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Kyla Cerullo, left, and Ava Guillo will have to make do without a long list of seniors who graduated last season, including Paige Garvin, right. RON ESPOSITO
The Southampton girls volleyball team was unable to secure a single victory last season, but head coach Jeorgine Buccio is hoping that a second year under her system will help quickly turn things around for the program.
It will have to do so without eight seniors who graduated after last season, which included Paige Garvin, Deja Ellis, Raven Reddick, Logan O’Neill, Stella Lima, Margo Averbach, Mhea Torres and Vanessa Reyes. But the Mariners have another eight seniors on this season’s team to fill in those spots. Those players include Chloe Bierfriend, Kyla Cerullo, Sloane Edson, Ava Guillo, Caitlin Schulman, Samantha Udave, Brianna Villalva and Scout Whiting. And numbers are solid with additional underclassmen such as juniors Maddy Wik and Akisa Briggs and sophomores Bailey Brown, Haven Daley, Danna Nieto and Bea Pariz rounding out the roster.
“We didn’t have a win last year, and that was disappointing. But I think the team still really enjoyed itself and they’ve made their own improvements since then,” Buccio said. “We did have an injury to one of our starting players last year, and we had a couple of injuries actually, [but] so far it’s been a really exciting and positive start to the season. Everyone is really looking forward to playing. We’re a good make up of veteran seniors and young and talented sophomores, which is pretty exciting, and we have some travel players, so we’re looking forward to the season.”
Southampton will play in League VII this season, reserved for all of the small schools in the county. It will play fellow Class B teams Babylon, Center Moriches, Mattituck and Southold/Greenport, Class C teams Pierson/Bridgehampton and Port Jefferson and Class D teams Ross and Shelter Island.
The Mariners played at Mattituck on Tuesday and will host Center Moriches in their home opener on Thursday, September 14, at 4:30 p.m.
