Holy Trinity looks to make a push into Catholic League playoffs this season
The Holy Trinity girls volleyball team has high hopes this upcoming season, as they look to make a push in the ultra-competitive Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA.) The team returns senior libero Lauren Wong, one of the top defenders in the league last year. It also returns a couple of key sophomore and junior players.
Titans volleyball coach Karen Hogan said that besides Wong and a couple of key junior players, her team is very young this season.
“Despite being a young team, we still have a lot of talent on our squad and defensively we will be very good this year,” said Hogan, who’s in her 18th season as head coach. “Lauren will give us a defensive presence and we bring back our starting center and one of our best blockers from last year.”
Wong is considered a complete libero, and is known for her ability to hold her ground on the back line and dig the ball out with athletic stretches across the floor. She is the team’s captain and a three-year varsity starter on the team.
“She is an absolute defensive presence for us who has a natural ability to dig balls out and keep the point going,” said Hogan.
In her 2017 rookie season, Wong was named both Libero of the Year and Rookie of the Year. She led the conference with 362 digs and had the highest serve receive percentage of any player in the conference.
The team also brings back their starting center, sophomore Kassandra O’Brien and sophomore Bianca Yepez, who is considered to be one of the best blockers in the conference.
Besides being a young team, the Lady Titans will also be short in the height department, with their tallest player standing at only 5’9”.
“We expect to go up against a lot of tall hitters on the other teams so we’re really going to have to rely on our defense to help us win matches,” said Hogan. “Lauren is definitely a key piece to our team but we need our other players to really step up for us this season.”
Some of the offensive weapons that the team will rely on at the front of the net include senior outside hitter Julia Colonna and junior outside hitter Sophia Samuels.
Sacred Heart Academy is expected to be the favorite again this season in the CHSAA. The Lady Spartans will look to defend their league title from last year. Kellenberg Memorial is also expected to have another solid year and St. Anthony’s will have a lot of height and talent and is expected to be in the top half of the conference standings.
The way the Catholic League works is that in order for teams to make it to the playoffs they have to be the top four teams in their conference standing.
“That is really our goal every single season to make it into the top four teams in our conference so we can earn a berth in the semifinals,” said Hogan. “Once you get into the semis, anything can happen, and I think this season we have a really good chance of making a strong push in the playoffs.”
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