September 27, 2021 - Story and photos by Joshua Ross
The Hingham volleyball team has been on a tear to open the season. The girls have racked up six wins in a row, many in straight sets, and showing no signs of slowing down. The latest opponent, Plymouth South, tried and failed on Friday losing 3-0. Another “W” went up on the poster board in the locker room, which has yet to don an “L”.
There is a noticeable cohesiveness and confidence in the Harborwomen that hasn’t been there in years past. Head Coach Katelyn Sassorossi explains why she thinks that is.
“The girls came in with great team chemistry, which is actually a surprise because we only have five returners,” says Sassorossi. “It’s like a brand new team. Maybe the fact that they were coming up from JV they had that chemistry.”
The chemistry isn’t the only reason for team’s early success.
“Our middle (senior) Lilly (Steiner) with her block is really helping our defense,” Sassorossi explains. “Our sophomore Nora (Schulze) has a very powerfully both front and back row hit that is hard to stop. One of our junior captains Mathilde (Megard), I honestly think she has only missed one serve all season and she must have 100 serves under her. As long as we can get those passes up and sets up, we run very smoothly.”
As pleased as coach is with her team, there are always thing to improve on as the season ramps up.
“Our defense,” replies Sassorossi. “Some of our ball control passes. We pass a lot of time to the 10 foot line. So getting it to a better playable area for our setter, but today it looked like we already improved that. We been working a lot on that. I would say just getting our passes to target.”
Steiner agrees with her coach that the team bonding is a contributing factor of why they are firing on all cylinders this year. And while she notes the talent might be the same as teams of years past, the fact that this group could get back to “normal” off-season activities has helped a lot.
“I think we have been really close as a team on and off the court,” Steiner tells the Anchor. “I consider every one of these girls as a sister and I think that brings us close together when we are playing. We play very much together. We cheer each other on when we have success and when something goes wrong we also build each other up.”
When asked what she thought the biggest surprise was this season, Steiner noted the effort level of the entire team.
“Everyone is showing up,” she answered. “Everyone comes ready to play and ready to work. Practices are great energy. Games are great energy and everyone wants to make each other better.”
Has the early season success has shifted Sassorossi’s expectations a bit?
“Yes,” she simply states. “I expect these girls not to give up if we ever now struggle because they’ve proven to themselves they can win. I know we have some tough teams ahead, Duxbury and Quincy coming up and they need to know they are good enough beat them. They’ve been told a lot that it’s a rebuilding year and I think they’ve proved they are beyond that.”
They face one of the those tough team’s Monday afternoon when Duxbury comes to Hingham to take on the Harborwomen.