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Blue Devils Seek First State Volleyball Crown Since 1998
Haldane bound for Glens Falls for 3rd-straight year
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Blue Devils libero Danielle Etta and hitter Jen Lombardo were huge keys Saturday at John Jay High where Haldane High swept its way back to the NYSPHSAA Class D volleyball finals this weekend in Glens Falls. |
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It was right around this time last year, and the year before that, when the Haldane High volleyball team boarded a bus bound for Glens Falls, representing Section 1 in the NYSHSAA Class D championship game, only to come home as runner-up each time. And the reigning three-time Section 1 champion Blue Devils will return again this Friday with more appropriate fortune on their minds after sweeping their way through Section 4 champion Candor to secure the Region 1 Class D championship last Saturday at John Jay High School.
Haldane (27-1-3) will now begin pool play this Saturday (2:30pm) with the top two teams moving on to the finals on Sunday, November 18. The Blue Devils (80-5 in sets) will be seeking their first state championship since 1998 when Section 1 took home three state titles from four classes (B, C & D). The Blue Devils will eventually see Section 6's Randolph, which has eliminated Haldane in each of the past two seasons in the state finals. Randolph (23-3) will be back at Glens Falls after taking three of four sets from Section 5's Lyons (25-1).
The Haldane seniors were on parade against Candor, including Caitlin McConville, who had yet another sterling all-around performance with eight kills, six assists and four digs. Megan Lyons put the hammer down with 16 kills, and setter Rachel Flaherty dished out 31 assists to lead Haldane to a 25-11, 25-5, 25-15 sweep.
Lyons will enter an elite group on her first kill at states. She is currently sitting at .499 after the regionals, and a .500 kill rate is a rare achievement, according to Coach Joel Stanford. Top to bottom, the Blue Devils are a lean, mean fighting machine as they head north this weekend.
"The girls are in a great frame of mind," Coach Stanford said. "They know they have unfinished business and have been very dedicated to doing everything necessary to bring home the title that has eluded them the previous two seasons. Our practices of late have been among the best all year. We're not treating this week any differently than every other week of the season. We continue with the same practice schedule and plans, the same expectations and the same goals that we had on Day 1."
Stanford has witnessed superior senior leadership, both from a mental standpoint in preparing the team for what to expect, and physically in stepping up and performing during matches.
"Our outside hitters, Megan Lyons, (Jennifer) Lombardo and McConville, have been nearly unstoppable," the coach said. "Both of our middles, Avery Zuvic and Irina Impellittiere, have had their best matches of the season during the Sectional and Regional competition. Setter Rachel Flaherty has been amazing as she delivers pin-point sets in our fast tempo offense. She has been superlative in getting the ball to the underclassmen in the middle enough to keep the opposing team guessing where the offense will go while feeding our big guns on the outside for easy kills against a minimal block.
"And what can I say about senior Libero Danielle Etta," the coach asked?"
The only thing that needs to be said is the following: Etta has not given up an ace on serve-receive since October 5th. During the regionals the Blue Devils didn't have a single passing error, and Etta is mainly responsible for that.
Should the Blue Devils play to their potential this weekend, they'll likely need space on the bus for the NYS Class D championship plaque, provided they'll put it down.
Please visit www.yourdirectrays.com to view photo galleries of Section 1 sports.
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