Susan Wagner senior libero Jia Sha was a marvel in the back row Thursday. (Lauren Marsh)
If you told Kristine Ciurcina back in August that her team would be back in the semifinals, she might have given you a funny look. At the time for Susan Wagner, everything was still being sorted out – things as simple as who would be playing what position. Ciurcina herself was an outside hitter last year before moving to setter.
“We never would have thought,” Ciurcina said of making the final four. “At all.”
It’s more than just a thought now – it’s a reality.
No. 3 Susan Wagner smashed No. 6 Cleveland, 25-7, 25-7, in an impressive PSAL Class A girls volleyball quarterfinals victory Thursday night on Staten Island. The Falcons will compete in their fourth straight semifinals 3 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 Cardozo at York College in Queens.
“In the beginning, we were just a new team coming up,” junior outside hitter Julia Bogdan said. “Nobody knew who we were. And now we’re in the semis. We’re so excited.”
They had an incredible crowd, including the school’s marching band, behind them in the stands cheering wildly with every kill, ace and dig. Marco Altieri, the team’s coach, said he and his staff have been trying to make Wagner a volleyball school during this run and it certainly looked – and sounded – like that Thursday.
“I think the whole atmosphere was amazing,” Cleveland coach Anna Dawidowska said. “This is something that happens on a college level. It was great. It shows you how psychological the sport is.”
She admitted the packed house affected her players and it was clear Wagner (15-0) fed off the cheering. Altieri said it was “the seventh man.”
But it was really the six on the court who made all the difference, playing as close to a flawless match you can this deep in the postseason against a quality team. Wagner was superb at every phase of the game, from passing to setting to hitting. Bogdan had eight kills, Karolina Gajda had six kills and Ciurcina had 18 assists in the efficient performance. Senior libero Jia Sha picked up everything in the back row.
“We just kind of clicked, I guess,” Ciurcina said of the entire season. “We don’t have that one star player. Everyone contributes.”
Altieri said he was very worried about Cleveland (12-1) and especially wanted to limit star outside hitter Carolina Alfonso Reyes. In that circumstance, the best defense was a good offense.
“All we tried to do was hit hard enough to keep them off balance, not let the defense give the setter good enough passes to get her the ball where she wanted it,” Altieri said.
That worked for the most part, just like everything did for Wagner. Alfonso Reyes had just four kills.
Now it’s on to the final four and Cardozo, the team that has knocked off Wagner the last two seasons, including last year in a scintillating PSAL Class A championship match. The Falcons won’t get long to celebrate, but they’re well aware of how incredible this run has been considering where it started.
“We would have never guessed that we would go from a brand new team that no one knew the girls to a team to get back to the top,” Ciurcina said.
