Mount Academy wins Section 9 title
Mount Academy — the new kid in town in Section 9 volleyball — is now a champion.
The first-year program and the first varsity sport offered for girls by the school captured the Class D title Sunday at Mount Saint Mary College.
The Eagles, helmed by former Kingston High coach Sandy Mancuso-Lopez, defeated Tuxedo 25-10, 25-14, 25-11.
Mount Academy, now 15-2 overall, will play Section 1’s Tuckahoe 7 p.m. Friday at Pelham High in a regional final. The winner advances to the
state final four.
“It’s certainly a first. It’s amazing that we made it this far in our first year,” junior Cayla Boller said.
Big performances from Boller (22 kills, nine digs, 12 service points with six aces) and Adela Blough (32 assists, four digs, eight points with three aces) led the Eagles.
Kaitlyn Arnold (six digs, 10 points with four aces), Skylar Arnold (seven digs, five points, three assists, two kills), Sharon Hofer (eight digs, eight points), Brianne Moore (eight points, seven digs), Vera Tietze (six kills) and Maura Maendel (two kills, three digs) all contributed to the championship effort.
Boller dealt a pair of aces
to put the Eagles ahead in the first set, then connected on seven consecutive assists from Blough to settle matters. Tietze and Boller combined to rule the second set.
The (10-10) Tornadoes trailed only 9-7 when Mount Academy took control of the third set.
Tuxedo could not stop the taller Tietze at the net and it had no solution for dealing with Boller. When Boller got on a roll, the middle hitter is dealing hard and low. Backline defenders couldn’t get low enough to repel the shot.
Boller, who likes to jump, said, “It’s a good feeling” when she discovered what it’s like to spike the ball.
Mount Academy vice principal Barney Winter reached out to Lopez on coaching the new program.
“I thought it was a nice opportunity with something new and I thought it was really neat to be a part of something that was just starting out,” said Lopez, who coached Kingston to six Section 9 titles in a 20-year stint from 1982-2001. She filled in for a few matches in 2008 when Jessica Roeber was having twins, then returned to coach Kingston again from 2010-13 after Roeber stepped down.
“I started playing volleyball in January,” noted Boller, who admits her best sport is soccer. “We didn’t really know how to play
the game. We had to learn everything — from passing it to the right place to hitting.
“I’ve always liked playing sports. I’ve never done volleyball before.”
“First day it was awful, but we have athletes on the team and they picked the game up,” Lopez said. “They really love playing the game and it really makes a big difference. They want to be on the court and they don’t want to go home. They would practice all day if they could.
“I thought I was done. It was one of the best decisions I could ever have made,” Lopez said. “I’m having more fun now than I did for quite a few years coaching.
“Those (Kingston sectional titles) were special and this is so different.
It means that much more now and they’re such great kids. It really is special. The staff, everybody, the community, the assistant coaches, wow. It’s really nice.”
Mount Academy offers boys soccer and cross country and has had quick success. The Eagles won the Class D cross country state title in 2012 and ‘13 and won Section 9 championships their first six years. Their streak ended this past week. The soccer team reached the state final in 2014, was state cochampions last year and is back in the final four again this coming weekend. Now it’s the girls’ turn. “It feels very good. Finally, we have a chance to play sports,” Boller said. “Eventually, we’re going to have more teams, hopefully.”