WOODBURY — When Nonnewaug volleyball coach Martin Malaspina walked into tryouts Aug. 24, he couldn’t believe how many players were waiting for him in the gym.
“I am not sure why so many girls tried out, but I’m not going to complain – it’s a great problem to have,” said Malaspina. “I think that was the largest freshman class we’ve ever had, and I’m excited for them to move through the year with our team.”
The unexpected number of players surprised many of the upperclassmen, but it showed the team they have a chance this season.
After last year’s successful season, the team is shooting for a better year and a shot at the Berkshire League championship.
Maggie Keane, a senior captain on this year’s team, tries to help the new freshmen fit into the team. She also has welcomed them into their new volleyball family.
“I think the freshmen are very promising, [and] they show lots of effort,” said Keane. “The freshmen are diving around the gym and always passing whenever they get the chance. There were a lot of cuts, though.”
Taking a pragmatic approach, on the last day of tryouts, Malaspina had to make the decision of cutting more than 10 players. He called the experience “horrible” but necessary.
“That’s my least favorite day of coaching every single year,” said Malaspina. “It’s very difficult because because I can’t tell what someone is capable of over the course of four days, so it’s very hard to cut them before they get to try, but there’s only six girls on the court at a time, so we keep as many possible players as we can. I hope they all found a great other fall sport or activity for them to enjoy.”
Fourteen freshmen made the team. Grace Hart, a freshman who plays on the JV volleyball squad, was grateful to find out she was one of the players to make the team.
“It felt good knowing that I’ll be able to improve over the years and build relationships with my teammates,” says Hart. “Tryouts weren’t physically challenging, but [they] were mentally challenging because of the lack of spots open on the team, but it helped me to work harder overall.”
The Chiefs are off to a 7-1 start to this season with their only loss coming against defending league champion Northwestern. The rematch will be Oct. 14 at Nonnewaug.
