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09/23/2016 12:00 AMThe Branford volleyball team seems to have knack for the dramatic this fall as three of the Hornets’ six matches have come down to a fifth and final set. The good news for Head Coach Eva Esposito’s team is that Branford has prevailed in two of those three five-setters, including last week’s match against Guilford, to stand with a record of 4-2 in the early going of the season. Esposito feels pleased about where her team is at the moment and knows the Hornets can unleash their full potential by smoothing out a few rough edges.
“I think it’s a good position where we are right now. Those two losses didn’t really hurt us as much as they could have, but we know we have a lot to work on and we can get tremendously better. Fortunately for us, we have a good starting point and a good base as a team, so I think our upside is huge,” said Esposito, whose team beat East Haven and lost to Lauralton Hall in its other five-set contests. “We have a wealth of hitters this year and we’ve been consistent with our passing and on defense. We need to keep our unforced errors down. In most of the sets we’ve lost, we’ve given a lot of free points away, and you can’t do that when you’re competing.”
Branford, which comes off a 2015 campaign that saw the team win 15 matches and make some postseason waves, committed its fair share of errors in the Guilford match, but overcame them to net a 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 20-25, 15-9 victory at home on Sept. 21. The Hornets missed 15 serves that helped Guilford take the second and fourth sets, but then found their groove when it mattered most. Senior captain Adrienne DiGioia started the fifth set by rattling off eight-straight points from the service stripe and Branford never looked back on its way to dispatching the Indians.
Esposito felt that her team showed some heart by brushing aside the bumpy fourth set and playing well with the outcome on the line.
“I think it showed that they’re able to have consistency and confidence and they realized that. I thought they really wanted to get our third victory and that really pushed them. Getting out to the lead quickly was important,” she said. “It was a big win for us right now. We really needed to get this one under our belt because last week was a disappointing 1-2.”
DiGioia, a 2015 All-Oronoque selection who often plays middle hitter, dished out 21 assists while manning the setter’s position in this match to complement her 12 aces in the Guilford win. Junior middle hitter/blocker Haley Maercklein had 13 kills with 10 digs, seven blocks, and two aces; junior outside hitter Marisa Minore contributed nine digs, five kills, and two blocks; freshman outside hitter Diana Karosas went 15-for-15 serving to go with 10 digs and three kills; and senior captain defensive specialist Jenn Hwang had 15 digs and two aces. Coach Esposito said she likes what she’s seeing from Hwang and DiGioia in the captain’s role thus far, stating that they’ve “come out of their shells a little bit this year,” and are setting “a really good example for everyone on the team.”
A few days before they defeated Guilford, the Hornets went to North Haven and came away with win by set scores of 25-21, 25-13, 25-14. DiGioia was once again in a giving mood as she tallied 20 assists to go with her five aces and a pair of kills. Maercklein had six kills, six blocks, four digs, and two aces; Karosas recorded seven kills with five digs, Minore had seven digs and three kills, Hwang chipped in with six digs and four aces, plus junior defensive specialist/outside hitter Maddie Oberempt had three digs.
“Honestly, watching North Haven in warm-ups, I was expecting more out of them, but on our side, our setters passed the ball well and we were able to keep the tempo we wanted. We hit the ball and we served pretty decently. I think we played consistent,” said Esposito. “We didn’t get much resistance from them, so it wasn’t like the Guilford game. This game, we ran the table and we’re expecting more from North Haven.”
Branford and North Haven remain in the Oronoque Division in the new-look SCC and are joined by newcomers Hillhouse, Lauralton Hall, and Foran. The Hornets have won the Oronoque title three times in Coach Esposito’s tenure and so they’re looking to do so once again, along with putting forth another strong postseason showing after reaching the semifinals of the SCC Tournament and the winning one match in the Class L state bracket last year.
“It’s always our goal to win the division and we feel like we’re talented enough. That’s our expectation every year and you want to grow on something you’ve done well,” Coach Esposito said. “We’ve lost in the semis of the SCC Tournament the last two years and really want to get over that hump and then we want to go as far as we can in states because, you never know, anything can happen.”
Branford closed the week by posting a 3-0 home shutout of Hillhouse to improve to 2-1 in the Oronoque. The set scores read 25-5, 25-12, 25-10 in the Hornets’ favor. Obrempt went 10-for-10 serving with three aces, Karosas served 17-of-17 and added two kills, Maercklein was 7-for-7 on serve and also had two kills, Minore had five aces, and junior right side hitter Lauren Elmasry pitched in with three kills.
From the Sidelines
This marks Eva Esposito’s seventh year as head coach of Branford volleyball and she’s assisted by her sister Nicole Giangreco, who’s also the JV coach, and volunteer Tara Dering, who’s a program alum.
In addition to everyone already mentioned, the Hornets’ varsity roster consists of junior defensive specialists Jaime Fappiano, Stella Kelly, and Victoria Rudden; junior setter Erin O’Brien, junior middle hitter, Madison Daniels, and sophomore outside hitter Taryn Broughal.