Left to right, Fox Lane’s Abby Zelenz passes in playoff loss to Yorktown. Samantha Barrett hits one over the net for the Foxes. Madeline Barrett returns serve for Fox Lane. Rob DiAntonio Photos
By ROB DIANTONIO
Fox Lane got off to a slow start this season, winning just two of its first 12 games. Some key injuries plagued the Foxes but they were able to turn it around down the stretch run to qualify for the postseason by winning five of their final six games.
The No. 13-seeded Foxes got off to a slow start in their Section 1 Class AA opening round playoff match at No. 4 Yorktown, dropping the first set 25-10. Fox Lane, however, wasn’t about to go down easily as it rallied with a 25-20 win in set two. Yorktown cruised to a 25-11 win in the third set. The Foxes battled in the fourth set but fell 25-22 as Yorktown defeated Fox Lane 3-1 on Nov. 1.
“I think it’s really a testament to the amount of mental work that these girls have put in this season,” Fox Lane coach Kelli Kinlen said of the competitive match they gave the Huskers. “We’ve put a lot of work in with team bonding and just mental work to help us battle the way we did today. This was by far the best volleyball that we played the entire season.”
Yorktown took a 4-0 lead in the second set before the Foxes came to life. An ace from Azriel Brown and a kill from Madeline Barrett tied the set at 4-4. Fox Lane gained its first lead of the match at 6-5 and went up 11-7 after a kill from Brown. Consecutive aces from Elianny Carino put the Foxes up 15-9. Abbey Zelenz followed with an ace. Samantha Barrett’s kill extended the lead to 18-12. Two kills from Brown, a kill from Madeline Barrett and a kill from Samantha Barrett finished off the set with a 25-20 win.
Between the first and second sets Kinlen reminded the team that “they deserved to be here.” And they showed it. “Sometimes I think they forget that they fought hard to be able to even have a spot in the playoffs to begin with. We have a tendency to be on the defensive and not on the offensive. That’s what kind of switched today in sets two and four.”
The momentum carried over early in the third set as the Foxes went up 4-1. But Yorktown took control, eventually pulling away with a 25-11 win to go up 2-1 in the match.
Yorktown stormed out to a 10-2 lead in the fourth set. With the Huskers up 22-12, Fox Lane rattled off five straight points to make it 22-17. Four straight kills from Brown cut the deficit to 23-21. Fox Lane was within a point at 23-22 but Yorktown finished off the match with the final two points to end the Foxes’ season.
Brown led the way at the net with 14 kills and Kinlen called her play “amazing.” Madeline Barrett tallied nine kills. Samantha Barrett and Tori Schmiegel had five kills each. Zelenz dished out 20 assists. Gabby Downey notched 11 digs.
“My senior setter, Zelenz, consistently puts the ball where it needs to go,” Kinlen said. “Madeline Barrett did a fabulous job on defense. My libero (Downey), who has been splitting libero but we had an injury so she’s taken over full rein, this was by far her best game.”
Fox Lane finished the season with a 7-12 record.
The Foxes will graduate a group of seven seniors in Zelenz, Parys Boykin, Madeline Barrett, Samantha Barrett, Downey, Izhana Brown and Brooke DiBiccari.
“The seniors have been a pillar of teaching and support for my underclassmen,” Kinlen said. “Especially Abbey, she’s really had a big hand in training my sophomore setter (Alexa DeMartino), who’s going to step into her shoes next year.”