One banner down, a few more to go.
The St. Thomas More Knights achieved their first aim – chronologically that is – when they captured the B.C. Catholic senior girls volleyball crown last week.
With the launch of the playoff season this week, the work continues to complete their 2018 to-do list.
The Knights edged Triple-A rival Little Flower Academy 2-1 (25-20, 23-25, 16-14) in a tense final to claim their second straight Catholic title.
Taking that achievement and putting it to use on the route to the Double-A provincials, which STM will host in about four weeks time, is the virtual key to success.
Taking past lessons and playing them forward has got the Knights to where they are ranked No. 2 in B.C.
“I think we’ve had a lot of growth over the year (and) faced some major mental obstacles at tournaments,” remarked co-coach Danielle Paloposki. “I’ve coached a lot of teams over the years and this one is able to take those mental, I want to say barriers or breakdowns, to really internalize them and learn from them in a really quick way.”
It worked well last week, after the squad had closed the books on a 5-2 regular season in the Lower Mainland Independent Secondary School league. Defeats at the hands of Crofton House, rated No. 1 in Triple A, and Notre Dame, as well as a few tournament losses, toughened their resolve.
The Knights, with a roster of four Grade 12s, six Grade 11s and three spunky Grade 10s, absorbed those losses with intense interest.
“I think we grew a lot mentally as a team, everyone just got on the same page of wanting to win as much as we seniors do,” noted co-captain Sienna Mastromonaco. “The younger players really stepped up and have been playing so amazing.”
Fellow seniors Lauren Boddington, Mia Malinowski and Francesca Sandini join Mastromonaco in setting the tone – one that has them hungry to get back to the provincial final, but this time coming away with gold.
Utilizing a six-two formation, with natural outside hitters Boddington and Mastromonaco taking roles as setters, has inserted a whole new power dimension. Helping that set-up has been standout contributions by 15-year-olds Ezawa Malish, Sophie Sutherland and Kaya Crescenzo – although the latter player just recently returned to the court after being sidelined by a knee injury.
And just like last year, when STM had since-graduated twins Anika and Vanessa Gatto, this year’s lineup features a sibling pair – twins Gigi and Isabella Gaspar – who, as Grade 11s, are tenacious contributors.
“They don’t like to lose, and that’s pretty awesome,” said Paloposki, who shares the coaching duties with Cassie Lauang. “They want to win. We have four seniors who have this win mentality.
“They really take a lot from a loss and gain a lot, so when we’re faced with that moment again, they’re really able to be in control, and we saw that in the final.”
In the Catholic final, STM held a 1-0 lead but witnessed LFA force a third set with a feverish rally. The two teams matched point for point over the decisive set, but once the Burnaby squad grabbed a 14-13 edge, it was game over.
“We just put our heads together and really dug down deep and found the mentality and motivation to win the third set. It was one of our main goals to the season, to win Catholics, and by the end of the weekend we wanted it so badly,” said Mastromonaco, who was named the tourney’s Most Valuable Player. Sandini was named to the all-star team.
In the semifinal they topped Notre Dame 2-1.
Although they are not looking beyond their next test – which is to win the league playoff and fortify their run at the Lower Mainlands, which they will host the opening round on Thursday (4 p.m.) against either St. Pat’s or Notre Dame – the provincials are definitely the end goal.
“Everybody just kind of clicked together earlier in the season,” said Mastromonaco. “I think we can take away that we just need to work together and stick it through. When we work together we’re really unstoppable.”
