Center Moriches - The Shelter Island girls volleyball team's cover is blown. It's no longer the nice story from out east. That image was made over long ago because, entering Friday's Class D championship match against Stony Brook, the Lady Indians had been deemed the queens of Suffolk County for five years running. They have become the team to beat, and it's something that no one this year has done to this point. SI made it 15 in a row this season and six in a row on the grand scale by knocking off Stony Brook 25-10, 23-25, 25-14, 25-14.

Shelter Island's Kelsey McGayhey skies and drives the ball to the floor for a kill.

Shelter Island will take its unbeaten 15-0 record into Friday's NYSPHSAA Southeast Regional, held at Bellport (4 p.m.). There it will face perennial power Haldane (12-6), which rolled past Keio 25-19, 25-15, 25-8 to win its fourth straight Section I crown on Friday. In last fall's regional, the Lady Blue Devils ended SI's run for a second straight final four appearance by winning 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 at this stage. It's the last loss that the Lady Indians have absorbed; they're hoping to exact revenge and reach states as a result.

"This season's been really special for us because we did go undefeated, and that's the first time Shelter Island volleyball has ever done that," Head Coach Cindy Belt said. "The team has come together really well. It's one of the hardest teams I've ever seen on Shelter Island. It's really fun."

During a season in which Shelter Island had won 42 of 46 games played during the regular season, it was Stony Brook (11-6) that had posed the biggest threat to a sixth straight title. On September 21 out west, the Lady Bears opened up a two-games-to-one lead - SI's only deficit this season - only to see the Lady Indians escape with 25-12 and 25-22 wins in games four and five. They met a month later and Shelter Island won more convincingly yet still yielded a game to the Lady Bears. They took another on Friday but couldn't string together a second to keep the match alive.

Shelter Island has twice gone upstate and Head Coach Cindy Belt believes that this year's team has a distinct chance to make a return despite the fact that six key ingredients from last year's Class D champs graduated in the spring. She even called this year's team, undefeated or not, the best group she's ever coached.

"Our hitting is better and offensively we're more complex than any we've ever had before," Belt said. "Also, our bench contributed immensely during the season. I can put people in and they can do almost anything. We also have kids out there who can play middle, play outside and do a lot of different things."

Haley Willumsen swats one of her 14 aces on the match, bringing her season total to 144.

The secret weapon on Friday was setter Haley Willumsen, who not only dished out 16 assists but pounded out a whopping 14 aces. She in particular illustrated her excellence after Stony Brook had taken game two. Willumsen served the first six points of the third game, four coming by way of an ace. Shelter Island ran out to a 13-3 edge in the game and rolled 25-14. The fourth was as one-sided.

Willumsen's 14 aces were one shy of the 15 she put up in the teams' first meeting in September, and according to MaxPreps.com, she has 144 on the season, or about 10 per match.

"She's got an awesome arm," Belt said. "She plays softball, volleyball, and she's pretty obsessive about volleyball, and I mean it in a good way. She's always had a tough serve, but this year it's really developed into this high-speed, topspin serve. That oftentimes helps get us out to a quick start and a big cushion, and we just feed off that energy."

That this team flourished as it did can be credited to those who laid the groundwork earlier this decade, including the last group that made the trip. That squad included Kaitie McGayhey and Samantha Read, the elder sisters of two of this year's stars. Claire Read made that trip as well, as did Shelby Willumsen, who is two years ahead of sister Haley.

"My sister and I started playing travel, and it got really big," Claire Read said. "Almost half the girls on our team are playing travel, and everyone else wants to do that when they get older. It's great to be playing all year round with all the other girls are so you come out here so strong right away and you just go."

The family network and increased dedication has helped build a tradition that has yielded some high accolades, including the first unshared league championship in school history. They'll try their luck with Haldane, which two years ago won the state title.

"I think this is our year," Belt said.