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12/15/2019 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional volleyball team had a banner campaign in Head Coach Kathy Scott’s final year with the program this fall. The Warriors sent Coach Scott out as a champion by capturing the Shoreline Conference Tournament title for the first time in 32 years with amazing upset victory over Hale-Ray in the league final.
No. 6 seed Valley rallied for a 3-2 win against top-ranked Hale-Ray in the title bout, using a 15-13 victory in the decisive fifth set to silence the Noises. The Warriors’ championship win came after they had defeated No. 3 seed Cromwell and No. 2 Coginchaug in the first two rounds of the Shoreline tourney. For Coach Scott, it was a truly a storybook finish to her career at Valley Regional.
“One of our coaches called it the kind of story Disney movies are made of and makes grown men cry,” Coach Scott said. “I felt the confidence the players had, and I could see it in how they worked together. They came in so determined and ready to play. The fact that we were the underdogs took the pressure off, and all we had to do was play our very best.”
The Warriors had a rough first set against Hale-Ray, but that early struggle was a kind of microcosm of the campaign.
“They knew that they could do better than that first set. It just all came together,” said Coach Scott. “It was a tough season for a lot of different reasons, but we just kept at it. The practice we had before we played Hale-Ray, we just focused on what we needed to do individually to be ready to play.”
The Warriors had two solid senior captains in Mackenzie Neviaser and Carlee Kirla. Coach Scott found their contributions invaluable. Neviaser had 61 kills, 22 aces, 84 digs, 88 receptions and earned the team’s Heart of the Warrior Award. Kirla finished the year with 107 kills, 226 receptions, 190 digs, and 58 aces to her credit.
“It’s a lot of responsibility. They get people together for the weight room. They set up play at Hubbard Park in the summer, and they set lineups because I can’t coach them during that time,” said Coach Scott. “They both worked really hard. They led by example. They are both are driven to excel. Obstacles come and go, but they find a way around and work through it.”
One of the biggest contributors for the Warriors this year came from junior setter Alena Crosby. She earned a plenty of recognition for her stellar play including Valley’s Most Valuable Player Award, New Haven Register All-Area honors, All-State Second Team honors, and All-Shoreline Conference First Team honors. Crosby tallied 545 assists this season on top of 154 digs, 58 aces, and 37 kills. Coach Scott knew she had a star on her hands.
“Alena is amazing to watch with incredibly quick, fast-setting hands. She makes big plays, great saves, and always attacks,” said Coach Scott. “She’s a stabilizer. She is grateful for the good passes she gets and makes the not-so-good passes better. She takes the pressure off everyone else and gives them what they need on offense. We want Alena touching the ball when the match is on the line.”
Another valuable contributor for the Warriors was junior Emma Counter, who earned All-Shoreline Conference Second Team honors. Counter provided a team-leading 393 digs and 379 receptions, yet missed the final six games of the season including Shorelines. Coach Scott was impressed with her libero’s work.
“Emma had more digs than anyone since 2007, and she missed the last six games of the season. That surprised me. She won’t let the ball hit the ground without giving everything she has,” Scott said. “She ran the defense like Alena ran the offense. When we lost her, we weren’t really sure how we would do without her. The role Emma continued to play after she was injured was a testament to the kind of team player she was.”
After Counter went down, senior Mahi Shah had to pick up some of the slack at libero. She supplied 213 receptions and 206 digs and earned the Warriors’ Most Improved Player Award.
“Mahi did a good job of reading. That’s one of the most important skills you can have. She read and recognized how to get to the spots she needed to. When Emma got hurt we moved Mahi right in. She didn’t miss a beat,” Scott said. “She was our super sub. It was really nice for her to come in and be calm no matter where she played. She did a heck of a job against Hale-Ray.”
Junior Ava Boyles earned All-Shoreline Conference Honorable Mention and played the outside along with fellow junior Jamie Pullin. Boyles had 191 receptions, 101 digs, 39 aces, and a team-best 178 kills, while Pullin supplied 134 kills, 38 aces, and 10 blocks.
“With Jaime and Ava on the outside we were in a good position. They are different types of players. Jamie can go up strong and tip it over the top of blocks and had a good sharp angle. Ava could go up and power it through,” said Scott. “Against Hale-Ray, Ava was serving those jump serves. In the fourth set, she had a five-serve streak, and those were all jump serves. We knew we had to be aggressive and that was Ava being aggressive.”
Senior Madden Riley earned the Warriors Sportsmanship Award, and she played a bit of a niche role for Valley this year in stopping shots up top with 26 blocks to go with 77 kills.
“Madden led the team in blocks. She would put a lot of pressure on hitters, and whether they get a point or not, it’s pretty frustrating for them,” Scott said. “She has a different kind of attack with a power angle chip. She could get behind it and push it.”
Sophomore Madison Neviaser earned the team’s Coaches’ Award for her dedication to improving as a player and a teammate. Neviaser provided 142 digs and 207 receptions on the season.
“Madison always wants to get better and takes constructive criticism well. She moved around a lot. She was hitting outside. We had her playing defense, all-around, in the middle a little bit, but then we moved her to the back row,” said Scott. “She’s going to be a really great player. She’s all about working as hard as she can for whenever the opportunity comes.”
The Shoreline victory served as a nice punctuation point for Coach Scott to end her coaching career at Valley. Coach Scott feels like the volleyball program is strong and growing enough that she can step away without it being a detriment.
“I’ve been considering it for a little while, and when I saw this happen, it felt like the right time. The program is just doing so well. The parents are great. The girls play in the offseason, and there are talented players at all of the levels,” Coach Scott said. “I feel the future of volleyball is bright and this felt like it was a good time to step away. After 13 years with the time commitment and the sacrifices that your family has to take, it was just time.”
In the end, Coach Scott will always have plenty of fond memories to look back on during her tenure as head coach of the Warriors. Any time she wants to reminisce, she will always be able to look up at that banner in the Valley Regional gym while she’s teaching her physical education classes.
“I think just that it’s been a great experience to be a part of the program and see it grow. I’m grateful to the parents, the administration, and everyone has given so much to the program,” said Coach Scott. “There was a one-person booster club when I first started. Our athletic director, Jeff Swan, was even our JV coach a few seasons ago when we needed him to be. There were so many times we stood in that gym and pointed up saying that we had to do something about that banner, and now we did.”
• The Valley Regional volleyball team’s varsity roster included senior captains Carlee Kirla and Mackenzie Neviaser; seniors Madden Riley and Mahi Shah; juniors Ava Boyles, Alena Crosby, Emma Counter, and Jamie Pullin; and sophomores Emi Bisson, Chase Conrad, Salmi Miller, Madison Neviaser, Cede Peno, and Ella Pittman.
• Head Coach Kathy Scott completed her 13th and final season with the Warriors. Valley’s assistant coaches were JV coach Geane Giordano and first-year freshman coach Christine Miller.
• During the regular season, the Warriors earned two wins versus Old Lyme (3-1 and 3-0), North Branford (3-1 and 3-0), and Morgan (3-0 and 3-0) to go with one victory over East Hampton (3-1). Valley took losses two against Coginchaug (3-2 and 3-1), Cromwell (3-1 and 3-0), Haddam-Killingworth (3-2 and 3-1), and Hale-Ray (3-2 and 3-1), and also dropped contests to East Lyme (3-1), East Hampton (3-2), Griswold (3-0), Fitch (3-0), and Waterford (3-1).
• In the Shoreline Conference Tournament, No. 6 seed Valley Regional defeated No. 3 Cromwell (3-2) in the quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Coginchaug (3-1) in the semifinals, and No. 1 seed Hale-Ray (3-2) in the final en route to its first conference title since 1987.