Senior Elizaveta Fishbeyn helped lead NV/Demarest to a hard-fought three-set win over Tenafly on Thursday.

DEMAREST - Northern Valley/Demarest came from behind to defeat Tenafly, 2-1 (20-25, 25-14, 25-16) Thursday afternoon. It was a hard-fought defensive volleyball battle all the way.

“We definitely do a lot of defense training,” said NVD senior Elizaveta Fishbeyn. “Our coach really emphasizes defense. Without strong defense we couldn’t win games. It’s the most essential skill  we have.”

With the match tied one game apiece the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set when junior outside hitter Sivan Aburus scored on an impossible over-the-head, backward blast over the net that landed at the Demarest defenders’ feet, compelling Norsewomen coach Chris DiGirolamo to call an immediate timeout.

The Norsewomen caught their collective breath and as play resumed they rallied to tie the set, 8-8.

A few points later Demarest junior Alyssa Dimitriadis (6 digs, 3 aces) stepped to the service line with her team trailing 12-10. She promptly reeled off 8 consecutive winners to put the Norsewomen ahead, 18-12.

“I was thinking we needed to serve tough, take them out of serve-receive,” Dimitriadis said. “If they can’t set their No. 1 hitter, we pretty much have the game. That’s why I focused on my serve, making sure to serve away from their hitters. I was pretty confident the whole time. We were playing really well and once we got our discipline back I knew we were good.”

The rally to take the lead began when junior Deana Finkelstein, who led Demarest with 11 kills (and also had a block and 6 digs), blasted 2 consecutive winners to tie the game and give the Norsewomen the lead for good, 13-12. Senior Schuyler Berenbroick followed with a pair of kills, Dimitriadis tallied an ace and when Finkelstein scored again with back-to-back points Demarest led, 18-12.  

“I trust all my hitters, of course, and I love to see who is going to put it away,” said sophomore setter Maya Snir, who distributed 26 assists. “I look at it as ‘who’s been going on a hot streak?’ I have hitters that are going to go on 5-point runs - and that includes all of them. I know I can set them every time. No matter who I set, I know we can get a point. It’s amazing.”

Demarest closed out the set and the match with a 7-4 run, which included kills by senior Clara Machado, Finkelstein and thunderous kills by Fishbeyn and Berenbroick, as five different Norsewomen tallied at least one kill in the match.

“[Balanced scoring] is definitely a great skill we have,” Fishbeyn said. “Anyone can go out on the court and kill the ball. Even our libero can really smash the ball down. It helps us win games.”

“I think diversifying the offense has worked in our favor,” said DiGirolamo. “We can read a stat line to see who has the most kills for them and who is getting the most digs. Maya (Snir) is doing a great job of spreading the ball out. If we get pushed to one end of the court we set the other side to stretch their defense a little bit.”

Junior Deana Finkelstein had a team-high 11 kills for Demarest, which improved to 6-1 on the season.

Tenafly had grabbed the first set in a game that featured 6 ties and 5 lead changes. Tenafly took the lead for good, 19-18, on a service ace by Aburus (7 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces). Sophomore outside hitter Lexi McGinty, who led all scorers with 13 kills (and had 12 digs, 1 ace), closed out the opening set a few points later with a kill.

“I feel like we’re all there for each other, we have each others’ backs,” Dimitriadis said. “If we made a mistake we knew we needed to fix it right away. In the first set they took over but in the second and third sets we made sure to clean up all the little mistakes. We knew what we could do and we just did that.”

“We’re the kind of team where it (losing a set) fuels us to keep going,” Fishbeyn said. “In Demarest volleyball we get so angry when we lose a game. We really want to win so it fuels us, rather than pushing us down.” 

Demarest took a 3-2 lead in the second set on a kill by senior Cassandra Dahms (5 kills, 2 digs) and never trailed again. Dahms and Berenbroick (9 kills, 1 block, 5 digs) each chipped in with 4 kills and Machado (1 kill, 3 blocks, 2 digs) had 2 blocks.

“We have been practicing defense a lot,” said Snir, who scooped 13 digs. “Coach always tells me to stay on my toes, be ready to get the ball. It’s hard [for me] to get defense-minded first so I’ve been working very hard. Our libero junior Jade Chang (23 digs, 3 assists, 1 ace) played for the first time as libero and she did a great job. It’s really hyping each other up and trusting the block. When you have a good block you can play defense.”

“Jade is amazing,” added Fishbeyn. “She’s really good at passing and is always in the back row. I know I can rely on Jade to make a good pass anytime.”

Demarest improved to 6-1, while Tenafly fell to 4-4.

“I’m happy with my girls - we’re working hard,” said Tenafly coach Jeff Koehler. “We’re young - I have one senior that plays a little. My girls know that we’re right there. The thing we have to learn is you can kill the ball every time but Demarest is too good. You have to keep them off balance. That was what was so good about them. They were slicing it, hitting left, right, middle. I’m happy with the way the girls performed. We came out strong and won the first one. All my girls play so hard and they thrive off that energy. We’ll learn from this and move on. For us to play with them and win a game that’s what we’re looking for.” 

“It was a really exciting match,” DiGirolamo said. “One thing we talk about every single day is we have to play defense first before we can run our offense. We try to run a fast tempo offense but it really comes down to being defensive minded in the back row. Maya (Snir) has done a great job playing defense, we’ve got good floor coverage and we’ve gotten better every day reading hitters. 

Our ability to keep the ball up frustrates teams and both teams played great defense today. I was on the edge of my seat and it could have gone either way. It’s the trust I have in them and the trust they’ve built together as a team that is really powering us.”

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