquie Chirdo was second with 251,128 votes (42.33 percent).
“I was very happy to win,” Shiau said. “I was very surprised. There were some great setters on that poll. I didn’t even expect there to be a poll.”
She said no matter what happens in the future with the volleyball team, she plans on staying at Bronx Science – she left Fieldston after eighth grade solely for the school’s academics. Club season is coming up and Shiau plans on trying out for NYC Juniors and AllStarr. She has played with the former since before her freshman year of high school.
“It’s a really great school,” Shiau said of Science. “It’s a great education. I transferred to the school [from Fieldston] not knowing anything about the volleyball team.”
Howard thinks that mending the breach with BasSie isn’t possible at this point, but Maria said she is still holding out hope that Elissa can return. Bronx Science, the PSAL Bronx A1 winner, is likely to get a top-five in the playoffs, which begin next week.
“I hope whatever issues get resolved and she can rejoin the team and have a good time and be with the girls and refine her skills,” Maria Shiau said.
Coach finds right fit at the perfect time: Talia Colasante had 22 kills and Kellyn Flynn had 18 kills and five blocks, but dig a little deeper and it was the smaller things that led St. Francis Prep to a five-set win over Archbishop Molloy in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens championship match Wednesday night.
Down 2-1 in sets, SFP coach Kevin Colucci, who has now guided the team to a record-tying five straight diocesan titles, put sophomore Jaclyn LaForgia in at libero for Allison Betito and the Terriers came back and won. There were also other tweaks made, like bringing in subs like Caroline Vallone, Johairy Rivadeneira, Jen Hussey and Caroline Gorecki to varying degrees of success.
“We needed a change,” Colucci said. “We needed a little more ball control. I made a lot of changes the whole match. You try to search for something, trying to see what clicks.”
Rivadeneira came up with some big kills, Vallone had a 3-0 service run – including an ace – to make it 19-17 SPF in the fourth set and middles Hussey and Gorecki both had key blocks.
“You can’t say whether or not we would have won if I didn’t do that,” Colucci said. “Then if we lose everybody is looking at me like why did you make all those changes? It’s kind of like hit and miss. Everybody is gonna second guess what you’re gonna do as a coach.”
But he saw his team down a set and facing elimination against tough, scrappy Molloy, a team that had beaten St. Francis in a five-setter in the regular season.
“When it comes down to a situation, it’s kind of like your season is ending,” Colucci said. “If something isn’t working, I’m fortunate to be deep enough and I can rely on other girls.”
St. Francis Prep will now compete in the CHSAA Class AA state tournament next Saturday in Buffalo. The Terriers have made the state semis two of the last three seasons.
Notes: Bronx Science, Midwood, Hunter College HS and Seward Park will be highlighting the John F. Kennedy tournament Sunday. It’ll be the last regular-season tournament of the season. … The PSAL seeding meeting, which will determine playoff positioning, is set for Monday. … Midwood avenged an early-season loss to New Utrecht on Thursday night and the two will share the PSAL Brooklyn A3 title. … New Dorp’s Kaitlin O’Brien finished as the PSAL leader in kills (156), Taylor O’Gara of Curtis led in assists (212) and Susan Wagner’s Jia Sha was first in digs (116) – a Staten Island sweep. … St. John’s University coach Joanne Persico was in attendance at her alma mater, St. Francis Prep, for the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I final l Wednesday night between the Terriers and Molloy. The Red Storm have Bronx native Kerri Johnson, a Preston grad, on their roster.
