Dodgers Girls Volleyball Ready to Take Next Step

The Madison High School girls volleyball team is anticipating great things for its 2010 season, and with good reason.

The Dodgers are returning all but two starters from last season, a year that saw them finish 18-6, reaching the quarterfinals of the state tournament where they lost to top-seeded Newark Science, 1-2.

Madison also played hard in both its meeting with cross-town rival Chatham, a highly regarded team around the state.

"We lost in quarterfinals of states to Newark Science and we pushed them to the very brink, at their place," fifth-year Madison head coach Steve Fenton said. "We came very close to beating Newark Science, so we ended the season on kind of a high note."

An important aspect of this team, something that fuels the high expectations, is the tight bond that the girls share with one another.

"We have an outstanding chemistry," Fenton said. "These girls all get along. They like each other, they play together and there's really no adversity on this team at all."

And Fenton strongly believes that this team has a lot of potential, and he expects them to play at a high level.

"I predict us to be in the finals of the county tournament, and I predict us to do well in the state tournament," he said. "With a little luck and good timing, I think we're going to do well. We're going to be a tough team to beat."

Fenton's assessment that team chemistry is a non-issue is clear when watching the girls warming up on the court.

"We all get along really well, so it really helps us a lot. We have a bunch of great players and a bunch of great girls," senior captain Gabriella Melillo said before a team scrimmage last week.

"I think we'll do a lot better this year. A lot of the girls played club over the winter, and because of that, we've improved a ton."

Fellow captain and outside hitter Mackenzie Goodwin agrees.

"I think were just going to pick up this year where we left off last year," she said. "We're definitely more unified this year. We're going to have a good season."

But just to be sure that the head coach doesn't have to worry his team playing as one, he continues to drill home the concept of unity by giving each member of the team matching practice shirts.

"It's all part of the team unity, team bonding thing," Fenton explained. "They all come out in the same shirts every day or there's a consequence. A small consequence, but it's just to get them all on the same page."

And it would appear that it's working, as success in 2010 is on the mind of each varsity player.

"We're going to be good this year," senior captain Lindsay Alexander said. "Our starting six played together this winter, so there are high expectations for our team in Group I."

After stopping Dover on Friday, 2-0, the Dodgers will look to win another match as they head to Hackettstown High School on Monday at 4 p.m.