Patchogue - The Hampton Bays girls volleyball team had beaten Mattituck during the regular season and needed to topple the Lady Tuckers once more to reel in the Class C county championship. Even still, the top seeds and prohibitive favorites had every right to be nervous. After all, they were on the cusp of history.

The Lady Baymen had failed in their only previous visit to the county title match in 2004, and first-game jitters surfaced in their return trip against the defending champs. However, the switch flipped early in the second game and HB was on point from then on, posting an impressive 19-25, 25-13, 25-9, 25-16, at St. Joseph's College's John A. Danzi Athletic Center.

April Bennett's 14 kills brought her within one of the nine-year-old single-season records at Hampton Bays set by Wendy Soni.

It was a long time coming for the group of April Bennett, Rachel Tufano, Sarah Young, Morgan Orego and Jessica Dubowski, which took its lumps as sophomores, improved as juniors and finally reached the peak in their last go-around at Hampton Bays.

"At the beginning of the year, we were cautiously optimistic," Head Coach Andy Fotopoulos said. "This group has been playing together for three years. They've worked hard. They stuck together and spent a long time in the gym. This was our goal – to win the county championship their senior year."

Hampton Bays (12-7) will face Nassau champion East Rockaway in Saturday's Long Island championship, to be held back at St. Joe's with first serve set for 1 p.m. From there, the winner will advance to the state final four in Glens Falls on November 21 and November 22.

Mattituck (9-12) wasn't going to go quietly however, not with what was at stake. The Lady Tuckers inched out to a modest lead and held it throughout the first game, and when Kim Murlain's booming serve dove to the floor for an ace, the underdogs had taken the first game comfortably. Even more reason for concern arose in game two when Mattituck ripped off four straight points on serves by appropriately named Jessica Boomer, including back-to-back aces for the first two.

"They came in with intensity and energy, and we were nervous," Fotopoulos said. "We had the jitters. The first thing I talked about was serving tougher and putting them in tougher situations rather than having an easy pass and set up at the net. We started our offense with our serve and kept the ball in play."

From that point on, Hampton Bays was in control. It ran off 13 of the next 14 points, including eight straight on Taylor Diffley's serve. Mattituck never got closer than seven the rest of the way and the top seed had evened the match.

Sophomore libero Taylor Diffley not only had a team-high 15 digs but also racked up six aces.

Game three was more of the same - Bennett on the outside, Young and Rachel Tufano attacking and defending from the middle off sets from underclassmen Liz Raimo and Lexi Giannone. Diffley and Bennett were especially tough on the back line, with Diffley racking up a team-high 15 digs with Bennett just one behind. Consecutive kills by Tufano put the Lady Baymen up by double digits at 13-3, and they ran off six straight to close out the game and reach the doorstep of history at Hampton Bays.

Again, the Lady Baymen raced out to a 13-3 lead, but this time Mattituck, which won its first county title a year ago, showed some resilience. Out of the timeout, the Lady Tuckers went on a run, and when Kim Krupski stuffed an HB attack, in a flash the deficit was just 13-9. A sneaky push kill by Raimo ended the surge, and Hampton Bays went to its big guns to close out the match. Bennett went to work on the outside and mashed one home, Tufano put away a Raimo set for a 15-9 lead, and Bennett's ace widened the gap even further. Freshman Megan Walker toed the service line with a 23-16 advantage and calmly served the final two points, sending the Hampton Bays players and crowd into a frenzy.

Bennett was the Lady Baymen's main threat from the left side, piling up 14 kills to lead all players. She now stands just one shy of the single season record of 182, set by Wendy Soni in 2000. "She will be sorely missed in the future," Fotopoulos said. "She's nice to have. Everyone knows she's getting the ball and they can't stop it. If we put it close to the net, we know she'll put it away. We're going to lose with our best."

Hampton Bays will have its hands full on Saturday as it tries to quiet outside hitter Jalisa Barnes, who is off to the University of Pittsburgh to play volleyball next fall. The Rocks put away Carle Place in three games on Tuesday to advance to Saturday's Long Island title game.

The 2009 Class C champions: Back row (left to right): Head coach Andy Fotopoulos, Jessica Dubowski, Liz Raimo, Lexi Giannone, Sarah Young, Rachel Reed, Megan Walker, Rachel Tufano, Morgan Orego; Front row: Taylor Diffley, Rachel Muller, April Bennett.