The Bellport High School girls varsity volleyball team clinched the League 4 Championship title and finished the season 10-0, with an overall record of 14-5. Larry Auth, who has coached the team for the past 23 years, noted that during his tenure this exceptional team has now garnered 15 league titles and nine second-placements.
“All the players have been dedicated to the team,” Auth said. “Everyone contributed to the team in different areas and worked together to make this a successful season.”
Prior to the Oct. 29 playoff game against West Islip, senior team captains Jaelyn Conquest, Alyssa Mantione and Jamie Trowbridge described the team’s prescription for success. Alyssa and Jamie have played volleyball for all four years of high school, while Jaelyn divided her time with both volleyball and soccer during her high school career.
Jamie explained that in order to be an “unstoppable team,” everyone has to do their job on the court and play their positions well. “If everyone is on their A-game, then the team can accomplish a lot,” she said. “But they have to come to the court prepared and ready to play their best, and that’s what happened this year.”
While commitment and dedication are commendable traits that mold a winning team, Alyssa believes that the team’s communication skills are what have helped this team achieve success. ”By communicating with one another both on and off the court, we have been able to keep everyone’s confidence at a high level, and that confidence has risen even more every time we’ve won a game,” she noted.
Jaelyn, who was designated as an All-League player last year, said a captain must maintain a positive attitude for the team, even when things are not going so well on the court. She is confident that next year’s team will adopt all of the fore-mentioned core values, taking them to the next level and garnering another championship title.
“If we play with our hearts then we can say we did everything we could,” Alyssa added. “It’s what we feel we accomplished on the court that makes the game good or bad. It’s all attitude.”
(Courtesy South Country Central School District)
