The Manhasset girls sixth grade CYO volleyball team incredibly earned a playoff spot in their first season of competition. Aided by the expert instruction and constant encouragement of their coaches, Coleen Oates and Jennifer Sauvigne, the sixth grade team quickly mastered the skills necessary to achieve a winning season in a very competitive league. Coaches Oates and Sauvigne, both varsity volleyball players at Sacred Heart Academy High School, volunteered their time and talents during a very busy junior year filled with college visits, testing, and their own athletic commitments. The team is indebted and grateful to them for their assistance.

In addition to their devoted coaches, the team's success resulted from the hard work, perseverance, willingness to learn and team spirit of each member of this very athletic team. Volleyball requires split second decision-making, strength, coordination and teamwork during the fast-paced action on the court. The team's greatest asset was its ability to consolidate the considerable individual strengths of each player into a dominant group force that was difficult to overcome once the season was fully underway.

For example, the team greatly benefited from the strong efforts of its very effective servers: Caroline Ceriello, Brittany Evans, Nell Kucich, Cristie Leondis, Rose Ferris, Victoria Steck and Ryan Wenk. Each of these players had such strong and accurate serves that they regularly "served out" of their positions by scoring the maximum allowable number of points against their opponents. It was a common occurrence for each opposing team to "shift back" when each of these players moved into the serving position.

Of course, serving is only a part of the game, which is usually determined by the floor skills of the players. In this regard, Evans, Anna deVenoge, Christina Casa Nova, Jackie Iskyan and Leondis were deadly at the net, stopping shots and denying their opponents hard fought point attempts. Backcourt was dominated by the strength of Alexandra Galante and Caroline Doyle who fought hard for every shot. Ceriello regularly awed the crowd with her behind-the-back bullet returns while Ferris and Steck were a formidable and tenacious blocking line against the hardest servers. The smart and selfless play of Evans, Casa Nova, Doyle, Iskyan and Galante set up many points due to their ability to accurately "bump" the ball into play-making position. Ceriello, deVenoge, Wenk and Kucich demonstrated that every point is worth fighting for with their heroic saves and incredible hustle. Centers Ferris, Steck, Leondis and Doyle demonstrated their prized ability to deliver hard returns despite the volley, while Casa Nova, deVenoge, Iskyan, Kucich and Wenk could be relied upon to live up to their reputation as over-the-top spikers.

Of particular note is the team's respect and caring for each other as manifested by their actions both on the court and off. They always encouraged and supported each other during this developmental, yet successful season. It was common for the players to help each other overcome difficulties while learning particular skills. Taking their lead from their coaches and parents, the team never failed to demonstrate that an athlete can be kind, a good sport and successful.

As St. Mary's volleyball coordinator, Father Peter stated, "It was a Cinderella season for this team of dedicated players who managed to have a lot of fun competing and practicing together." The team looks forward to another great season next year and wishes to thank St. Mary's High School for making its gymnasium available, Father Peter for establishing and supporting St. Mary's volleyball, and its parent coordinators Jeanne Ceriello and Aileen Ferris.