Volleyball

A season of change on the horizon

By Mike Zummo
Posted 9/4/24

It’s a season of change on the volleyball court as both the Highland Huskies and the Marlboro Dukes will have new coaches for the 2024 season. They may be new, but they are familiar at the same …

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Volleyball

A season of change on the horizon

Posted

It’s a season of change on the volleyball court as both the Highland Huskies and the Marlboro Dukes will have new coaches for the 2024 season.
They may be new, but they are familiar at the same time.

Emily Beck will take over in her first full season as Marlboro coach. She took over for former coach Nicole Kitson when the latter gave up the position for personal reasons. About 10 miles north in Highland, former JV coach Cheryl Angelone will take over for Colleen Giametta, who brought the program back to competitiveness after falling on hard times.
“I am extremely grateful to the Marlboro Athletic Department and the volleyball program for allowing me to have this incredible opportunity,” Beck said.

The Dukes posted a 9-7 record last year, and made the Section 9 Class A playoffs, where they fell in the semifinals to the top-seeded Wallkill Panthers.

The Dukes lost Kalista Birkenstock, Hannah Polumbo, Jaedyn Lunsford, Madison Gibney, Claire Devine and Katie Thorne from last year’s team. Returning are Emma Jackson, Emily Hite and Giana Fiore.

New players include Sadie Cassella, Katie Mohl, Gianna Natale and Dianelie Rios.
Beck said while the team is young, they are also talented.

“I am grateful to have an awesome team of girls with returning players I had the pleasure of working with last year, and girls I helped coach as modified players,” Beck said. “I am beyond hopeful for the season and look forward to seeing what these girls can accomplish.

Highland
Angelone is looking to improve on the Huskies’ 11-8 record from last season and are coming off an appearance in the Section 9 Class B championship match, where they suffered a 3-0 loss to the Red Hook Raiders.

The Huskies have lost Christina Johnston, Navya Ruparelia, Leah Klotz, and Emily Kandetzke from last year’s team. Cadence Meltz, Amelia Delforno, Kelcey Whalen, Angelina Esposito, Bethany Childs, Danica Valente, Maddie Violaris and Annabella Bruschetti will return.
Newcomers include Avery Sosnick, Logan VanZandt, and Lexi Cardarelli.

“This is my first year coaching varsity, and I’m going to give my best effort as a coach,” Angelone said. “The team deserves that because they have worked extremely hard for many years to get this this point. I’m very proud of all the girls. The bar is set high, and I am confident that we will be successful.”

The two teams don’t play in the same division but will play each other on Sept. 9 at Marlboro High School in a non-league contest.