MIA Downs Neumann in Tune-Up

When Marco Island Academy and St. John Neumann get together on the volleyball court, there’s always spirited action between the rival schools.

But their Thursday, August 11 exhibition match at Marco’s gym turned out to be a relatively easy win for the rebuilding Rays with scores of 25-14 and 25-22.“It’s starting to come together,” said Alyssa Stolinas, longtime MIA coach.

“We have a lot of underclassmen in key roles, which is a great thing for a program, but it takes time and experience to feel 100 percent comfortable in that role.

Obviously, there’s things that we still need to improve on, but we’re looking more like a team. The energy was there. I was pleasantly happy with how things went.”The Rays are replacing three four-year starters, an outside hitter, a middle hitter, and a setter.

And while Stolinas appreciates everything those athletes brought to the table, she wants her young team to look forward and not dwell on who they’re replacing.

Currently, Stolinas can’t say that a leader has emerged.“We don’t have one leader,” Stolinas said, “which you can kind of say that’s a bad thing. But I think it’s a good thing because they all lead when they have to. I tell my girls all the time, I don’t want just one captain.

I don’t want just one leader. I want you all to step up and be leaders. So the fact that we can’t identify a leader, some coaches might take that negatively, but I think someone always steps up when they need to. The best thing is everyone has their strengths and everyone has their weaknesses.

So if someone’s having a bad day, someone’s there to step up. So we’re never missing that connection there.”Stolinas doesn’t rule out a leader emerging as the season moves along. “Absolutely,” she said.

Sophia Ogdin, who was named as one of the Elite 11 players in the area, returns for her senior season at libero.“She’s grown a lot,” Stolinas said. “I think the Elite 11 gave her a lot of confidence because that’s the she’s always struggled with.

She never saw in herself what we see in her. I think this year she’s taken on that new role of being confident in who she is as a volleyball player. I think that’s going to help her so much this season, because you can tell she’s confident.

Honestly, that’s what we’ve been searching for because she’s always had the talent. It’s just she didn’t always believe in herself. I think we’re finally getting that I can do this attitude. It’s like an I know I’m good attitude.”Many casual volleyball fans don’t understand what makes a good libero, the back-row specialist who wears a different colored jersey.

The libero focuses on defense, receiving serves, and digging hard spikes. They are allowed to substitute in and out of the game freely for back-row players without counting against regular team substitution limits.

“Every coach has their own requirements as to what they consider their best libero to be,” Stolinas said. “A good libero is very poised, doesn’t freak out in certain situations, not spazzy, very calm, very relaxed. But a good libero is a leader when she has to be.

Communication’s got to be 100 percent. Staying calm when there’s chaos around you. I think that’s super important. And that goes for every volleyball player. You can’t freak out when things are getting crazy. Especially during long rallies. Sophie brings that sense of calmness.

She doesn’t really freak out. She stays true to the game and she doesn’t necessarily panic. I know her, so I can see when she starts to get a little stressed when the score is tight.

But she doesn’t show that panic because there’s always thought to what she’s doing.”Stolinas is happy to have the Batelli sisters on her roster. Giuliana, a senior, transferred to MIA from Neumann last season. This year she is joined by her sister Arianna, a freshman. Giuliana is the Rays’ most dangerous returning outside hitter.

But Stolinas said that doesn’t mean she feels pressure.“I don’t think so,” Stolinas said. “That’s not her personality. I don’t think she ever feels like the pressure’s on her. I think every time she goes out there she just tries to do 100 percent. She’s not that player to where she feels like everything’s put on her shoulders.

I think she just balls out, does her thing. That’s how she rolls. She knows that she’s probably one of the more talented ones hitting-wise, but I don’t think she feels like the team is on her back. I think she just considers herself another player, one of the six.

I think that’s her thought process.”Stolinas said Guiliana is happy to have her sister joining her in the starting lineup.“They are thick as thieves,” she said. “They run together. If they can be partners at peppering drills, they’ll do it. They get along really well. Arianna’s really tall.

She’s a seasoned player; she’s played club. I coached her in club, so she knows a little bit of me as a coach. She’s a freshman, but she knows the game. She’s played fast-paced. She’s played high-level volleyball.”While Stolinas has two freshmen in the starting lineup, she says neither of them play like freshmen.

The other freshman starter is setter Colbie Steward.“There’s times where I run two setters and there’s times where I run one,” she said. “I have one freshman and one senior setter, Sarah Friedhoff.

So I could have a freshman setter running my court, which is a big deal. Colbie plays club high level. And she went to nationals last year with her team, so she’s been around volleyball. The highest level she’s played is 13U.

So coming from playing against 13-year-olds to playing against 17- 18-year-olds, it’s a totally different game.”Stolinas has three front line players who have shown improvement since last season. Sophomore Kolbie Bernhardt is one of those players.

“It’s amazing that she’s as tall as she is and she can jump as high as she jumps,” she said. “She’s just super athletic. One thing about her is she always wants to learn more. That’s something as a coach that you want. She constantly asks questions. She’s like, ‘How can I make it better?’

She trained all club season and she kept working hard. She’s a hard worker and she’s going to be a key piece for us this year.”Mia Berryman is entering her junior year.“She’s absolutely stepping into a bigger role this year,” Stolinas said. “She’s played high-level volleyball. So this is nothing new for her.

She’s a seasoned player. She knows what she’s doing; we just have to work on building that confidence with her. She needs to understand that she can do it. I’ve seen so much improvement from the Community School scrimmage (August 6) till now with her. The skill has always been there.

Every player you can look at and say, ‘Okay, you need to work on this, this and this.’ But Mia’s always had the fundamentals, the basics, the ability to do it. It’s just her trusting and believing that she can.”Stolinas also noted improvement in Liv Sanford’s game.

“Liv’s always been there,” she said. “She’s always been that little quiet one. But she’s like our little secret weapon. She’s not that tall, but she poses a big threat at the net. She’s always had it; it’s just putting it all together.

She’s gonna be good for us.”MIA hosts Aubrey Rogers on Saturday, August 22, and Neumann on Monday, August 24.