The Fontbonne Hall girls’ volleyball team came out of its first meeting with rival St. Francis Prep with greater confidence, it not a win.
The Bonnies squad was admittedly anxious and a little intimidated facing the defending Catholic Class AA state champions in Fresh Meadows on Sept. 18. The Queens school beat Fontbonne three times last year, including in the Brooklyn-Queens final. Fontbonne left feeling like it can hang right with the Terriers despite the 25–20, 25–13, 25–9 defeat. Fontbonne was without star outside hitter Francesca Castellano due to a herniated disc. She was just cleared to return to the team that day.
“I think we were more intimidated by them because they have such great players,” said junior hitter Emily Greenstein. “I think next time we are going to get in there because we know what we have to work on for when we play them next time.”
The Bonnies trailed just 22–20 in the first set, despite giving away too many points on poor serves. They scored five-straight points behind the serving of freshman Katie Mahoney during a rally to get back into the game, before watching St. Francis Prep close out the set. Fontbonne (1–1) led 9–8 early in the second set and were down just 13–12. The Terriers turned up the level of play from there and closed the set on a 12–1 run.
Fontbonne which was down three starters from last year, is still trying to find consistent cohesion on the court.
Bonnies coach Linda Strong felt her team outplayed St. Francis Prep (2–0) in the opening set, but gave up two many points in service errors. The team played well in the second set as well, until its defense began to fail them. That allowed Terriers hitters Jessica Vishnudat and Steph Bogda to gain confidence and get into a grove. Strong felt St. Francis Prep’s points were as much about their strong play as her players not doing their jobs.
“I thought we did better than them the first game,” she said. “We picked up their hitters better and then we fell asleep. I was moving people in and out in the back row trying to find the solution.”
Castellano’s absence put a lot more responsibility on Greenstein, who did a superb job digging from the back row as well. Juniors Bryn Nagel and Caroline Good delivered scrappy play, but a consistent second hitter didn’t emerge when Greenstein was in the back row.
“She doesn’t give up,” Strong said of Greenstein. “She is definitely numero uno. If it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t be in the game.”
Greenstein is hopeful Castellano’s return will allow everything to fall into place for the future. It should take pressure off everyone to have her on the court again.
“Once we have her back, I feel like the team can come together more and really just calm down,” Greenstein said. “We were a little on edge.”
