KARL PEARSON
The quest for the Northeastern Conference volleyball championship has begun.
Quite frankly, the defending champion Geneva Eagles have been eager to get started.
Coming off a season in which it swept through the conference undefeated, coach Annah Haeseler had the additional blessings of not losing any players to graduation and welcoming back 13 varsity letterwinners this year. That has stamped the Eagles as the team to beat in the final year of NEC competition before they head off to the Premier Athletic Conference and Harvey departs for the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
A poll of NEC coaches unanimously appointed Geneva the conference favorite again this year.
“Geneva didn’t lose anybody,” Conneaut coach Paula Ghiz said in sizing up the league.
Geneva features returning first-team Star Beacon Ashtabula County setter Breana Freeman, a senior, and junior outside hitter Taylor Webb. Freeman and Webb were also first-team Coaches’ All-NEC selections, along with senior outside hitter Brittany Powers, a second-team all-county selection.
Also back on the front lines for the Eagles are second-team all-county player Kristyn Pristov, a junior, as well as second-team all-league middle hitters Erica Napier and Autumn Scott, both seniors.
Also in the fold for Geneva are seniors Jen Avsec and Katie Pristov at outside hitter. Junior outside hitters Hillary Hambleton and Rachel Murray are back, as is junior libero and defensive specialist Aimee Jones.
The Eagles (3-0) are off to a fast start, but Haeseler is eager to see them get into league action and playing on a more consistent basis to find out how well they are working together and what issues need to be addressed.
“I think we’re ready to play and get into the league,” she said. “I think the girls are playing pretty well, but we need to develop a routine and get into a rhythm. With the league matches on Tuesdays and Thursday, we’re hoping that will happen.
“We’re tired of seeing each other at practice or going against each other in practice or playing against our JVs. We’re ready to play somebody else.”
The other four teams in the NEC are eager to see how they stack up against the rest of the competition. If the coaches are correct, they’re expecting a real battle for positions immediately behind Geneva.
Edgewood (1-4) was the preseason choice of the coaches to finish second, finishing with 15 points. Conneaut was right behind with 14, Jefferson had 13 points and Harvey finished with eight.
Edgewood is probably the most inexperienced team in the NEC, having lost nine girls to graduation. Coach Dave Jones will lean heavily on seniors Megan Dragon at outside hitter and defensive specialist, Kasi Mercilliott at setter and Lisa Millard at libero and junior Laura Coxe at middle hitter. He’ll be counting on players like senior newcomer Ashley Hunter, junior Brittany Morrison and freshman Ashley Thomas. The Warriors also had the dubious distinction of opening against Geneva on the Eagles’ home court.
Conneaut (8-2) is off to a good start. That puts it just one win from the nine-win plateau it hit last in 2006 with Joe Gerics and equaled in 2004 with current athletic director Dawn Zappitelli. The school record for the Spartans is 12 set in 1994 by the team coached by Janie Olesnanik.
The Spartans have one of the more experienced teams in the conference with six returning letterwinners. At the same time, Ghiz also has the most youthful squad in the conference, with no seniors on the varsity team. That should bode well, not only for this year, but the future as well.
Leading Conneaut is junior middle hitter Nichele Johnson, a first-team all-conference and second-team all-county choice. The Spartans also feature junior outside hitter Sarah Campbell, a special-mention all-conference pick, junior outside hitters Tanisha Ford and Rachel Pryately, junior setter Kelsey Prevot and junior middle hitter Justine VanCise.
Coach Sherri Britton also has a young group at Jefferson (2-4), having lost five girls to graduation. That means she will be counting heavily on junior middle hitter Lizzy Ziemski, a special-mention all-conference selection, and seniors Colleen Geraghty at setter, Amber Hurst at outside hitter and Alex Willis at libero. Juniors Hailey Burns, Hannah Francis, Joslin Landis and Jillian Kern are also being counted upon to contribute heavily.
Harvey, coming off its best season since 1987 when it also had six wins, has a pretty veteran group at the disposal of coach Tricia Poszgai. The Red Raiders (2-6) lost only two girls to graduation.
Hoping to carry the Red Raiders to greater heights this season are senior setter Samantha Krueger, a second-team All-NEC selection. She is joined by senior outside hitters Shannon Cruz and Star Sams and senior libero Jen Seidel. Juniors who have also earned their stripes on the varsity level are middle hitter-defensive Melissa Mohner and outside hitter Ashley Seibert.
Dragons developing
Another area team that has a lot of experience to bank on is Lakeside, which is looking to defend its Premier Athletic Conference championship and trying to get back to the Division I district finals. Coach Lisa Newsome has nine returning letterwinners at her disposal.
The Dragons (7-2, 3-0) rebounded from a loss to a fine Crestwood team in the championship match of last Saturday’s Chardon Invitational, 25-23, 25-21, with a convincing 25-8, 25-11, 25-8 victory over PAC rival Madison.
Lakeside is led by seniors Azaria Lee at defensive specialist, Brittany Morrison at middle hitter, Tayler Pugliese at setter and outside hitter, Erica Villa at defensive specialist and Mallory Zappitelli at outside hitter and defensive specialist. Juniors who carry much of the load are outside hitter-setter Christiana Blakeslee and defensive specialist Angela DeGeorge, while sophomores Jenna Applebee and Tyra Miller at setter and middle hitter, respectively.
“I thought we played real good at Chardon,” Newsome said. “In our first two matches, we were almost like a machine. We played a really good team with Crestwood. Last week was a real busy week with matches on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and the tournament.
“We tweaked our lineup a little bit. I thought we played very well against Madison and we looking forward to a big home match (today) against North. We also have a big match against North Royalton on Saturday, which is a real good Division I team.”
Starting new streak
Cornerstone Christian ended a SS. John and Paul home winning streak that ranged back to the Heralds’ early days in 2002 in the East Suburban Conference when they lost to Maplewood, according to coach Stephanie Kubec. But she was also happy to see her team snap back Tuesday with a 25-11, 25-12, 25-10 victory over Southington.
“I always enjoyed playing Cornerstone when we were in the league and I knew they had a lot of seniors this year,” Kubec said. “I have a great deal of respect for their coaches, so even though we’re not in the league together, I was happy to play them again. I was watching them in warmups and I saw they were using the warmup drills I use.
“I think our inexperience showed against them. I think (the loss) was something for our girls to learn from. Now we’re trying to start a new streak.”
The Heralds (5-1) have one really experienced varsity player in senior outside hitter Mary Mahoney. They have one other senior in middle hitter Jessica Hunyady, who saw some varsity playing time, three junior letterwinners who had minimal varsity experience in setter Kristina Krumins, outside hitter Carly Penna and defensive specialist Melanie Romano, along with sophomore letterwinner Ashley Fedler at outside hitter.
He’s back
The Heralds are glad to have one of their biggest supporters, retired athletic director Don Cannell, back in the gymnasium for their volleyball matches. Cannell, elected to the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame in the spring and the namesake of the court inside Mahoney Gymnaium, jokingly likes to say that other teams shouldn’t be winning on his court.
Unfortunately, Cannell was struggling with an illness most of last year and missed most of the volleyball matches. So Kubec and her girls are definitely glad to see him back this season.
“It’s so wonderful to have him back with us again,” Kubec said. “The girls missed having him around. He’s so supportive.”
Baby brigade
Motherhood seems to become the latest rage of the volleyball-coaching community. Several coaches at area schools are expecting their first child this season, while several others are adding to their brood this year as well or have recently done so.
Pymatuning Valley assistant coach Katie Jernigan and her husband, Luke, are expecting their first child in mid-October. She’s not sure how far into the season she will be able to go, but the couple is eagerly awaiting the new arrival.
“It’s a boy,” she said at the recent PV-Edgewood match with a big smile. “We wanted to know. We’re so excited.”
Actually, two expectant mothers were in attendance at the PV-Edgewood match. Over on the Warrior sideline was assistant coach Nikki DuFour, who is also expecting her first child, with a due date of Dec. 11.
Like the Jernigans, DuFour and her husband, Jim, already know what the new addition to their family is going to be.
“We’re really excited about it,” she said. “We know it’s a boy.”
Chardon head coach Julie Kolcum and her husband, Jim, are anticipating the birth of their second child, which might turn into a Thanksgiving present. Their baby is due Nov. 24.
The Kolcums already have one child, Abby, who is coming up on her second birthday. They anticipating giving her a new brother.
“We wanted to know (the sex of) the baby,” Kolcum, a standout at Harbor High School as a player and the daughter Marge Pavolino and former Harbor athletic director and current NEC secretary Dik Pavolino said. “We’re excited about it.”
Kyra Vencill, the SS. John and Paul JV coach and the really experienced member of the motherhood club, is also anticipating a new addition, along with her husband, Shaun. The Vencills have two sons — Zackary, 3 1/2, and Noah, 1 1/2.
There is genuine excitement in the Vencill household since they are anticipating the first girl in the family.
“We’re more than excited about that,” Kyra Vencill said. “Now I’ll have someone to relate to.”
The newest member of the Vencill family is scheduled to arrive Nov. 27, which just happens to be Noah’s birthday.
“It’s going to be one big birthday part or one heckuva Thanksgiving,” Kyra said with a laugh.
Haeseler is back on the bench after she and her husband, John, greeted their second child last April. Marcella Marie joined brother, Johnny, 3.
“We call her Ella,” Haeseler, daughter of Geneva athletic legend Mark Debevc and his wife, Kathy, said. “We have to juggle a lot of different things, but I’m very fortunate to have all kinds of help from our families (including in-laws John and Tammy Haeseler).”
That also includes Johnny.
“He really loves Ella,” Haeseler said. “He’s the kindest big brother I’ve ever seen.”
Check that number
Those who have seen Jefferson play this season must wonder who the girl wearing No. 70 is. The answer is junior Joslin Landis.
The second question one might pose is if the Falcons’ outside hitter has a secret desire to be an offensive lineman. She gets a bit of a chuckle out of that suggestion.
“No, I have my (older) sister, Jessica’s, old jersey, which was No. 10,” Landis said of her sister, who is now a senior at John Carroll University. “But (junior teammate) Jillian Kern also had No. 10.
“So I said something to Amber Hurst and she got out some tape and made the 1 into a 7.”
It hasn’t completely avoided confusion.
“When we were over at the tournament in Chardon on Saturday, one of the officials thought (Landis and Kern) both wore 10,” Landis said. “We had to explain that I was No. 70.”
Number problems are nothing new for Landis. She’s been dealing with them since she was a JV player.
“Last year, I wanted to be No. 3, but somebody else had picked it, so I went with 0,” she said.
The Falcons are expected to receive new jerseys this week. Landis is anticipating wearing 00. But that may not be the end of her number issues.
“They messed up my warmup and only put one 0 on it,” she said.
She’s pretty much resigned herself to wearing whatever number she gets.
“It really doesn’t matter to me,” Landis said with another laugh.
Who’s that guy?
If someone sees a man wearing a dark outfit with a cap pulled down low over his face, don’t be alarmed, especially if the Madison volleyball team is in the gym.
That’s because Perry assistant football coach Mike Ryan is trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as he takes whatever opportunities he can get to watch his daughter, Brynn, put the Blue Streaks through their paces in her role as Madison’s head coach. It’s especially true when the Blue Streaks are playing at home.
“I’m trying to keep a low profile,” Ryan said during a recent Madison home match. “I try and get to the matches after practice whenever I can.”
Another familiar face
The Riverside volleyball team also has a guy with a pretty good athletic pedigree among its fan base in former Harvey sports standout Stu Baffer, who also played a large role in helping Kevin Snyder build the Madison girls basketball program into one of the area’s best in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Baffer is a fan of the Riverside spikers because his granddaughter, junior middle hitter-outside hitter Teresa Noewer, is a part of the Beaver varsity.
“I really enjoy it,” he said. “They have a pretty young team. I think they’re looking pretty good.”
Baffer may have even more opportunities to follow Riverside next year.
“I think I’m going to retire after this year,” the Madison Middle School teacher said.
Change of scenery
A familiar face to area volleyball fans can be found on a different bench. Bob McQuoid, who spent the last few seasons as the JV coach at Geneva, is now the JV coach for Kolcum at Chardon.
“I just wanted to make a change and get some more experience,” he said. “I thought it would be a good thing to learn what the PAC is like and help Julie out this season.
“I wanted to help Julie build their program back up to where they had been. I wanted to see what the competition is like in the PAC. I think the competition is a little more balanced in the PAC.”
McQuoid said he has benefitted from his experience working with his sister, Lisa Newsome, at Lakeside, as well as learning from Haeseler at Geneva and now Kolcum at Chardon.
“I’ve been able to learn from three great coaches in Lisa, Annah and Julie,” McQuoid, who is remaining as audio-visual coordinator for Geneva Area City School and girls track coach with the Eagles, said. “It’s been a perfect situation.”
Making adjustments
Riverside is still getting accustomed to the lineup changes it has been forced to make after a knee injury sidelined outside hitter Taylor Jaros. The extent of the junior’s injury is still not known, pending an examination this week.
“We’ve had to change our lineup around a bit after we lost Taylor,” Riverside coach Stacy Sepelak said. “We’re still getting used to those changes. We’ve missed her.”
Pearson is the volleyball beat writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at kpearson@starbeacon.com
