Never above .500 before, team had to avenge only division loss to Absegami
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD – It has been a record-setting season for the Mainland Mustang volleyball team. To top it off, the girls won their final match of the season to grab a share of the Cape-Atlantic League East Division crown.
A day after the April 20 victory, Absegami lost its final game of the season, giving the Mustangs sole possession of the division crown. Not only was it the first time the team won the division, it also was the first year the team sported a record above .500 (10-4 overall, 8-1 division) and earned for a home playoff game.
All this for a team that wasn’t sure it would have a season in 2020 or 2021.
Volleyball normally is a fall sport, but this season was pushed to the winter because of COVID-19 pandemic limits.
“Coming in I knew we were left with a ton of talent on the team, but being a COVID year we were pushed back from a September start date,” according to new head coach Torie Rich. “They said we would start in January, and then they said we would start in February. We finally started March 1. We got pushed around a little bit but we were still able to get a decent amount of games in, which was nice.
“I think we were one of the only teams that weren’t shut down because of COVID. That was a miracle, I think,” she laughed,
Her players “were a little upset in the beginning and then they kind of feared it would never happen,” Rich said of the season. “You’d see basketball teams getting shut down over the winter. When it did (happen), they were so excited to be out there. It’s another reason they didn’t take this season for granted.”
Absegami figured largely in the girls’ season this year, said Rich, who became the head coach this season with assistant coach Kelly (Dodd) Echevarria.
The Mustangs’ only loss of the season came early in a three-set match against Absegami (11-25, 25-18, 20-25). They didn’t lose a division game again and when they went up against the Braves last week on April 20, Mainland was sporting a 7-1 record and Absegami was 6-0.
Things didn’t start off well with Absegami taking the first set 25-20, but Mainland came back to win the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-19.
That first division loss of the season for the Braves meant both teams had a loss, making them co-champions of the division. A day later, the Braves lost to Pleasantville, giving Mainland sole possession of the division.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind,” Rich said.
“When we played them the first game at Absegami, that was the first time the girls won a set (against the Braves). Losing the game, they still took away that they won the set. So playing them here and beating them was a huge accomplishment,” Rich said. “Absegami is a great program. Their coach does a phenomenal job. They’re always the team to beat in the Cape-Atlantic League. Our girls really wanted that win. They did what they had to do to win.”
The girls celebrated their win that made them co-champions, but hearing about Absegami’s loss the following day was another thing.
“Within five minutes I think my phone had 100 text messages,” Rich said. “They were very excited, to say the least,” she laughed, noting some of them didn’t have time to really celebrate because the next day they were going into their spring sport. “Some of them didn’t get the text message about winning (the title) because they were out playing their other sport. It’s obviously a wild year.”
Beating Absegami was important, but more special was the first-round playoff game.
“The energy in there was amazing, electrifying even,” Rich said of the rematch with Absegami. She said the atmosphere was more intense during the team’s first-ever home playoff game with Lacey Township. “It was really awesome. The girls’ energy was great in the room, the girls worked together, they celebrated every point. That game was probably a highlight for them.”
The team beat Lacey and was able to advance to the second round, but lost to Toms River South, a team that made it all the way to the Group III sectional finals.
The Mustangs
The coach said the team had a mix of returning players and some younger players, including freshman Sydney Booth who “stepped up big this year.”
Booth is an outside hitter and the fellow freshman on the roster is middle blocker Kasey Bretones. The sophomores are Caroline Moyer and defensive specialist Maddie Simon. “We used Caroline Moyer in a new role this year as a Libero and she did not disappoint,” Rich said. “She will no doubt be one of the best Liberos in the league.”
The juniors on the team are outside hitter Bella Canesi, setters Cadence Fitzgerald and Julia Thornton, opposite hitter Laziah Wilson and middle blocker Olivia Leap.
The three seniors on the team are defensive specialist Emma King, opposite hitter Nikki Faragher and middle blocker Franky Pilli.
“I think we had really good chemistry on the court this year,” Rich said. “We had really good leaders at all levels. The leadership and commitment to this team were above and beyond what we expected going into it. These girls work hard. We didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare. We only had a week before our first scrimmage, but them came in and worked hard. Even on days we gave them off, they’d ask, ‘Can we have a practice?’ So we would have a practice.”
Against Toms River South, Fitzgerald had 12 assists and Leap had 7 kills and 4 blocks. Other kills included Pilli (4), Canesi and Faragher (3 each) and Booth (2). Canesi had 4 aces, Pilli had 3 and Booth had 2.
Against Absegami last week, Leap had 10 kills, Canesi had 8, Pilli and Laziah Wilson had 6 each, and Booth and Fitzgerald had 3 each. Fitzgerald also had 18 assists, Pilli had 4 and Wilson and Canesi had 3 each. Leap also had 6 blocks. Canesi led with 7 aces, Pilli had 5, Fitzgerald had 3, Emma King and Leap had 2 each and Wilson and Booth had 1 each.
Match, season and career records set
According to coach Rich, the Mustangs set three new match records this season. Leap set the kills record with 12, Canesi set the aces serving record with 13 and Fitzgerald set the assists record with 19 in one match.
Canesi topped that with a season record of 77 aces on her serve. She now also holds two Mainland career records for kills, with 236, and aces, with 179.
Fitzgerald owns the career assists record with 408 – and she is only a junior with another season to play. Canesi also is a junior.
“We are looking to be extremely competitive next year with this group,” Rich said.
Back to where it all began
Rich actually started the volleyball program as a club eight years ago. A club has to compete for two years before it can become a varsity sport. When that happened six years ago, however, Rich was an assistant coach on the field hockey team – also a fall sport – and couldn’t coach volleyball.
“I finally got my chance here,” she said.
She said when she was approached about coaching for the 2020 season, “it was actually Kelly who came to me. I said only if you’re my assistant,” Rich said.
“We got two practices in this summer before they moved us into the winter. It’s been a little stressful bouncing between two sports (she and Echevarria are also assistant coaches on the softball team). Either way, it was a fun first year for Kelly and I.”
She and Echevarria “went to Mainland Regional together and both graduated in 2005. “We played softball together here and we’ve been coaching softball together for seven years. I say we do everything together.”
“I’ve been coaching here a long time,” Rich said. “I would say this is probably the best group of kids I’ve ever coached. They’re just all good kids.
“We are losing two starters who are seniors, but we have two more right behind them so we’re looking to be really competitive next year,” she said. “We hope to be the team to beat next year.”
Turns out, the Mustangs were the team to beat this year.