The East Haven volleyball team squared off against some stiff competition this year and put forth a quality performance that included a division title with a pair of postseason bids. The Yellowjackets finished with an overall record of 11-10, went 8-0 in the SCC Quinnipiac Division to take the title, and also qualified for both the SCC and Class L State tournaments in 2019.

Head Coach Craig Brown said that winning the Quinnipiac Division with an unblemished record was his team’s biggest achievement. East Haven finished ahead of Sacred Heart Academy (6-2), Career (4-4), and Wilbur Cross (0-8) to capture the crown.

“In terms of accomplishments, we won the division for the first time since 2015,” said Brown. “Aside from the division, we played a level 1 SCC schedule and still made it to the SCC and State tournaments. This was a really good group of girls.”

Coach Brown wanted East Haven to get tested with a difficult schedule, and he certainly got his wish. In addition to taking on top-notch SCC teams like Guilford, Amity, and Cheshire, the Yellowjackets also faced strong non-conference opponents, Seymour and Woodland. While they weren’t able to win any of these contests, the Easties benefited from navigating such a challenging slate.

“Obviously, you want to win every game, and it’s frustrating when you lose, but we finished over .500 with this schedule,” Brown said. “We played Guilford, who won the SCC title and made it to the state final. Amity won a state title the year before, Cheshire is always in the conversation, and Seymour won its second-straight [Class] M title. There really wasn’t a break in terms of our schedule this year, so we had to be prepared to play.”

Samantha Schlottman served as East Haven’s senior captain this fall. Schlottman recorded 70 kills on the year and was the face of the program both on and off the court.

“Samantha was tremendous. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from her. She took care of everything, from working with the coaches, making sure her teammates were prepared, preseason activities. She was fantastic. We were very grateful to have her,” Coach Brown said. “How things lined up, we felt Sam would be the most capable of handling the full schedule during the season and in the offseason with preparations to get everything rolling. She did a tremendous job and made the coaches’ lives simpler.”

The Yellowjackets featured three other seniors on their roster: middle hitter Eliza Goldberg, setter Bella Ragaini, and opposite hitter Alexia Dottori. Goldberg posted 180 kills with 27 blocks on her way to earning All-SCC Second Team honors.

Ragaini had 549 assists on the year and broke the school record for career assists by handing out 2,234 helpers throughout her four-year run at East Haven. Ragaini, who broke Ashley Redente’s record of 1,246 assists, also solidified a spot on the All-SCC First Team.

“We try to force the ball to Bella, because she’s good at running our offense,” said Brown. “It’s tremendous to find the right person for that situation.”

Traditionally, East Haven is a team that likes to move the ball around to its outside hitters, but Goldberg’s play in the middle merited a bigger role for the senior. Goldberg definitely delivered this year, as did junior Taylor Salato, who finished the season with 114 kills and 30 blocks.

“Overall, we’re still on the shorter end of the spectrum, but we got good contributions from Eliza and Taylor in the middle,” Brown said. “They did a good job of keeping up in the middle. They were tremendous on the inside, and both took advantage of their opportunities.”

Junior Carly Cordova recorded 150 kills, while fellow junior Tori Heaphy had 192 digs and 71 aces for East Haven. Cordova and Heaphy will lead the Yellowjackets as the team’s senior captains in 2020.

“This was the first time they played substantially on varsity. They made tremendous strides to contribute at a high level,” said Brown of Cordova and Heaphy. “They’re going to step up as captains. We’re going to look to them to step up in terms of leadership. We’re also expecting key contributions next year from other seniors like Brooke Clancy, Salato, Megan Gaudioso, Gia Buonfiglio, and Kayla Goodrich.”

From the Sidelines

The East Haven volleyball team's roster featured senior captain Samantha Schlottman; fellow seniors Bella Ragaini, Eliza Goldberg, and Alexia Dottori; juniors Gia Buonfiglio, Brooke Clancy, Carly Cordova, Tori Heaphy, Kayla Goodrich, Taylor Salato, and Megan Gaudioso; sophomores Magdelena Barthel and Kayla Stefania; and freshmen Jessica Urban, Adrianna Geremia, Adriana Franceschi, Madelyn Camera, Lily Gagnon, Autumn Clancy, Julia Nargi, Alice Stettinger, Nicole SanGiovanni, and Gianna Bernovich.

Craig Brown finished his ninth season as the Yellowjackets' head coach. East Haven's assistant coach is program alum Amanda Bradley, who graduated in 2013.

East Haven posted a record of 10-8 during the regular season. The Easties picked up two victories against Branford (3-1 and 3-2), Sacred Heart Academy (3-1 and 3-2), Career (3-1 and 3-1), Lauralton Hall (3-1 and 3-0), and Wilbur Cross (3-0 and 3-0). The Yellowjackets took a pair of losses to Guilford (3-0 and 3-0), Amity (3-0 and 3-0), and Cheshire (3-0 and 3-0), along with one defeat against Seymour (3-0) and Woodland (3-1). East Haven won the SCC Quinnipiac Division with a record of 8-0 as a result of its victories versus Career, Lauralton Hall, Sacred Heart Academy, and Wilbur Cross.

The Easties were the No. 8 seed in the SCC Tournament and earned a 3-0 defeat over No. 9 seed West Haven in the first round. In the quarterfinals, East Haven took a 3-0 loss to top-seeded Guilford, which went on to win the tournament.

The Yellowjackets were the No. 16 seed in the Class L State Tournament. East Haven dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 17 seed Mercy in the first round to the finish the campaign at 11-10 overall.