Finley Girls' Volleyball Gains Strength
Sometimes progress can be exceedingly slow. It happens at a snail's pace. It can appear maddeningly inconsistent. Yet, it creeps forward until, all of sudden, a sea change has occurred.
Is such a transformation underway for the Blue Devil girls' volleyball program? It's too soon to tell, but if it is, the Huntington High School team will soon be winning many more meets than it has in recent years.
Change often takes root at the youngest levels and that's where the evidence points to in Huntington. This winter 90 girls' tried out for the combined seventh and eighth grade team at J. Taylor Finley Middle School. Such broad interest could be a key indicator of better times ahead for the program.
"The selection process was extremely difficult this year," said Caroline Reilly, who coaches the Finley and varsity teams. "The eighth grade was stacked with good players, but we needed to keep [some] seventh graders for the future. So the decision was made to keep another big roster and sacrifice winning matches for building the program."
The 28 player roster had a good mix on it and the team was competitive, even winning a couple of matches. "A lot of the girls had never played before, but by the end of the season they all knew what they were doing," Reilly said.
When they returned from the winter recess, Finley's players realized a breakthrough "and made such improvements that they could rally in practice and really play the game," Reilly said. "The last few games were very exciting and we ended on a winning note, beating Stimson four-out-of-five games."
The eighth grade players were especially helpful in sharing their expertise with the seventh graders. Team captains Mackenzie Maloney, Mary Sheehan, Alyssa Amorison and Caitlin Knowles took the lead in this effort.
"As the coach, I could see the improvement all season and would tell them, but you need to win to prove it to the girls and that match did," Reilly said about topping Stimson to close out the schedule. "The girls worked hard all season and also had a lot of fun and it showed by the last game. We were able to win and play everyone. That says a lot for the entire group."
The forecast for next year looks good. The top returning players are expected to be Katie Reilly, Meghan Plant, Katie Keys, Sarah Fernandez, Gabrielle LaMarco, Derya Odabas, Victoria Martin, Madison Colwin, Danielle Melgar and Erica Lopez.
Reilly is an especially promising player. The seventh grader led the team in serves, sets, spikes and passing and was second in saves. With continued growth and improvement she could very well develop into a special kind of varsity player.
"We should be good," Reilly said. "We will carry fewer players and try to win more games."
Final Team Stats:
Serves
1. Katie Reilly: 87
2. Elizabeth Moore: 71
3. Alyssa Amorison: 56
Sets
1. Katie Reilly: 32
2. Alyssa Amorison: 22
3. Mary Sheehan: 14
Spikes
1. Katie Reilly: 12
2. Elizabeth Moore: 11
2. Caitlin Knowles: 11
2. Anna Tesoriero: 11
2. Meaghan McArthur: 11
Blocks
1. Caitlin Knowles: 3
2. Mary Sheehan: 2
Passing
1. Katie Reilly: 98
2. Mackenzie Maloney: 78
3. Mary Sheehan: 61
Saves
1. Mackenzie Maloney: 8
2. Katie Reilly: 7