New uniforms, new coach, new attitude as Lady Rams volleyball wins first 2 games
September 13, 2023 at 10:21 p.m.
Volleyball is one of the fastest growing women's sports—especially after a world record more than 92,000 fans attended a women's VB match held in the Nebraska Cornhuskers' football stadium.
Total attendance for that Sept. 1 game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln was 92,003.
That beat the American record of 90,185, set at the 1989 Women's World Cup final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., as well as the international mark set at an April 2022 Champions League match in Barcelona, Spain, between F.C. Barcelona and Wolfsburg that drew 91,648 people.
Cornhuskers on roll
So the Cornhuskers, five-time NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) champions, beat a lot more than the University of Nebraska Omaha team that day.
LoHud reflected the local interest in volleyball by naming 58 Westchester female VB players to watch as the area's best during the current 2023 season, rightly including Blind Brook junior setter Fernanda Julian and sophomore offensive hitter Oriah Rosenfeld.
But they were wrong for not naming any Port Chester players.
And that is a mistake because this is one of the best Lady Rams teams in years, maybe decades.
Lady Rams look good
And not just because they won their first two matches 3-0 against Roy C. Ketcham and East Ramapo without losing a single set.
It was the way they did it, starting with the way they beat a very good Ketcham team by scores of 27-25, 25-12 and 25-21.
Three of the Lady Rams’ upcoming players had a field day against Ketcham—high-flying sophomore Skylar Sams more than lived up to her name with 19 digs and 15 serves. Eighth grade wunderkind Julianna Luzzi had 14 assists and 23 serves. And junior Nataly Suertegaray had 17 digs, 9 kills and 16 serves.
The Lady Rams were even better against East Ramapo, scoring 10 straight points at the outset while winning the first set 25-5. They one upped themselves by scoring 11 straight points to start the 25-6 second set and eased up while winning the third set 25-11.
Solid rotating cast
They did it with a rotating cast that revolves around Yanairis Tejeda, Karah Provenzano, Esmeralda Narvarro, Katherine Cano and Camila Nunez.
And they did it with other key contributors including the Garcia sisters (Nataly and Emily), Cindy Laynes and Ava Ramos.
And they also did it with style that comes from new uniforms (white jerseys with blue numerals across the back and trim black shorts), new plays that have them shifting in sync like the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes with 11 of those players having previous varsity experience, and a new winning attitude that comes from having a new coach in Stephanie Costabile, a winner from way back.
Costabile comes from a King School program that was 78-2 during her career at the Stamford, Conn. private institution, a storied basketball and VB career that saw her making numerous Fairfield and New England All-Star teams in high school. After graduation, she went on to compile a similar outstanding record at Mitchell College in New London, Conn., where she played VB and lacrosse (captaining both teams), made the New England All-Star Academic Team and, among other awards, graduated as the school's outstanding female scholar-athlete last year with a degree in sports management.
New to Port Chester
Now teaching in the Port Chester School District, she doesn't speak about her high school and college record. She doesn't have to. It speaks for itself. As does her being assistant director of the Chelsea Piers VB Club in Stamford, where she coached the 15U National VB team and the 15/16U regional team. She wasted no time once she came to Port Chester, holding open gyms for interested VBallers so she could get to know the players and the community. Her goal sounds idealistic, but not to her because she experienced it herself.
"What I want to do is have the girls experience the thrill of being part of a winning program used to playing before packed houses like I did," she said. "And I want them to see that teamwork is the way to accomplish that, not an individual style of play."
You can already see that transformation starting to happen.
Whether or not you know anything about volleyball, you can already see the Costabile coaching results during the games as well as at practice.
Work in progress
Against East Ramapo, for example, you could see the team shifting as one, the plays unfolding in a set pattern, the serves on target, the returns orchestrated, palms up, fingers interlaced, the playmaker batting the mini-basketball-like volleyball in the air as the players responded to the unfolding action. It was like watching a basketball point guard setting up a play, the player alongside her soaring up to take the pass like a shooting guard who, in turn, flicked the ball to a streaking shooter who either slammed the ball over the net or deftly dunked it, Wee Willie Keeler baseball style, so the rivals don't have an easy chance at a return. And score or no score, the Lady Rams were ready for whatever came next, on their toes, point by point, poised, prepared, ready for whatever came next.
Another new touch has been added to the mix: the girls applaud one another after every point in games as well as in practice. And on the sidelines, there is yet another new cute twist: the Lady Rams on the bench stand and do a leaping, dancing V twist while clapping to celebrate every point. And the music is playing in between to get the gym rocking.
On the surface, the VB setting looks the same: The game is still being played in the gym on the high school basketball court. The basketball backboards and nets are still curled up and back, the VB net still dominates half court like a tennis net on stilts. One official still sits to the left side of the court on a raised chair that makes him look like he is reffing a tennis match at the U.S. Open. A second ref still faces him while standing on the other sideline. And the race is still on to see which team gets to 25 first and wins three sets for the match. So everything is still more or less the same. But the net result is different because the Lady Ram Vballers are playing smarter, better, with a lot more confidence. And the difference shows.
Long way to go
The word hasn't gotten around yet about how good the Lady Rams VB team is. So the gym isn't crowded. Port Chester isn't Nebraska. And the Lady Rams aren't the Cornhuskers. Far from it. But this is a solid team. And getting better. With plenty of good players to watch no matter what Lohud says. You don't have to take our word for it. Listen instead to Eddie Palermo, the ex-Ram football player back in the day, who is the Lady Rams VB team's number one fan and has rarely missed a home game going back almost two decades.
"The girls have the makings of a very good volleyball team, maybe one of the best I've ever seen," he said after the East Ramapo game. "New coach, new uniforms, new attitude. I love what I'm seeing. And I think they are going to keep on getting better."
But you can see what's happening and judge for yourself.
The road ahead
The Lady Rams’ next game is Thursday (9/14) away against Ursuline in New Rochelle at 6:30 p.m. Their next home game is Saturday (9/16) at 11 a.m. against Ossining. Both are very good teams. And while Ursuline, a non-conference Catholic high school team, doesn't have any players on the LoHud best players to watch list, Ossining has three—sophomore middle hitter Talia Cort, junior offensive hitter Ianna Harrison and junior setter Gabriella Hennessy. So it should be a worthy test that will help determine just how good the Lady Rams are. And maybe the Lady Rams could book a game later in the season, schedule permitting, to see how they stack up against the crosstown Blind Brook Trojans, a team that finished 18-4 last season and won their first section title against Albertus Magnus, a perennial powerhouse that also has two players on the LoHud list in Olivia Cirillo, a senior offensive hitter, and sophomore setter Christina Scolaro. As usual, Port Chester gets no respect from the so-called experts. But this year's Lady Rams volleyball team could help change that attitude.
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