Nine years ago, former NBA all-star Allen Iverson held a famous press conference where he questioned why practice is necessary.
Evidently, the girls on this year’s volleyball squad don’t feel the same way as Iverson about practice. When the Bears missed two pre-season practices because of Hurricane Irene last week, the players were actually quite upset about it.
“They worked hard this pre-season,” Coach A.J. Thau said. “We lost two days of practice because of the storm, but they came back and just continued to work hard. They were disappointed that they couldn’t practice those two days. That was good to see.”
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
What also is good to see from a Briarcliff standpoint is that it has three solid seniors that will be leading a young squad this fall. They are the only players returning from last year’s 12-7 unit that qualified for the Section 1 Class B tournament.
One of those seniors is outside/middle hitter Caroline Brickell. Thau said Brickell has a lot of tenacity and brings with her to the court a willingness to get on the floor and a competitive spirit.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Playing at libero, in addition to also seeing some time at outside hitter, is senior Samantha Kittay.
“She has a great love of the game of volleyball,” Thau said. “She has a willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team. She is a very positive person. She always has a smile on her face.”
Senior middle/outside hitter Déja Sutherland didn’t start playing volleyball until last year, but has more than made up for lost time, according to Thau.
“She just has natural athletic ability,” Thau said. “She jumps out of the gym. She is very, very coach-able and a very cerebral player.”
Kittay, Sutherland and Brickell represent the only three returning players this year.
“They show great leadership,” Thau said. “They are willing to help others get better and get better themselves as well.”
Thau explained why the leadership of this senior trio is vital to this year’s squad.
“We have a good group of girls who have played together the last three, four years,” Thau said. “A bunch of our girls played in the Pelham Summer League and attended a bunch of camps as well. To have newcomers to the varsity that are willing to learn and three seniors that are willing to help them is a good combination to have.”
While the Bears have only three returnees, there are plenty of young, talented players that are coming up from the JV this season. One of them is junior middle hitter Jen Vander Els, who has the potential to be a force.
“She did not play her freshman year—she did last year, her first year playing volleyball,” Thau said. “She put in a lot of hard work over the summer and as long as she can stay healthy, she will be a big player for us. She’s about 5-foot-10.”
Two other key newcomers are junior setter Diana Wexler and junior outside hitter Marissa Contento. Their work ethic is symbolic of the team’s.
“Everybody on this team works hard from the time they step into the gym until the time they leave the gym,” Thau said. “It’s just a hardworking group.”
Briarcliff started off the season 0-1 with a 3-2 loss at Blind Brook on Wednesday. They take on in their first home game at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.