Breakthrough year for Clarke

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After struggling to consistently win games in recent years, the Clarke girls’ volleyball team made tremendous strides in their first season under coach Kristina Cavallo. The Lady Rams finished with a 15-1 regular-season record, and as a result saw a major increase in the interest level surrounding the club this fall.

“It was nice to earn more respect for the program at school,” Cavallo said. “Everyone was buying into the team. We were able to get more people to come to our games, and the boy’s (volleyball) team and other teams in the school started to take notice of us.”

Clarke proved to be a team worth watching, playing well enough to earn a conference championship and a postseason berth. “It was a great accomplishment for us to get to the playoffs,” Cavallo said. “It was just a really enjoyable season, especially with how far we came, after where we started.”

Helping lead the way for the Lady Rams this season was outside hitter Victoria Cast. The junior’s play proved to be crucial to her team’s success, and was also good enough to earn her all-county honors.

“She has great height and great skills,” Cavallo said. “When she was on her A-game and putting balls away, she was untouchable at times.”

Clarke also got strong play out of their two setters, Emily Widmaier and Julia Buffolino. “They both did a great job with helping run our offense,” Cavallo said. 

Cavallo was also impressed with the play of her two defensive specialists, Melanie Rose and Lauren Savino. “They did a great job in the back row, digging up anything that was hit to them, and trying to be quick on their toes,” she said.

Team captains, Sarah Cornell and Michelle Buffolino also proved to be valuable pieces for the Lady Rams this season, bringing both leadership and a high level of play to the court.

The team got off to a fast start under Cavallo this season, jumping out to a 4-0 start. Clarke’s confidence then reached new heights, when they registered an impressive come from behind victory against an undefeated Wheatley squad.

“They were the best team we had seen so far,” Cavallo said. “We felt that if we can comeback from being down against them, then there’s nothing that’s gonna stand in our way this season.”

The Lady Rams continued to dominate the rest of the way, and would register a key late season win on the road against Valley Stream South, to help secure their conference title.

Mineola would end the Lady Rams season in the first round of the postseason, but Cavallo believes that the experience her team got from making it to that point will be invaluable moving forward.

“Making the playoffs was great, because a lot of our players hadn’t been there before,” she said. “It was nice to be there, and give them a taste for what could be. Hopefully that experience will keep them hungry for what will be going on in the future.”