Finley Girls’ Volleyball Features 40 Players

The two J. Taylor Finley Middle School girls’ volleyball teams are in the midst of their season. Each squad will play 10 meets, split evenly between home and away sites.

About 90 Finley seventh and eighth graders tried out for the two teams, which are coached by Woodhull physical education teacher Carrie Postel and Huntington High School physical education teacher Lauren Blackburn.

The two Finley teams practice daily in the school. Home meets are livestreamed on the Finley Blue Devils Sports YouTube channel. 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 consists of seventh graders Sydney Amar, Hayden Amar, Molly Barba, Ava Bond, Katelyn Brite, Juliette Creegan, Sofia Felice, Pfeiffer Laycock, Delaney Madden, Annie Mendoza Virula and eighth grader Elisabetta Arra, Victoria Creegan, Valentina Diaz Gonzalez, Charlotte Krause, Annie Lopez Berrios, Shelby Meystrik, Gianna Parides, Lily Policastro, Maya Schneider and Annabel Stein.

The Finley-White team features seventh graders Emma Aversano, Natalie Buchner, Amiyah Herring, Makayla Marothiere, Anna Matarese, Skylar Reign Moore, Rafaella Moss, Rose Poli, Lia Rotunno, Savanna Sturges and Ava Tortora and eighth graders Nina Alarac, Zoe Chiclacos, Olivia Corcoran, Norah Golden, Keira Lynch, Emma Martin, Ella Schaefer, Gianna Skrobela and Abigail Uvena.

Blackburn has been a Huntington UFSD faculty member since September 2021. She worked as a health teacher at the high school and Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School in 2021/22 and has been a high school physical education teacher since September 2022.

Ms. Blackburn obtained an undergraduate degree at SUNY Cortland and a master’s degree at Adelphi University with certificates in both adapted physical education and health education. She coaches varsity Unified bowling, JV girls’ volleyball and lacrosse and middle school girls’ volleyball. She is also co-advisor to the high school’s Grandfriends club.

Prior to coming to Huntington, Ms. Blackburn was a teaching assistant and coach at Cold Spring Harbor. A graduate of Walt Whitman High School, she is a lifelong Huntington resident.

Postel has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2001. She obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at Long Island University-C.W. Post and Touro College, respectively. Before coming to the district, she was a part-time health and physical education teacher in the neighboring Elwood School District.

Mrs. Postel has coached varsity, junior varsity and middle school girl’s volleyball and middle school girl’s track and field.