With a crew of athletes which was almost entirely new to the sport of volleyball – and being new to town herself – Londonderry High first-year junior varsity girls’ volleyball coach Olivia Smith had her hands all kinds of full this past August at the start of preparations for the 2017 campaign.
And even though her Lady Lancers only wound up winning three of the 13 matches they played, coach Smith ended up being left with the feeling that her contingent had made great strides toward being very solid players in a program which generated a good amount of excitement in Division I this autumn.
“This team was unique in that all but two of the girls had never touched a volleyball before,” said the coach. “We spent quite a bit of time this season working on the fundamentals of volleyball, like how to manipulate our bodies to keep the skills simple but strong at the same time. Each of the girls set an overall goal for the season, and many of them had the goal to get their serve consistently over the net by the end of the season. All of them reached this goal, and one of them met it during the final game of the season.”
And the JV group’s campaign had a distinct turning point at a juncture of the season when loads of area folks have their attention tuned in to what’s going on in high school sports in the local area.
“I think the highlight of the season for my girls was Mack Plaque. We went into that match not having won a single set all season,” said Smith. “The girls were excited and the energy in the gym had been building up all week. Their number one goal was to ‘BEAT PA’. Since I’m new to Londonderry, I didn’t realize how big this day really is to these two schools. It was so much fun being in the gym on this day. The girls really played their best volleyball that Saturday morning. It was the first time they really let go of each of their fears, insecurities, and worries, and just played volleyball. It was so much fun to watch. After we won the first set pretty handily, the girls celebrated like they had just won the lottery, not really thinking that we had two more sets to play! The girls served their way to an awesome three-set victory to win our first match of the season, and it was a bonus to win it in straight sets.”
The LHS roster included outside-hitter Jordan Galluzzo, OH and defensive specialist Kayla Cournoyer, middle-hitter Leonie Wittig, setter Carleigh McRitchie, MH Katrina King, setter Amanda Curry, versatile Cassie Galarneau, setter Nicole LaRock, OH Madi Sabatella, setter Liv Facendola, and MH Danamei Wright.
The Lady Lancers’ second victory of the season came over the Timberlane Regional Lady Owls in Plaistow.
“The entire match was neck-and-neck as we were pretty evenly matched with their team,” said coach Smith. “It was a serving battle most of the night. We lost the first set, won the second by two, and then took the third. This game was a big moment for us because it was when the girls really stuck with their goal that they had set before the game of playing with energy and getting five, three-hit touches per set. They surpassed this second goal by getting eight, three hits in the first set, seven in the second, and five in the third.”
Looking back on what was certainly a successful campaign in so many areas filled with making young players knowledgeable about their sport and giving them a solid fundamental foundation, Smith had a lot of good stuff to recall.
“Aside from the skills, this season was a big learning year for our team. The girls not only needed to learn how to play volleyball, but many of them were learning how to play on a team with 10 other girls that they maybe had never met before,” said the coach. “We spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other and building our trust. Then we were learning what it means to be on a team. When I look back at this season, I see so much growth in these girls. Not only in their play, but in their attitudes and respect toward others. To me, this is what high school sports is all about. We learned a lot. We learned a lot about each other, ourselves, and volleyball. I can’t wait to see how they grow as individuals and players over the next four years.”
The forward motion is set for future success.