Happy to be back on court
WOONSOCKET — Joy Teixeira remembers the last volleyball match she played in a Mount St. Charles uniform. Normally, that’s not a fact worthy of mentioning in a story – never mind the opening paragraph.
But since the senior libero hasn’t made a pass or delivered a vicious top-spin serve in Mount’s blue libero uniform, remembering that frustrating defeat to Prout in October of 2019 is impressive.
“This means a lot because it’s been a long time since I stepped on the court, probably about a year and a half.” Teixeira said after the Mounties opened their Fall-II campaign with a 25-18. 25-20, 25-22 Division I home victory over rival Cumberland Friday night. “We played Prout at home in a match we needed to win to make the playoffs. I just remember our effort was pretty poor.”
“Swim used to be my favorite sport, but it’s now volleyball, so having to wait this long to finally get back on the court was tough,” Mount senior setter Ally Melnychuk. “The start of this year has already been way better than last year. Everyone is so excited to play and we put all of our best effort in. I missed it so much. I played club volleyball, but it’s not the same. High school is my favorite because you get to play with your friends.”
Mount St. Charles coach Josh D’Abate has kept himself busy with his club volleyball program, but he’s missed roaming the Mount sideline after having two seasons canceled. D’Abate is the school’s boys volleyball coach, but that season was canceled last April due to the pandemic.
The girls season normally starts in September, but the state nixed indoor sports in the fall, so the RIIL moved girls volleyball to Fall-II.
D’Abate, however, wasn’t sure he’d have the opportunity to coach again this season when COVID-19 cases spiked in November and December. Infections started to go down in January and that paved the way for volleyball teams to start practicing in early March.
“This is fun because I didn’t think we’d have a chance of getting the season in,” D’Abate said. “My heart was broken for the senior class not just in our program but across the state. All of the sudden it’s like we’re going to go. Wearing the masks to play isn’t ideal, but if we have to do it to play then I’m all for it.”
There were plenty of signs – outside of the time of year – that this is a different volleyball season. There were no line judges or a down referee, which meant the head referee in the stand made all of the line calls. Teams didn’t switch sides after each game and teams didn’t have to turn in a lineup prior to the start of each game. Rotations and tracking the libero are basically being done on the honor system.
Despite all the changes, when the ball is served, the game is the same and Friday night, the Mounties were slightly better than a Cumberland side that has the size and athleticism to be a problem in Division I, which features 12 teams playing a round-robin schedule before a tournament that ends in May.
“We’re happy to have everyone back and playing and especially for our seniors who have come a long way,” Cumberland coach David DeJesus said. “We want those kids to have a good sendoff in their final year, but we also want our younger kids to build the program. The three things we’re looking for this year are focus, communication and competing. Focus is a huge piece for us because when we lose it, you see teams go on runs.”
Mount St. Charles (1-0 Division I) trailed early in each of the first two games, but the young, athletic Mounties slowly worked their way back into each game. Freshman Emma Roberts, who just started playing the sport a few weeks ago, along with Lauren Cunanan and Amanda Pierce give Melnychuk plenty of attacking options.
The Mounties trailed 1310 in the opening game, but the home side answered with 15 of the game’s final 20 points to take the lead. Cumberland scored six of the first seven points in the second game, but the Mounties responded to take the game.
“I think we can be good, but we just need to give it our all and the seniors need to be a good influence on the younger players,” Melnychuk said.
“There’s a lot different this year with the hand sanitzing and no high-fives, but we kind of forget about all the stuff when the ball is hit,” Teixeira said. “We’re a young team, but we have the potential to make it a very good season.”
The Clippers received strong performances from outside hitters Shannon Raftery and Nicolette Ducharme.