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Valley Volleyball Quickly Cements its Spot in States

On Sept. 30, Valley came back from 2-1 deficit to win the final two sets and beat conference foe Coginchaug 3-2 at home. In doing so, the Warriors improved to 8-2 on the year and once again qualified for the State Tournament. It’s the earliest in a season that Coach Scott can ever remember the team making states.

“We are 8-2 now and 8-1 in the Shoreline, so we’re right behind Haddam-Killingworth,” said Scott, whose team is in Class S. “This is the highest in the standings we’ve ever been since I started coaching. We’re early in the year and now we will go back and play the teams again.”

Coach Scott said that three important things have happened to push Valley up the standings this season.

“First, more and more players began to play club volleyball and volleyball outside of school. They got involved in clubs and came back into the season in much better shape and much more prepared,” Scott said. “The second thing is that we started to win. With the wins came more and more confidence that we could do it. Winning breeds more winning. Another thing that happened is that we had a player go on and play volleyball in college. Leah Sopneski is now a sophomore at Eastern Connecticut. It’s really exciting for these girls to see that there might be opportunities to play beyond high school.”

Scott also noted that program alums Sadie Swap and Sofia Cullina are continuing their volleyball careers in college. The coach went on to further discuss her athletes' commitment toward improving by competing during the offseason. She said that in each of the last two years, Valley has had a group of 10 or so players commit to playing in the Coventry Summer League two times a week for seven weeks. Scott added that more beneficial competition has come from playing against larger schools in the jamboree at Avon High School for several seasons.

“The first year we attended, we were one of the weakest teams, but now because of the continued commitment of the parents and players, we are really competitive and hold our own against these good teams,” Scott said.

What’s a little surprising about Valley’s success this season is that last year’s team featured a senior-laden lineup and so many of the girls who are playing this season did not get a lot of playing time in 2015. Still, the Warriors have received stellar play from a solid mix of seniors and underclass athletes this year. Junior captain Jess Paholski is an outside hitter who has 47 aces, which is good for the fourth most in the state. Senior captain Emily McLaughlin is a strong middle hitter and forms a formidable blocking combination with sophomore Madison Just. Libero Alex Figuenick is a junior and Coach Scott said she’s a dependable server who’s outstanding on defense. Electra Cassells is a left-handed opposite hitter and splits time with fellow junior Heidi Clark. Scott also praised the efforts of senior Rhyan Nedobity, who she said has one of the best float serves in the state. The setting has been handled mostly by senior Maddie Millard, who’s been outstanding at the service line, along with junior Hannah Clark.

Valley opened last week’s action with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-9) home win versus Old Lyme on Sept. 26. Paholski had three aces, 11 kills, and eight digs; Just served five aces, and Millard added 11 aces with eight assists to lead the Warriors.

“This was a great serving night for us with our team serving at 95 percent and team aces at 39 percent,” Scott said.

The Warriors’ next match was another sweep and it came by the final of 25-10, 25-8, 25-11 at North Branford on Sept. 28. Paholski had 11 aces and four kills, Hannah Clark handed out 19 assists, McLaughlin and Cassells had nine kills each, and Nedobity recorded four kills with seven aces.

Valley’s state tourney clincher was by no means easy as it took five games and a come-from-behind effort to beat Coginchaug 25-11, 22-25, 15-25, 25-16, 15-10. Figuenick was 16-for-16 serving with 36 receptions and 15 digs, sophomore middle hitter Emily Hutchinson had four kills and three big blocks, Paholski had 10 digs, Just added five digs, and McLaughlin and Cassells added nine kills each.

“The Coginchaug match was a really exciting one with lots of amazing saves and long rallies from both teams,” said Coach Scott.