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11/14/2022 10:20 AMWhile the East Haven volleyball team did not arrive at its desired preseason destination of qualifying for postseason play, the Yellowjackets certainly grew as a group and set the table to make good on that playoff goal for many years to come, as several underclassmen rose to the occasion this season.
Head Coach Craig Brown’s squad finished its campaign with an overall record of 4-15, equaling its win total from a year ago. The 25-member club only boasted three seniors, setting the stage for many younger girls to grow into roles beyond their age–something Brown praised the Yellowjackets for as he reflected on the strides made through East Haven’s 19 court contests.
“Obviously, we wanted to be a postseason team coming into this year, and we would have liked to win more consistently,” said Brown. “We had a young team, so we knew this year would be challenging, yet the underclassmen took on leadership roles. We have six freshmen that saw significant varsity time. We did not win as many games as we would have liked to, but the girls gained a lot of experience, which we think will help us get back to the postseason.”
The first triumph is always the sweetest in the early stages of a season, and that was true to form with regards to the Easties when they notched their initial victory by a 3-1 final over Career on the road on Sept. 23. Brown was additionally prideful of his team hanging tough and taking some of the SCC’s best to their limits.
“The first win is always big. We had a slow start to the year, but the Career win was huge,” Brown said. “They just kept a positive mentality throughout that slow start and win. Sacred Heart Academy was a postseason team this year, and we took them to five sets both times we played them. It showed we were ready to compete with the bigger teams; we just need to take that next step.”
As a majority of the girls on the roster were incoming freshmen, Brown knew that he had to readjust and reevaluate his coaching approach with this 2022 edition of the Yellowjackets. It proved to be the right course of action with the youngsters quickly garnering experience, success, and satiable satisfaction.
“With a team like this, you will have ups and downs; we had 25 girls on the team with 13 freshmen. We had to go back to basics with coaching,” said Coach Brown. “Once they started to learn, they gained confidence, and you could see the smiles on their faces. Their attitudes began to perk up, and it led to more success as the year went on.”
Nicole SanGiovanni was the lone captain from the East Haven senior class, acting as a setter who led the team in assists with 135 dishes. Rounding out the senior trio was hitter Alice Stettinger (leading the club in kills with 100) and libero and Second Team All-SCC designee Autumn Clancy, who topped the team in digs with a whopping mark of 104.
Brown remarked that it was a family affair with these three stellar seniors, and he is thankful to have had them here to produce a pedigree of prominence for the Yellowjackets’ future.
“The seniors were great kids to have for the program,” said Brown on his final-year athletes. “They were all 2nd-generation players; they were great kids that came from great families. I was glad to have them be part of this program.”
East Haven does indeed say good-bye to three impact players, though the outlook is still very bright for Fall of 2023 with underclassmen continuing where they left off this campaign.
“Hypothetically, we expect to be much stronger and push towards the postseason, but the girls will have to step up,” Brown said. “We graduated three girls who were major contributors, so we will need the returning girls to step into bigger shoes.”
East Haven posted victories twice against Career (3-1 on Sept. 23 and a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 15), along with decisions over Hillhouse (3-2 on Sept. 28 and 3-0 on Oct. 19).
Naturally, there is always the desire to have a higher win tally, however, Brown is confident in his young core and explained that the Yellowjackets have great prospects to be able to accomplish exactly that a year from now.
“You always wish you could win more games; if you win 20, then you want 22,” said Brown. “But we made some really good progress. The younger girls developed and the seniors were great leaders. We hope to turn the four wins this year into hopefully at least eight next year and push towards that postseason berth.”
East Haven’s junior class for the 2022 season included Ava Avena and Nicole Brown. The Yellowjackets’ sophomore corps featured Lexi Heaphy, Mia Abely, and Lily Saenz. Freshmen Kelsey Hinckley, Eva Backhaus, Emily Putenis, and Ava Panico all saw some varsity time for the Easties this year.