Fall Sport Preview: Girls Volleyball Will Rely on Its Experience

Coming off a fifth consecutive state tournament appearance, the Rocky Hill girls volleyball team looks set to challenge for a Central Connecticut Conference East title and return to the tournament in 2011 behind an experienced lineup.

Under head coach George McKinnon, Rocky Hill returns four starters from an 11-9 team, which includes senior captains and 2010 all-conference players Megan Ruonavaara and Kyley Reed. Ruonavaara is an outside hitter and a four year starter who is described by her coach as a leader on and off the court. While Reed is an outside hitter who has been both all-conference and all-state for two consecutive years and has already earned a full volleyball scholarship to Rice University.

McKinnon, who has been with the program for six years, has nothing but, praise for his captains describing them as outstanding players and saying that the team looks to them on the floor for “their experience and on-court savvy.”

In addition, senior setter Julie Stoneburner and junior middle hitter Nicole Miskunas are back for their third and second years respectively as starters. Junior setter Kate Gibson and sophomore right side hitter Krista Iacuobucci round out the starting six for the Terriers. Coming off the bench, the two most prominent payers will be sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Ott and senior middle hitter Taylor Clark.

The strength of Rocky Hill will be the experience and chemistry of its starting lineup, McKinnon said. He is impressed by the talent of his top payers.

“Reed and Ruonavaara have the experience to carry this team on their shoulders.”

The team’s weakness could be its lack of depth. Despite the experience and proven ability of many of the terriers key players, Rocky Hill has two sophomores with prominent roles. The team is mostly relying on 8 girls as the season begins. 

“We don’t have a lot of reliable bench help at this time. We’re looking for our younger players to improve quickly and be able to contribute on a varsity level,” McKinnon said.

If Rocky Hill wants to win the CCC East league championship after finishing fourth last season, it will have to contend with some challenging competition. RHAM had a perfect league mark in 2010, while E.O. Smith-Storrs and Tolland also finished in front of Rocky Hill. Though the Terriers have consistently finished behind these schools in recent seasons, McKinnon believes with his team’s returning experience, this could be the year Rocky Hill finishes out on top.

“I have a good feeling that this team can do very well this year. We want to and have the ability to win the league and go deep in the state tournament.” 

Rocky Hill Girls Volleyball Wins Season Opener in straight sets over Bloomfield

Head Coach George McKinnon had discussed how he was looking for his team to come out hard and show consistent effort at home in its season opener against fellow CCC East member Bloomfield. Well, mission accomplished. Rocky Hill swept Bloomfield with ease on Tuesday afternoon, winning in straight sets by scores of 25-10, 25-5 and 25-9.

The Terriers were led by their All-State senior captain Kyley Reed, who had 21 kills and 18 digs from the outside hitter spot. Fellow senior captain Megan Ruonavaara, also playing outside hitter, was a perfect 17-17 from the service line with five aces. Finally, senior setter Julie Stoneburner added 30 assists.

“I thought the girls had a great start to the season beating Bloomfield,” said McKinnon. “We went out and took care of business with lots of team energy and focus. We need to continue to play at a high level each game, as there are no nights off in the CCC.”

After a few days off, Rocky Hill has its first road contest Friday afternoon against CCC East member E.O Smith in Storrs.