GAME PHOTOS: http://bit.ly/2Mgza2V
Michael Chaffee continues to take the Newbury volleyball program in the right direction.
The current group of seniors have started the season at 7-0, and now Chaffee and coaches are in a deep process of refining all the things they learned while building on those items.
The hard work everybody has put into the program has Newbury at new levels, making memories of pride, and players are having a great time. They have opened the 2018 school year with an unbeaten record while building teamwork and friendships.
As the Black Knights embarked on a pair of matches with teams from the valley to their east, Pymatuning Valley and Grand Valley — both programs with solid traditions of success — the Black Knights embraced a chance to find out where they really are.
“We’ve basically got four goals we’d like to achieve each year,” Chaffee said after his team knocked off PV in four sets, 3-1. “We want to have fun, we want to build good teamwork, we want to get better as a team and as individuals each match, and we need to learn not to dwell on the past.”
The Lakers are in unfamiliar territory so far this season at 0-5.
A 7-0 run for the Black Knights, sparked by a trio of ace serves from Caleigh Hamby, opened a 12-7 lead, but PV would not back down.
Finally, tied at 24-24 after a kill from Emily Millard, a pair of mistakes from Newbury put them behind the eight ball in the set.
Several factors came into play in this match, possibly the biggest being The Great Geauga County Fair.
“Fair week is always tough for us,” senior hitter Julia Elia said. “We hadn’t played in eight days, many of us had been involved in the fair in some way, and we may have been sluggish after the layoff. The key for us now is to just keep getting stronger, get ready for each match.”
The blend among the Newbury team between seniors and underclassmen is a key component they focus on constantly.
Sophomore Erin Piczer is seeing the team gel quickly in her second season on the team.
“Last season, as a freshman, I just hoped to get some playing time,” she said. “One of our goals is to get our class year up on that championship banner wall, and we’re off to a good start, but there’s a long way to go yet.
“The seniors communicate well with us, though, and by doing that, they are helping us younger kids to improve and make our lives easier as well.”
One of those helpful seniors is Sarah Zembiak.
“We’re really looking for a full effort from everybody each match we play,” Zembiak said. “I’ve been blessed to grow up with all of these girls, and we’re really looking to have a great season. We’re all friends, we’re like a big family, we all want our class year up on that board as well. It will be great to see it up there someday.”
Hamby is the monster at the net for Newbury, and her work ethic is just a single part of what is going on with this team.
“We may have been a little rusty,” she admitted after the PV match. “We’re a strong team, though, and even though we made some mistakes, we were able to overcome them to win.”
Senior Haley Hamilton is in her fourth season on the team, and loves every second of it now.
“We’ve played so much better over the last few years, ” she said. “We’ve been together all through school, really care about each other, and just try to dominate as much as we can.
“We just love the idea of winning a league championship for our school and community.”
The following evening, the Black Knights hosted the Grand Valley Mustangs in a key NAC matchup. Entering the match, both teams were unbeaten on the young season, and with good reason. Finally, in a match that was every bit as close as the scores indicate, Newbury remained unbeaten with a 3-1 win over the Mustangs. Scores were 25-20, 30-32, 25-23, and 25-23.
A Piczer kill gave Newbury a 2-1 lead in the first set, and Elia served up five straight points to expand that lead, keyed by a trio of kills from Hamby. Grand Valley came back to within four points several times, but a trio of sideouts closed out the set.
The pressure-packed second set was every bit as thrilling as it looks, but an unforced error gave the set to the Mustangs.
Behind Zembiak, Newbury jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, but a bad serve gave the set to Newbury, and both teams each had a four-point lead in the last set before an Elia slam ended the night.
“This was just a great match tonight with a powerful GV team,” Chaffee said. “Maybe one of the biggest things I see in these girls, and the entire school as well, is a truly caring attitude about each other and the community. There’s a lot of things we have to consider here, a lot of outside distractions, but being a small town and school, everybody genuinely cares about everybody else. They see the hard work is paying off, and they simply are trying to make this part of their lives the best possible, in spite of apparent obstacles they face each day.”