Top-Seeded English Volleyball Endures Early Tourney Exit Again

For the second straight year, an undefeated English High School girls volleyball team was bounced in its opening game of the Div. 2 North Sectional tournament.

This year, the exit arrived via a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to No. 8 Bishop Fenwick with the scores 25-16, 25-17, and 25-8. The first-seeded Blue and Blue end their season with an 18-1 record.

“I thought we had a chance,” said English coach Hardy Mondesir. “I think if we had come in with a little more intensity and took the first one, it would have been a different outcome. But yes, it is disappointing.”

The Blue and Blue appeared off-kilter from the start of the contest, and never developed a steady attack throughout the match — the exact opposite of what Mondesir had wanted from his players.

“I told them, we have to come out and take the first one, put them back on their heels,” said the coach. “Once they got momentum, it was tough to stop them. The balls were going right to their setter. They were getting their front row involved in the game early. It just became an offensive game for them and more of a defensive one for us.”

With the Blue and Blue unable to find their groove, most attacks were launched away from the net, diminishing their effectiveness. Furthermore, English’s best offensive player, Yabriela Perez, could not find her stroke throughout the match.

“She couldn’t find her rhythm today,” said Mondesir. “She has to come to play. If you’re going to see the next level, you have to earn it. She had a difficult time.”

The end of season also spells a goodbye to the core of the English team as Perez, Tracy Lynn Pagan, and Johanly Garcia-Amaros are all graduating. That means next season, as Mondesir simply said, is “a rebuilding year.”