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10/24/2016 12:00 AMThe East Haven volleyball team posted victories against Lyman Hall and Wilbur Cross last week to improve to 8-10 overall, finish at 4-4 in SCC Housatonic play, and clinch its spots in both the SCC Tournament and Class M State Tournament. Head Coach Craig Brown expected the Yellowjackets to get into the tournaments, but felt quite satisfied when his team made it official with the Cross win.
“The goal was always to get back there this year,” Coach Brown said. “We knew we had the ability. We just had to practice hard because we’re a younger team with only three seniors. With their leadership and our youth wanting to advance, we were able to push to get in this position.”
On Oct. 17, East Haven topped Lyman Hall 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) on Senior Night. Summer Onorato had a team-high 17 kills with nine digs, while Kylie Schlottman recorded 12 kills, four digs, and three aces for East Haven. Julia SanGiovanni and Samantha Miranda had three assists each, plus Amber Ciscone finished with a team-best 14 digs. Isabella Ragaini completed the match with 31 assists. There was plenty of emotion in the gym as the Easties recognized their three seniors in Miranda, Ciscone, and Rosselle Iriarte, after which their teammates went to battle for them.
“The girls wanted to win. More than anything else, they wanted to win for our seniors. They played really well, the girls raised their game, and on Senior Night, they went out as winners,” Brown said. “With young athletes, it’s tough to keep everyone in check. They care enough about each other, so when the game got going, they wanted to play for each other. We had the right type of emotion going to carry out to a win.”
On Oct. 21, East Haven traveled to Wilbur Cross and finished with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-15) victory. The win solidified East Haven’s spot in the SCC and state tournaments.
“We were sitting at seven wins before them. It’s good to lock it up,” Brown said. “The girls went out there and were focused. Since the focus was there, the results were there.”
Schlottman finished with a team-high 11 kills and 12 digs, while Ragaini had 16 assists in the win. East Haven ended the regular season as the third-place team in the SCC Housatonic Division behind Amity and Shelton and ahead of Lyman Hall and Cross.
“It’s always a bummer when you’re not able to finish on top, but Amity and Shelton have great teams,” Brown said. “They’re going to both finish in the top four in conference, which is where we’d like to be in a few years. The only way to do that is keep facing and beating those teams.”
The Cross win marked East Haven’s second victory in its last three road matches and Coach Brown knows that playing well on the road is imperative for the Yellowjackets as they prepare for the playoffs.
“It’s never easy or fun to play on the road. It’s often a hostile environment with long bus rides, but the girls are starting to put it together,” he said. “We want to do the best we can. Last year, we made the semis of Class M and we hope we can do it again this year.”
On Oct. 22, East Haven lost a close one on the road to Woodland, 3-2. Kylie Schlottman had a team-high 22 kills to go with five aces and 10 digs. East Haven finished with 75 digs as Ciscone led the way with 18, Onorato added 17, Megan Roberts had 12, and Ragaini finished with 11 to go with her 28 assists. Woodland is a perennial Class M power with 13 wins this season and so Brown felt it was important for his team to get that kind of test.
“As of right now, we’re 8-7 with the schedule that was assigned to us. All of our out-of-conference games were designed to give us a test. Seymour, Woodland, Haddam-Killingworth, and Hale-Ray are all teams designed to push us to our limits,” Brown said. “It gets us that much more prepared for states. I want to be playing those matchups. If we win, great, but if not, we’ll be more prepared for that level of competition.”
East Haven finishes the season with home meetings against Hand and Hale-Ray before postseason action begins.
“Whenever at home, there’s some extra comfort of being able to relax and take a break, not having to rush to the bus,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we can use them and that momentum and push ourselves to a pair of wins as we prepare for SCCs and states.”
From the Sidelines
East Haven defeated Lyman Hall 3-1 and 3-0 in its two meetings with the Trojans this season.
The Yellowjackets topped Wilbur Cross 3-0 both times the two teams squared off.
Kylie Schlottman leads East Haven with 212 kills this season, while Amber Ciscone leads with 280 digs.