The J. Taylor Finley Middle School girls’ volleyball program is thriving. More than 90 seventh and eighth graders participated in three days of tryouts. The district added a second team this winter in response to overwhelming interest in the sport.
The Finley-Blue squad is coached by Woodhull Intermediate School physical education teacher Carrie Postel while the Finley-White team is led by Huntington High School physical education teacher Lauren Blackburn, who also coached the JV level team this past fall.
Postel and Blackburn both have varsity level coaching experience and current Blue Devil varsity girls’ volleyball head coach Todd Donaghy is consulting with the Finley program this winter after coordinating a free intramural program during the off-season.
The “blue” and “white” team designations are taken from the district’s blue and white colors. It’s a designation is consistent with the system utilized by other districts.
The Finley-Blue team coached by Postel includes Angela Abbatiello, Ava Bencivenga, Grace Callery, Amelia Carino, Katherine Gordon, Cassidy Harris, Sophie Hoffman, Matison Kindelmann, Olivia Koiyet, Nallely Linares Guardado, Elliot Manu, Mackenzie McKay, Perla Nativi Ulloa, Kaylin Olivo, Violet Palacios, Ashley Palma, Taylor Ranft, Dakota Respass, Melanie Rodriquez and Lia Zivkovic.
The Finley-White squad coached by Blackburn includes Mea Andrea, Alexandra Boeckmann, Hanna Boyle, La-Khiasja Casey, Katherine Duke, Madelyn Falk, Violetta Fox, Gabriella Jones, Madyn Kalb, Manpreet Kaur, Dylan McKean, Logan Miller, McKenzie Moore, Ella Palatnek, Campbell Proctor, Karina Rodriquez, Jocelyn Thorbourne, Andreana Vlahos and Aaliyah White.
The two Finley teams both have 10 matches on their respective schedule, including a December 16 meet that will see Finley-Blue square off against Finley-White at 4:30 p.m.
All Finley home matches will be livestreamed for free viewing on either the Huntington Blue Devil Sports or Finley Blue Devil Sports YouTube channels.