RKA volleyballers headed to final showdown

John Reingold, the coach of the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy’s (M.S./H.S. 141) volleyball team, has come to view the squad as his “baby.”

After all, he and assistant coach Larry Ellis set the team on its way when they took over six years ago. A core group of players helped advance the team to the PSAL B Division championship game the last two seasons, but they lost to Fort Hamilton both years.

Fort Hamilton was moved up to the A Division this season, but with a roster full of players lacking experience, Reingold did not know what to expect from this year’s team.

What he got was perfection.

Senior Reighan Alston leads a talented class of Lady Tigers that entered Tuesday evening’s B Division final against top-seeded Goldstein (Brooklyn) undefeated. The squad lost just one set all season. The Tuesday final was scheduled to be played at Hunter College after The Press went to print.

“This year’s team was rebuilding for us,” said Reingold, who has lost only seven matches in six seasons, including just two in the regular season. “We’re clearly ahead of schedule. It’s been unexpected in certain places, but the cohesiveness the girls have shown has been phenomenal.”

Third-seeded RKA continued its march through the playoffs with two wins in the last week. Alston, in what Reingold called her and the team’s best match of the season, had 17 kills in a two-set win over No. 6 Bronx Leadership Academy on Nov. 21. Hualeska Garcia added five kills and seven digs and Ashley Pena had 13 aces as the Lady Tigers came back from 20-18 deficits in both sets.

“We really played well in crunch time,” Reingold said. “And now we’re at the doorstep again, which is exciting because this is kind of like our baby.

“This year, I knew we were good, but getting the girls to buy into that and believe that is especially sweet. I don’t think many people believed we’d be in this position.”

In Sunday’s 2-0 win over No. 2 Scholars Academy at York College, Taina Strickland had seven kills and 10 digs, Alston had eight kills and eight digs and Danielli Sosa had 14 assists, a block and an ace.