Huntington JV Girls' Volleyball Struggles
The Huntington High School girls' junior varsity volleyball team had to content itself with small moral and on-court "victories" en route to a 1-13 overall record under head coach Lynn Hefele. The Blue Devils went down fighting in what amounted to be a collective "growing" season.
"All of the girls improved significantly," Hefele said. "They were a hardworking team that enjoyed practicing and competing. They are very close to believing that they can win."
The Blue Devils were led by server Sabrina Blakely, server/setter Lucie Lavelle, spikers Ellyn Byrnes, Tara Byrnes and Hayley Petrizzi and passers Daniella Schoen and Evelyn Brandon.
"While the team had only one match win this year, we did have game wins against tough league teams," Hefele said. "We also had four games where we lost by only two points. Winning the first game at Harborfields was the highlight of the season for the girls and then taking a game from Eastport [South Manor] in our last home game."
Blakely kept 70 of 80 serves in-bounds, while Lavelle was 48 for 54 when it was her turn to serve. The Byrnes sisters shined as strong middle hitters and blockers. Petrizzi closed the year with strong outside spikes and controlled serving. Schoen and Brandon displayed a knack for handling serves and passing the ball.
"Three freshman will return and nine sophomores," Hefele said. "With only four seniors graduating, we could have a lot of players returning to JV."