From Sections to Regionals to States and beyond, the girls Suffern Volleyball team had an incredible season that could not have been more successful. Captain Elizabeth Flaherty recalled the season as “exhilarating”. The girls volleyball team won their last section game before section finals aganist North Rockland and it went to five games, which really got the crowd and team going. The team beat Arlington in four games, Suffern had won the first two and lost the third, but pulled through and won the fourth. Suffern has been in the same position at section finals aganist Arlington for the past three years and this was the year that the team knew they were going all the way. After the girls won their section (Section 1) they advanced to the regional games in Elmira, New York. The girls volleyball team took that match because they were so determined to make it to regional finals, which is the furthest the girls Suffern Volleyball Team has ever gone. Regional finals took place at Bard College and the team won that match in three games aganist Pine Bush, which has been one of their rivals for many years.


Then the girls volleyball team was off to states in Glens Falls, New York. “It felt so good to know we were good enough to compete at the states level. It was great knowing we were making history and a positive outcome to what seemed to be like a never ending season,” said Yasmin Dasilva. The team knew that they had what it took to go all the way; they always put in a hundred percent. All the players were energetic to keep the team pumped and ready to play any type of team, good or bad. The girls Suffern Volleyball Team definitely showed other schools in their division what they were made of because the other teams always showed fear when they walked in the Suffern gym ready to play. Coach Luciano had said, “We were already on the map of strong volleyball programs in the area but this was an accomplishment!”


But after states the season did finally come to an end and that was the last time the seniors would be playing on the Girls Suffern Volleyball varsity team. The team was very close to the seniors and they were considered role models because of their accomplishments on and off the court. “We will definitely miss them but I know we will have girls coming in and contributing to the success of the team. The new team will have to use the experience they had from this past year as a foundation for the new success,” Coach Luciano had concluded after the season ended. The new players coming up from JV team will have to live up to the expectations of the players already on the varsity team. Many improvements will have to be made in time for the next season in order to get even further in states. “The next season needs to be drama free and just maintaining focus will get the team far,” said senior Yasmin Dasilva. But Coach Luciano had said, “We will need to be quicker and have a deeper bench (more involved and positive). Many of the girls will have multiple roles on the team.” So either way every single player on the varsity team will have to step it up and always put an exstatic amount of effort into practice and the games.


The volleyball team was truely a family, they always brought each player up and they were always having such a good time together. Laura Denlinger said, “we could talk to each other about our problems and how to fix them without getting offended because we knew it was just out of love and everyone just wanted to help.” Being close on the team made it easier to communicate and motivate each other because on the court anyone could see that it made such a difference. “Being able to connect on the court definitely helped the team improve their volleyball skills and emotionally,” said Elizabeth Flaherty. Next year the varsity team will be very different knowing that the team is losing five players but the team will have to be able to become a close family once again with the new players coming up from the JV team.


To think that the Girls Suffern Volleyball Team went to states, it only makes the team want to try harder and be able to make it further in the next season and hopefully push hard enough to make it to states again. Every aspect of this team is changing because people change, seniors are leaving, positions change and the opposing teams change, but someway and somehow the next Varsity Girls Suffern Volleyball Team will have a stuning and impressive season.