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11/14/2020 11:00 PMThe East Haven girls’ volleyball team advanced to the championship of the SCC Division C Tournament after defeating Daniel Hand in the semifinal round. Although the Yellowjackets wound up losing to Guilford in the final, Head Coach Craig Brown was pleased to see his team persevere through a challenging campaign to play on the SCC’s biggest stage.
“We were happy to make it to the postseason. Obviously, this year no one knew how the season was going to go with the pandemic,” Coach Brown said. “We had some hardships between injuries, practice, COVID, all the stuff going on. We were able to play by the rules, get ourselves really motivated, adhere by all the restrictions, and make it to the postseason to compete in a title game.”
No. 2 seed East Haven started off the Division C Tournament by hosting No. 3 Hand for a semifinal showdown on Nov. 11. In a tightly contested matchup, the Easties defeated the Tigers by the score of 25-22, 25-18, 25-27, 25-17 to move on to the final.
Senior captain outside hitter Carly Cordova had seven kills, eight digs, and five aces for East Haven. Senior middle blocker Taylor Salato had nine kills with two blocks, while junior setter Kayla Stefania handed out 33 assists to go with three kills and two aces in the victory.
“In the end, it’s a game of adjustments. We played well the first two games, and [Hand] began to make those adjustments. They began pushing the ball a little tighter and used their height against us,” said Brown. “In game four, we got a little more aggressive with our serving again, and we started to focus on attacking, instead of playing with tips and giving away free balls. We forced more unearned errors on their side, creating more opportunities for us.”
Two days later, East Haven played No. 1 seed Guilford in the divisional final and dropped a 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-15) decision at Guilford High School. Cordova had eight kills and seven digs, Salato had five kills with one block, and senior libero Megan Gaudioso posted 10 digs for East Haven, which finished at 7-7 on the year.
Despite the defeat, Coach Brown was impressed with how hard the Yellowjackets battled right through the final point of the season.
“It was great to get there, but the goal is the same. You’ve got to put yourself in a position to win. Unfortunately, we came up a bit short,” Brown said. “Our seniors did a great job. They have all contributed throughout the season in big ways and in big moments. Hopefully, the younger girls see the accomplishments of this year’s senior class and are motivated and willing to compete at the same level.”
East Haven’s senior class includes Cordova and fellow captain Tori Heaphy, an outside hitter, along with Salato, Gaudioso, opposite hitters Kayla Goodrich and Gia Buonfiglio, and middle blocker Brooke Clancy. This is the largest senior class that Brown has coached in his tenure at East Haven. He said that all seven seniors were always motivated and had an unwavering drive to succeed.
“They wanted to go for it. A lot of them were there for the run to the state championship game a few years ago,” said Brown. “They got to see success, and they really wanted to work and compete for their own success. They helped build this program up to new heights.”
Heading into next year, Coach Brown is hopeful that many of the younger players who stepped up this season will continue improving and become bigger contributors in 2021. Brown noted that current juniors Stefania and outside hitter Magdalena Barthel will be taking on more responsibility as seniors next year. The same can be said of the Yellowjackets’ current sophomore corps that includes outside hitters Adriana Franceschi, Autumn Clancy, and Lily Gagnon; middle blockers Jessica Urban and Alice Stettinger; and setter Nicole SanGiovanni.
In terms of this year’s team, Coach Brown said that the personality of the Easties is what set them apart. He called the team a “fun-loving group” of athletes who “made you want to come back no matter if you were coming off a win or a loss.”
Brown added that this year’s achievements are going to raise the bar for the Yellowjackets in future campaigns. Coach Brown believes that East Haven’s returning athletes can learn a lot from how this year’s team handled all of the ups and downs of the past few months.
“We’re a feisty group. We want to go out there, no matter what our detriments are, and we want to compete,” Brown said. “We don’t just want to compete for wins. We want to compete for championships. Over the last couple of years, we have gotten close. We plan on keeping up with that, taking the next step, and bringing one home pretty soon.”
The athletes in the East Haven girls’ volleyball program are senior captains Carly Cordova and Tori Heaphy; fellow seniors Gia Buonfiglio, Brooke Clancy, Kayla Goodrich, Taylor Salato, and Megan Gaudioso; juniors Magdalena Barthel and Kayla Stefania; sophomores Adriana Franceschi, Jessica Urban, Lily Gagnon, Alice Stettinger, Nicole SanGiovanni, and Autumn Clancy; and freshmen Brooke Ciscone, Nicole Brown, Nevaeh Caffalette, Hayli Nuzzelillo, Mia Ponte, Ava Avena, and Isabella Desrosiers.