Lady Bulldogs Have Bright Future Ahead
To most who are used to seeing the Stone Bridge Bulldog volleyball squad dominate on the court, they may view their 8-5 start on the season as a disappointment. However, the coaches and players on this team look at their start as a good one, and are excited to get the second half of the season underway.
The story going into the 2007 season was that seven players from last year's team had graduated, with only two remaining from the varsity squad. The rest of the team is made up of seven players who made the jump from Junior Varsity to Varsity, and three freshmen. Experience and team chemistry were huge concerns coming into the season. However, after getting through the toughest part of their schedule with a winning record, the Bulldogs are gearing up for the final 11 games of their season and hope to still contend for a Liberty District title.
"I came into this season not too sure what to expect...with the exception of the two captains, Natalie Driskill and Meghan DeMartino, it is an entirely new team. But we got through our toughest opponents, and now we're hoping...we can contend with everybody [in the District]," said head coach Jill Raschiatore.
Stone Bridge's toughest team they will face throughout the rest of the regular season will be the Langley Saxons, who are returning most of their players from last year and currently have a record of 8-2. "I didn't expect too much, record wise, this year," said Amanda Miller, one of the three freshmen on the team. "But we have all stepped up and performed very well at the times we needed to, and now we feel that we can contend for a District title."
"I love the team, I get along with everybody," said Christine Beckham, another one of the freshmen on the varsity squad. "We are all friends on the court and off, so that definitely helps with building chemistry." One of the most important things to many coaches is to set goals for their team. For Coach Raschiatore, she set three goals for her team. So far, they seem to be on their way to succeeding in achieving them. "Our first goal is simply to finish in the top two in the District. We know our top competitor is going to be Langley, but if we can have a lot of success in district play, possibly only losing one or two games during that time, I know we can accomplish that goal. Our second goal is to make a strong showing at the Regional tournament. And our final goal is to be playing our best game by the time we do reach Regionals. Because with such a young team, the most important thing is to keep improving throughout the season," added coach Raschiatore.
Another surprising thing about this team is many of the young players, such as Beckham, are playing at positions they are not used to playing, and yet, they have had success so far this year. "I hadn't played middle hitter in almost two years," said Beckham, "so I made it my goal over the off-season to improve my abilities at that spot so I could provide for this team as much as I could." With the toughest part of the season completed, and Districts about to begin, it will be interesting to see if this Bulldog team can come together, show what they're made of, and prevail as Liberty District Champions for the 2007 season.
