Patchogue - There would be no tears of disappointment this evening, not for the East Hampton girls volleyball team, and not for senior Rachel Haab. It was her birthday, and her Lady Bonackers, once down and out trailing two games to none in the Long Island Class A final against Wantagh, were flying high now. With a raucous crowd behind them, they roared back to win 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-13 in a turnaround that was nothing short of spectacular. With the triumphant victory, they were crowned Long Island champs and booked their first trip to the state final four in the program's history.

"I can't even explain it," said an exasperated Haab shortly after Bonac's thrilling win. "It's just the best birthday present ever."

East Hampton's Myra O'Neal (right) and Calli Stavola rise to block the attack of Wantagh's Lauren Pennino.

Head Coach Kathy McGeehan was beyond pleased with her team's effort, but now that the Lady Bonackers have gone undefeated, rolled to the league title and landed both the county and Long Island titles, that doesn't mean she or her squad are satisfied just yet -- they're two magical days away from a state championship. Among those awaiting East Hampton in pool play at the Glens Falls Civic Center, site of next weekend's state tournament, are 2008 state champion Victor and eight-time reigning Section II champ Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who McGeehan deemed the best team that she'd seen this season. A Long Island team hasn't won the Class A state title since the switch to a five-division format – adding the AA division – in 2004.

"I didn't wait 30 years to get up there and talk about gravy," McGeehan said.

The path to Glens Falls included victories over Kings Park, Westhampton and Eastport-South Manor in the Suffolk County tournament and finally Wantagh. East Hampton (19-0) had been pushed to a decisive fifth game only twice during the regular season – vs. Kings Park in their opener and at Westhampton October 17 – and needed to go the distance a third time to clinch the Island title, and the Lady Bonackers did it in most grand fashion.

"To come back from a two-game deficit, we had to believe in ourselves," senior tri-captain Sarah Philipbar said. "We all did what we had to do and we knew we were going to pull this out."

"We definitely came out of our funk," added McGeehan. "It takes a while sometimes, but once we're out of our funk, we're unstoppable. I think we played our best match all year on Thursday [against Eastport], and to turn around and repeat it on Saturday was a difficult task."

Indeed, that the Lady Bonackers have their spot reserved can be credited to their composure in a time of crisis. They trailed two games to none and appeared out of sorts until the momentum began to swing in their favor midway through game three. An errant Wantagh serve turned the ball over to Kim Valverde with a 16-15 Bonac lead. Her jump serve had been ineffective during the first two games, as had been East Hampton's service as a whole. Valverde abandoned that strategy, instead serving in a more traditional fashion, and it paid dividends as the Lady Bonackers reeled off four straight points to maintain a lead they never relinquished. At 20-18, Calli Stavola (15 kills) and Myra O'Neal (10 kills) rejected a Wantagh attack at the net, and O'Neal followed up with two solo blocks for a five-point lead. When on game point a Warrior attack clipped the net, East Hampton was on the board.

Kirsten Brierly digs a Wantagh attack and gets the East Hampton offense going in the other direction.

"At the end of game two, our serve receive started to come around," McGeehan said. "All we needed to do was get off to a good start [in game three] and have a lead. We play well when we have a lead and hold a lead because that's what we're used to doing."

Again, the Lady Bonackers had their backs against the wall when they trailed by two in game four at 18-16. A Wantagh net violation gave Summer Foley the ball to serve down one. A Warrior error evened the score, and Foley gave East Hampton a one-point edge with an ace. Out of a Wantagh timeout, O'Neal swatted a Philipbar set, one of her 40 assists, to the floor for a kill, and two consecutive Warrior mishaps pushed the Bonac lead to four. Wantagh's confidence began to wane as East Hampton continued to send the ball back over the net, and back-to-back attack errors – one wide and the next long – kept the host squad alive.

"[The match] could have gone either way, but I think we had too many unforced errors," Wantagh coach Katie Lux. "It was a well-fought match."

Wantagh came out strong in the decisive fifth but East Hampton took its opponent's best shot and fired back. With the game tied at 11, Philipbar fed Stavola for kills at 12-11 and 14-11, Foley delivered with one of her own for a 17-11 edge, and Stavola put another away for a 19-11 advantage. By then, the ultimate result was evident with East Hampton feeding off the crowd, among which were Class D champs and travel pals Shelter Island, while Wantagh visibly shaken. Bonac scored the final four points of the match, igniting a furious celebration among players and coaches as they mobbed near the net. The Long Island title was theirs.

"For me, I wanted to do this for the seniors," O'Neal said. "If we couldn't do it this year, I don't know when we could do it."

Stavola had the team high in kills and Philipbar in assists while Valverde paced East Hampton with 30 digs and fellow junior Kirsten Brierly added 16 blocks. Similarly sensational efforts will be needed next weekend as the best of the best convene to determine who's tops in the state.

East Hampton heads north to Glens Falls as one of four teams that will compete for the Class A state championship.