The Guilford volleyball team has reeled off seven victories in as many matches to begin the 2019 campaign. After opening the year with a 3-1 win over non-conference opponent East Lyme, the Indians have posted six-straight shutouts by earning 3-0 victories versus North Haven, East Haven, Harding, Sheehan, Hillhouse and, most recently, their biggest rival, Hand.

Last week, Head Coach Laura Anastasio’s club claimed a pair of home victories against fellow SCC Housatonic Division opponents. Guilford notched a 3-0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-9) win versus Hillhouse on Sept. 23 and then defeated Hand by a 3-0 (25-9, 25-22, 25-23) score on Sept. 27. The Indians have an overall record of 7-0 to go with a mark of 3-0 in the division.

Guilford is already one of the top squads in the Class L rankings this year. While the Indians are excited about the strong start, Coach Anastasio knows that there plenty of tough matchups to come.

“We have most of the tougher part of our schedule still in front of us,” Anastasio said. “I knew from our preseason and with the players we had returning, that we’d have a good team. These were the games we figured we’d win.”

Guilford is taking on defending SCC champion Cheshire this week, after which the Indians will play road matches against Shelton and Amity. Anastasio believes that this difficult stretch will help her team get battle-tested for the second half of its campaign.

“We’re right where we should be. Now, we’re looking at a challenge,” said Anastasio. “This will be a test, meeting three very good teams in succession.”

The Indians have met the test by netting a combined record of 42-10 during the past two years. Guilford advanced to the semifinals of the Class L State Tournament in 2017 and then reached the quarterfinal round last year.

Coach Anastasio said that strong camaraderie among her players is one of the biggest reasons why the Indians have seen so much success in recent seasons.

“They do just about everything together. I say this every year,” Anastasio said. “Over the summer, most of them attended a summer camp at Yale. We had our car wash. There’s a nice meshing from the freshmen right up through the varsity.”

Of course, having a strong group of skilled players doesn’t hurt, either. In last week’s win over Hillhouse, junior outside hitter Emma Appleman had 11 kills with six digs and five aces to help Guilford sweep the Academics. Fellow senior captain Juliet Young, who’s in her third season as starting libero, recorded 10 digs to go with three aces. Senior Sabrina Zuniga added five kills, four digs, and four aces for the Indians.

Appleman turned in another big performance in the Hand victory by slamming down a season-high 21 kills. Senior captain setter Eva Ott Hill handed out 32 assists to complement her eight digs and two aces. On the defensive side, Young contributed 15 digs for Coach Anastasio’s squad.

“I like our kids’ approach going into every match,” said Anastasio. “Everyone has fun getting on the bus and during a ride to an away game. Everyone is lighthearted until the game begins. That’s when the focus and drive to win kicks in.”

Appleman is averaging 11 kills per match from the outside, where she gets support from another junior hitter, Carson Halbower. Fellow junior Emily Brouder is proving a force in the middle by blocking four shots per contest. Zuniga is also providing valuable minutes in the middle with fellow senior Olivia Lawlor doing so on the outside. Ott Hill is averaging 17 assists per match, while Young leads the undefeated Indians in digs.

“Our kids are rarely intimidated,” Coach Anastasio said. “We all know that we’re doing well in [Class L]. We keep our eyes on the leaderboard. We know who’s ranked where.”

Once again, Class L is loaded this season with perennial stalwarts like Barlow, RHAM, Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, and Avon all vying for the state crown.

“We usually end up playing outside conference teams when we get to the tournament,” Anastasio said. “It just makes us work harder in our conference. We need to be ready when the time rolls around.”

Anastasio added that she feels grateful to have two solid assistants—Jeff DeMaio and Alyssa Dunn—involved with the coaching staff in her program.

“You need good coaches surrounding you, and I have them,” she said.