Lady Bulldogs 'Dig Pink,' Claim Crown in Volleyball Tourney

This is the sixth year that the Lndenhurst Lady Bulldogs have hosted a for the "best of the best" around Long Island, but ’s tournament had a twist to it – it was done up in the color pink.

Dig Pink, that is, a tournament designed to “unite volleyball players and coaches, and have them work toward furthering breast cancer awareness, education and patient services.” It's an effort coordinated nationally by the Side-Out Foundation.

At the end of a long day of volleyball action at the and , host Lindenhurst claimed the tournament crown, holding off a surging challenge from semi-finals winner Smithtown East.

It was a satisfying win for the hosts - who are the defending Long Island - not only because they were helping a good cause, but also because it gave them a chance to hone their volleyball skills against some of the best teams on the Island.

Lindenhurst, said Head Coach , is a team with high expectations. Having gone to the states a couple of times in the past few years, the Lady Bulldogs are no longer considered underdogs – and again this year the team's well on its way to claiming a top seed in , despite its first stumble in league play last week, against Comsewogue.

So, in addition to staying fierce and focused, they need to keep one other mental attribute in mind – having fun.

“We can play really well when we’re up, and when we’re down, not so much so,” said Block. “The big thing is for us to not think about it; just go out there and have fun.”

The Lady Bulldogs got plenty of that at the tourney.

From Suffolk County came , West Islip, Bay Shore, Comsewogue, Hills East, Bayport-Blue Point, Northport, Westhampton. Representing Nassau were Massapequa, Long Beach, Baldwin and West Hempstead. And Saint Anthony's and Kellenberg came from the Catholic School division.

But as 5 p.m. rolled around the competition was down to two. The took on Smithtown East after turning back a stiff challenge from Bay Shore in the semis.

Smithtown, which beat Massapqeua in two matches to get into the final, came on strong, but it was that took the tournament championship in the end, with scores of 25-23 and 25-20.

Leading the way in Lindy's tourney win during were Emily Clemens, (#9), a junior setter, and Alison Marchino, (#13), a senior outside hitter. Both are four-year players with the team, and Clements is a serious Division One prospect, according to her coach.

Kayla Morgan (#14), senior libero, and Ajsha Mekulovic (#21), a senior middie, are back from last year, and were instrumental in the team’s success at Dig Pink.

And seeing regular action this weekend - as has been the case for much of the season - were juniors Rachel Ramirez (#3) and Jessica Rzempoluch (#27).

“This is the sixth year we’ve had a tournament,” said Block. “I took over the program seven years ago, and like other schools wanted to have a tournament. It was originally a season opener – but this year is the first time we held it in October.”

And how did that work out?

"Really well,” she said. “We sold something like in T-shirts and raffle tickets. Attendance was good. The gym was packed early on. I’d like to keep it in October - I like what we did here.”

The team will meet its tourney final opponent Smithtown Eas on the road on at 5:45 p.m.

“The winner will probably end up with the one seed, so we’re hoping to that one,” Block noted.

Editor's Note: Take a look through the at highlights of the event . 

Residents: If you know of resources, groups, efforts, initiatives, businesses "going pink" and other events specific to Lindenhurst, then would like to know.

Add them in the comments below, and share these groups - as well as - with Lindenhurst Patch all through October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by e-mailing barbara.loehr@patch.com, and sharing them on Facebook and Twitter.

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