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11/18/2024 01:17 AMThe Guilford volleyball team may not have walked away with a prestigious form of hardware in a state tournament trophy this fall, but the girls finished the season with a lot to be proud of after dominating their conference from top to bottom.
Having a squad sporting many veterans with experience in the sport, Guilford pulled off an unblemished record within the Quinnipiac Division of the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC). After earning a bye in the first round, the Grizzlies’ division victory was officially sealed when they defeated Foran 3-2 on Oct. 28 in the quarterfinals of the SCC Tournament. Guilford then went on to compete in the semifinals, where the Grizzlies fell 3-0 vs. Amity Regional in a tight match in which most of the sets were decided by three or less points.
Guilford then headed to the Class L State Tournament as the No. 6 seed. After a first-round bye, the Grizzlies hosted No. 11 Berlin in the second round on Nov. 7 and won 3-1. Guilford’s dominant season came to an end in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 9, when the squad traveled to third-seeded Woodstock Academy and lost 3-0.
Despite coming up short in the end, Head Coach Marisa Ceneri, who has been with the team for four seasons, was still very proud to see the development of the strong senior leaders on the squad and the way they came together on the court this fall.
“The season went really well; we ended with an overall record of 16-8. We won the Quinnipiac Division, going 8-0,” said Ceneri. “I had eight seniors on my squad this year, and when I started four years ago as the coach, they were freshmen. So it was amazing to watch them grow and see how they played to get to the varsity level. It has just been an amazing experience for the last four years with these eight girls.”
At the top of the Grizzlies’ senior leadership core were their two captains in Kate Footit (setter/opposite hitter) and Sam Alberghini (middle hitter). Both girls stayed on top of team activities, making sure everyone was on the same page and helping to make Ceneri’s job a little bit easier throughout the campaign.
“We did a lot of preseason work prior to the season. They were my right hands, always on top of everything, sending out messages and emails. They had captains’ practices,” said Ceneri. “I had a great relationship with the both of them, which played into our successful season. They were just true leaders on and off the court at all times.”
Looking further into the depth chart for Guilford, all of the seniors were heavily involved in the action on the court, and several key players stepped up throughout the campaign.
“Out of the eight seniors, five were starters out of the starting six, and then everybody got rotated in when I had a chance to get the lineup set,” Ceneri said. “The majority of them got a lot of playing time.”
The starting six included Footit, Sasha Goetz (senior, setter/opposite hitter), Alberghini, Hayden O’Brien (senior, defensive specialist), and Isabella Lopez Henriquez Meza (junior, middle hitter). Beyond that, Guilford had many weapons that played large contributions during the in-match rotations.
“This season we played with mostly nine girls, including the six starters and Abby Williams (senior, defensive specialist/middle hitter), Nora Stewart (junior, outside hitter), Maya Thompson (junior, middle hitter), and Katherine Eaton (sophomore, defensive specialist),” said Ceneri. “Katherine was a huge contributor for the varsity team this year, as were seniors Harper Brooks (defensive specialist), Hailey Murray (defensive specialist), and Alex Kukta (outside hitter). All of the seniors had a role to play on the team this year.”
Stepping into the postseason portion of the campaign with a 14-6 record, Guilford added two more wins and just two losses to close things out. One constant with the squad all season long was that the Grizzlies always remained optimistic, ensuring to give it all they had before the last set.
“The girls kept the positivity and their confidence levels up. Each game we went into, the intensity was up, and we just mentally stayed focused. We knew what we had to do to continue to win, and it felt good,” Ceneri said. “Each game got easier and easier. Obviously when we played harder teams like Amity and Cheshire, that is where we struggled a bit. Defeating Foran gave us the division title, making us undefeated in our division.”
In terms of All-Conference accolades, Alberghini was named to the All-SCC First Team, and Kukta earned a spot on the Second Team. As division champions, the Grizzlies learned to never back down from tough opponents, and facing steep competition only kept them motivated and hungry.
“The only challenge that we faced is when we had to compete against a team that might have been at a different level than us, like Lauralton Hall, Cheshire, and Amity. We had to challenge ourselves more to compete as a team, and with having errors here and there, we were not able to compete at that level,” said Ceneri. “We never let down or gave up against those teams that were more competitive. We always played to our highest potential, and that is what I am extremely proud of.”
With most of the varsity lineup graduating next June, Ceneri knows there will be some holes to fill and that there may be some bumps in the road, but she has faith in the returning crop of players to step up into more important leadership roles and continue to sustain a winning culture.
“I look forward to next year with my returning players because we are losing those eight seniors that have been with me since my first year coaching,” said Ceneri. “It may be a bit of a rebuilding year. With the talent that I have with the underclassmen, as well as the players now, I look forward to it. I have a lot of dedicated girls, which makes it a lot easier because they want to be there and want to play.”
Ceneri is assisted on the sideline by Jeff DeMaio (Junior Varsity coach) and Arthur “Art” Fonicello, who is the freshman coach.
The Grizzlies roster is comprised of Alberghini, Brooks, Footit, Goetz, Kukta, Murray, O’Brien, Williams, Camila Cordova (junior, setter), Marlee Kruczek (junior, defensive specialist), Lopez, Stewart, Thompson, Emma Vittorio (junior, setter), Sophia Alberti (sophomore, defensive specialist), Eaton, Shelby Grinold (sophomore, defensive specialist), Riley Mills (sophomore, defensive specialist), Sarah O’Brien (sophomore, outside hitter), Isla O’Connell (sophomore, middle hitter), and Jill Violette (sophomore, setter).