“It was a great win, we all played together the whole time,” said senior co-captain Carly Waterman. “We love playing with each other and it’s great to do it back to back.”
The ECT finals pitted Verona against Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a team that it had already beaten on three occasions this season, 2-0 in each. But despite that, the Mount grabbed the lead in game one and held it until Verona’s coach, Jeff Stiefbold, called a time out to call an end to the Hillbillies’ jitters. Verona dominated the rest of game one, which ended 25-15 in Verona’s favor.
“We hung together tough as a team as we always do,” said Stiefbold, “we never got frustrated when we got down in game one, it was 11-7 and we came back and scored eight straight after the time out. ”
Verona’s strengths were on full display in game two, with Waterman and Hunter Coppola echoing each other on a flurry of kills. Waterman ended the game with 11 kills to Coppola’s 10. Also key to Verona’s victory: another strong performance on assists from Madisyn Matthews and Nicolette Marino on digs. Coppola led her team in service points, with nine, followed by sophomore Kelly Waterman with six.
The key to it all? Says Stiefbold, “We played Verona volleyball.”
Next up are the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) playoffs, with Verona volleyball the number 1 seed in Group 1. Those games open on Monday, though Verona may now have a bye until round 2 on Thursday.
