WOODBURY – Through the first month of the season and as the calendar turns to October, players have noticed all the work done over the summer and preseason is paying off. The mid-point of the season is here and the extra practice time is paying dividends for NHS athletics.
Laila Jones, senior field hockey captain, has been on the team for all four years, and she thinks this year means more than anything, and a productive summer training session has helped.
“I feel like myself and the team have worked hard over the summer, and almost everyone is conditioned up to the standard,” Jones said as field hockey prepares to face off against Lakeview Regional Tuesday.
On the soccer pitch, senior girls soccer captain, Olivia Gwiazdoski agrees with Jones on how their team also feels prepared to finish the season strong and has a 6-1-1 record to date.
“I feel like preseason and all our scrimmages really helped us prepare for this season since it got us used to real game situations,” Gwiazdoski said.
On the volleyball court, summer sessions and a challenging September have the team ready to take on October. Senior volleyball captain Lana Zupnick also thinks that summer practices were beneficial to starting off the season on the right foot.
“As of right now I think we are prepared,” Zupnick said as the Chiefs currently rank 5th in Class M. “The summer practices and the summer games really helped, and we also have been playing together for a while.”
On the gridiron, Brady Herman, a senior on the football team, believes the boys have a strong finish season ahead of them.
(Courtesy of Noreen Chung)
“I definitely feel prepared with the new coaching staff, we got the returning guys ready to play ball,” Herman said ahead of a matchup against Amistad Friday night.
Herman also thinks there are many who are stepping up in others positions.
“Robert did not play last year but I think he’s filling RJ’s spot really well, on the defensive and offensive side of the field,” Herman said. “We have a tight end this year and we did not last year. We also have Sean Crawford stepping up. Rob and RJ’s are filling Reed and RJ’s spot.”
Football isn’t the only sport where returnees have made the jump into key roles. Even with lost seniors, many have stepped up in place. For Zupnick’s volleyball team, returning players have a crucial role in this year’s success.
“We have our setters and middles and liberos. We lost 3 starting seniors but many girls have been filling in the spot for them, and doing pretty well,” Zupnick said.
Likewise, NHS field hockey similarly has seen growth for returning players. Even with many graduated seniors, Jones thinks her fellow teammate on the defensive end, Fiona Scozzafava, the sophomore field hockey goalie, really steps up to the position.
“All the effort she puts into practice and games, and with how hard she works, I highly think she more than meets the expectations and even excels,” Jones said.
Many teams hope to have a successful season, and many feel that goal will be achieved.
“I’m pretty excited, especially for my last year,” Zupnick said. NHS volleyball currently has performed well in-conference following a series of challenging out-of-league matchups against teams like Brookfield and New Milford. “I’m excited for how the seasons are going to be, the people playing and the competition.”
With just a month left of the season, NHS volleyball, much like many of Nonnewaug’s fall sports, is poised for a deep run this October and November.
“I feel like we have it good this year,” Zupnick said.
