This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/16/2018 12:00 AMThe East Haven volleyball team lost its first two matches of the season against a couple of strong squads, but rebounded nicely by posting a pair of 3-0 victories for an early record of 2-2. In last week’s action, East Haven took a 3-0 defeat against Seymour, before sweeping both Law and Foran by 3-0 scores. The Yellowjackets are entering their eighth campaign with Head Coach Craig Brown this fall.
“When you lose the first two matches, 3-0 in both, it’s kind of a bummer. You want to be playing up to the level of those teams. But Cheshire is obviously a strong [Class LL] program, and Seymour is a very strong school. We were competitive with them last year, but they took it to us this past week,” said Brown, whose team had lost a 3-0 contest to Cheshire in its season opener on Sept. 7. “We made some adjustments to the lineup and position-wise, and it paid off in our Law and Foran matches. [Senior] Cameron [Cordaway], specifically, turned it on the second week after our Seymour game and has been more consistent, which gets [senior captain] Diana [Kalman] more involved offensively and gives the sophomores a little more confidence.”
On Sept. 11, East Haven took a 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-15) loss versus Seymour. Kalman led the way with eight kills, while junior setter Isabella Ragaini had 19 assists and five digs. The assists are nothing new for Ragaini, who Coach Brown is trusting to run his club’s offense this year.
“She’s like the captain of our offense. After two years of [varsity] experience, she’s been given a lot of leeway and freedom to call her own plays this year and set her team up the way she wants to run it,” Brown said. “Having Bella back really helps the younger girls develop. We have a lot of sophomores and juniors in offensive roles now, and it really helps their development, knowing where the ball is going to be every time.”
The Easties are hitting the floor with their fair share of varsity newcomers this season. The Yellowjackets graduated key outside hitters Kylie Schlottman, Summer Onorato, Jessica Stettinger, and Julia SanGiovanni from their team that collected 21 victories and made the Class M State Tournament final in 2017.
“Losing Kylie, Summer, Julia, and Jess—that’s like 90 percent of our kills from last year that graduated. We’re not going to replace them. All those girls were entities of themselves, and they had their success their ways,” said Brown. “We’re going to teach our girls to be the best girls they can be in their own ways, and they’ll help the team by contributing in the ways that serve them.”
Coach Brown said that juniors Samantha Schlottman and Eliza Goldberg, and sophomores Brooke Clancy and Tori Heaphy are getting more minutes this season. They’re joining seniors Cordaway and Alannah Doheny, along with captains Kalman and Megan Roberts, in the Yellowjackets’ rotation.
“We’re trying to build off [the seniors’] strengths. They did a lot of passing on last year’s team that had a big run to the [Class M final], so we’re trying to use them primarily on serve receive and defense to get the young girls going offensively,” Brown said. “We have a bit of inexperience outside of that. Some juniors and sophomores that haven’t played much are going to get a lot of extended playing time.”
Early on, Brown said that he’s been impressed with how Kalman and Roberts are leading the team as senior captains. The coach believes that their knowledge of the Yellowjackets’ system, along with Ragaini’s experience, is helping East Haven function as one cohesive unit.
“Our strength is currently with our leadership with Diana and Megan. They’re the captains for a reason, doing their best to make sure everyone falls in line and gets done what they need to go get done,” he said. “Another strength will be the return of Bella, since she’s run the offense for two years. I can personally spend more time working with a lot of the other girls, knowing she’s experienced and knows what she’s doing. Instead, I can work with her on little nuances and continue to develop the young players around her.”
Following its loss to Seymour, East Haven traveled to Milford to face Law and earned its first win of the year by a 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-11) score. Doheny hammered home 13 kills to go with three digs, while Goldberg had four kills and four blocks for East Haven.
Two days later, the Yellowjackets earned a Foran 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-18) win against Foran in their SCC Oronoque Division opener. Kalman had eight kills and five aces, Schlottman finished with five kills, and Clancy ended the match with three kills and a block.
East Haven is used to being an undersized team, and this season is no different. Fortunately, Coach Brown knows that his athletes can run his offense in a way to create points and, hopefully, help the Easties once again prove a formidable foe in the Southern Connecticut Conference.
“Like most years, we’re small in stature. We’re smaller than the average team, so we know we have to run on a trickier offense—whether it be back ones or slides, things that allow us to be undersized—but still run an offense and not get blocked every time,” said Brown. “From there, building off consistency from our past. With Megan, Diana, Alannah, and Tori, they’re going to be our primary passers this year. If they can keep rolling, our offense will go through Bella, and we’ll have a chance to compete in every game.”