Volleyball
The Haldane High School volleyball team continued to thrive last week, picking up three victories to improve to 12-1, with the playoffs opening Monday (April 19).
On Tuesday (April 13) the Blue Devils traveled to Putnam Valley, where they defeated the Tigers in three sets. Maria Barry scored eight kills, 27 digs and six aces. Jill Weinpahl had eight kills, Meghan Tomann added 12 assists and five aces, and Megan Farrell had 20 digs.
Despite the victory, “we didn’t play our best game,” said Coach Kristina Roling. “We’re happy we came out with the win. They know how to keep the ball in play; we had some long rallies.”
“We do need to clean up some stuff for the playoffs,” she added. “But the girls have a strong mindset; being down doesn’t shake them.”
A day earlier, the Blue Devils visited Poughkeepsie, where they also won in three sets, 25-22, 25-11, 25-21. Weinpahl had 11 kills, Tomann handed out 18 assists and Farrell had 21 digs and seven aces.
On Saturday (April 10) at home, they blanked Putnam Valley, 25-20, 25-15, 25-10. Barry led the way in that one with 13 kills, Tomann had 22 assists, Weinpahl had 17 digs and Farrell added 22 digs and seven aces.
The Blue Devils are hoping for a high seed in the Section 1 regional playoffs. (There is no state tournament this year because of the pandemic shutdown.) They will compete in the Northern Westchester/Putnam small-school division with Lakeland, Peekskill, Walter Panas, Hendrick Hudson, Putnam Valley, Briarcliff, Croton and North Salem, and should be the No. 1 seed. The potential No. 3 seed, Croton (8-2), handed Haldane its only loss this season, and No. 2 Panas (10-2) has a solid team, as well.
Roling said her team is still getting better. “Maria, Jill, Meghan and Megan have been the backbone. They’ve all been the model of consistency and a positive attitude. Zoe Silverman and Rachel Iavicoli switched positions and have been such a force on the floor, especially with serving.”
Haldane is scheduled to finish its season today (April 16), hosting Carmel. The Beacon squad, meanwhile, lost this week at Lourdes and Carmel to fall to 0-13. The Bulldogs will enter the Dutchess County playoffs for Section 1 as the No. 7 seed and will likely face John Jay-East Fishkill (8-1) or Arlington (9-2).
Football
The Haldane squad played a game on Saturday (April 10) that it might just as soon forget, missing an early scoring opportunity before falling, 28-0, to the defending Section 1, Class C champion Valhalla.
Haldane (1-3) forced a fumble early but couldn’t convert it to points, and things went downhill from there when the Vikings quickly scored on runs of 3 and 75 yards.
The Vikings added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and a 6-yard score in the fourth.
“They did a good job of bottling us up,” said Coach Ryan McConville. “In the second half we couldn’t get anything going. We need to get back to fundamentals — better blocking and better tackling.”
Quarterback Dan Santos completed 5 of 16 attempts for 11 yards and was picked off three times. Darrin Santos ran 10 times for 50 yards.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to travel to Rye Neck (0-3) on Saturday (April 17). Haldane will close its season at Tuckahoe in the Section 1, Class D title game on April 24. The schools are the only Class D teams in the section.
Beacon’s game scheduled for April 9 against Somers was canceled because of ongoing COVID-19 issues. After a 10-day pause following the previous game against Tappan Zee, Beacon didn’t have enough healthy players. The Bulldogs are scheduled to close their regular season hosting Lourdes at 7 p.m. on Saturday (April 17).
Halls of Fame
Haldane is accepting nominations for inductees into its Athletic Hall of Fame, which honors athletes, coaches and teams. See bit.ly/haldane-hall-fame. The deadline is May 1. Selections are made by a nine-member committee of coaches, community members and a school administrator. The 2020 induction ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic shutdown.
Beacon High School also postponed the induction ceremony for its most recent Athletic Hall of Fame class until the winter of 2021-22. Nominations will be reviewed in the fall by a nine-member committee of coaches, Hall of Fame inductees and community members. See bit.ly/beacon-hall-fame.
