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Easties Improve to 5-2 with Two Sweeps

The East Haven girls’ volleyball team features seven seniors on its roster, making for the biggest senior class in Craig Brown’s nine-year tenure as head coach. Coach Brown said that his seniors did a great job of keeping the team together throughout a long offseason, and now he’s pleased to see them succeeding during the regular season.

East Haven improved its record to 5-2 on the year by posting a pair of sweeps last week. The Yellowjackets earned a 3-0 win at Whitney Tech before sweeping West Haven by a 3-0 final in a home match.

The Easties started off their week with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-7, 27-25) road victory against Whitney Tech on Oct. 19. Taylor Salato recorded six kills, while fellow senior middle blocker Brooke Clancy had seven kills and four aces for Coach Brown’s team in the win.

“We tried out a couple things. We changed up the lineup for all three games,” said Brown. “We’re experimenting with different players who weren’t seeing significant time and changing positions a little bit. The girls responded well, and we were able to walk out with a 3-0 win, changing some things up that we normally don’t.”

Three days later, the Yellowjackets squared off against West Haven on their home floor. The contest was a rematch of an Oct. 3 meeting that saw the Blue Devils win 3-2. However, this time around, the Easties claimed the victory over West Haven via a 3-0 sweep with scores of 25-12, 25-21, and 25-15. Salato had five kills, and senior setter Megan Gaudioso contributed with eight digs and three aces.

Aside from Gaudioso, Coach Brown said that seniors Carly Cordova and Tori Heaphy came up big for the Easties at the service line in the victory. He also complimented Cordova and Heaphy’s performance at the outside hitter position in helping the Yellowjackets avenge their previous defeat to West Haven.

“We were definitely a lot more confident this time, which showed. Our passing was much more poignant. Megan, Carly, Tori were all excellent in service,” Brown said. “Carly and Tori were able to make a lot more digs against their middles, which led to our offense running a lot smoother. It put us in a much more positive position throughout the match.”

East Haven’s senior class features Clancy, Cordova, Gaudioso, Heaphy, Salato, and opposite hitters Gia Buonfiglio and Kayla Goodrich. Cordova and Heaphy are serving as the Yellowjackets’ captains. Coach Brown said that this group has jelled together as a strong unit during the past four years and that every member of the class is willing to make a change if it will help the team succeed.

“This group has been everything we hoped they’d be. There’s a reason seven of them made it all the way to senior year,” said Brown. “They set goals, they achieve goals, they work as a team. They’re willing to experiment and try new things. If we’re not succeeding in one way, they’re willing to try something different, so they’re in a better position to secure a win.”

While Brown is impressed with his seniors, he’s also happy to see some underclass athletes emerging on the court this season. In last week’s win over Whitney Tech, sophomore middle blocker Alice Stettinger had two kills for the Yellowjackets. Against West Haven, sophomore setter Nicole SanGiovanni handed out 20 assists. Junior outside hitter Magdalena Barthel, sophomore setter Kayla Stefania, sophomore middle blocker Jessica Urban, and sophomore outside hitters Adrianna Franceschi and Autumn Clancy are also seeing time in the lineup.

Coach Brown credits much of East Haven’s success to the connection among his athletes, along with their ability to make changes on the fly. With a 5-2 record heading into the home stretch of the regular season, Brown is hoping that the Yellowjackets’ camaraderie will help lead the way to some more victories.

“We just have to stay together. We have enjoyed each other’s company so far,” Brown said. “As long as we keep working hard at practice, maintain that commitment level and that good workmanship on the court, and some confidence during the games, we should be able to win some more and compete for that championship at the end.”

When it comes to championships, the Southern Connecticut Conference is planning to hold a fall tournament experience during November. Regardless of how that plays out, Coach Brown wants his athletes to continue reinforcing the fact that East Haven has a quality volleyball squad through its performance in every match that’s on its schedule.

“We’re going out there every game to try and win,” said Brown. “If there’s a game in front of us, we’re putting out our best six. We’re going to try and win, bring home a title, and do the best we can to represent this school.”