Coventry: 8:30 to 11:30 am

RHAM: 12 pm to 3:00
$50 payable to Coventry Sports Camp (download application here)

Send to:

Coach Hurlock

152 Merrow Road

Coventry, CT 06238

Hebron Park and Rec Volleyball Camp (Grades 3-7)
August 2nd-August 6th
9:00-1:00pm

Coventry Volleyball Camp
July 12th-July 16th
9:00-3:00pm

Coventry Middle School Volleyball Camp
July 19th-July 23rd
9:00-3:00pm

8/16-8/19, 9a-3p
8/23-8/25, 9a-3p

. Camp will be given for girls that are entering High School or already in High School.
. Teams will be broken down based on skill level and experience.
. Former Coventry Volleyball players will be coaching during the week as well as High School
Coaches. Tim Guernsey (RHAM), Renee Salvas (Bolton), Coach Roberts (Coventry) as well as
several graduating members of the 2008 and 2009 State Champion Coventry High School Team
will also be working the camp.
. Cost: $125 for residents and $150 for non-residents.

Camp Director:

Coach Matt Hurlock has been Varsity Volleyball Coach for the past 9 seasons. He is a
graduate of Springfield College and has a Masterís Degree in Counseling from Cen-tral CT Uni-
versity. Coach Hurlock has helped Lady Patriots to become one of the top programs in the state. His
teams have made the last 7 State Championships winning 6 out of those 7. In 2009 the writers associa-
tion named Coach Hurlock the CT State Coach of the Year! One of Coach Hurlockís trademarks is the
improvement in his playerís skill level. Coventryís philosophy is to work hard on getting better every

Bring a lunch, water bottle, and knee pads.

Download application: click here.

Focus of Camp

Learning the skills for
team play and learning

Matt Hurlock

CHS Varsity Volleyball Coach

(860) 742-7334 ext. 281

mhurlock@coventryct.org

HITTERS

Lexie Broytman, Southington, Sr.

Katie Byrnes, Southington, Sr.

Jessica Frankowski, Farmington, Sr.

Krystie Luczynski, Berlin, Sr.

Stephanie Oliver, Coventry, Jr.

Lauren Ostafin, Avon, Sr.

Kyley Reed, Rocky Hill, So.

Mariah Roussel, Newington, Sr.

Tessa Smolinski, RHAM-Hebron, Sr.

Kelsey Welling, RHAM, Sr.

SETTERS

Dianne Gan, Conard- West Hartford, Sr.

Grace Kucharski, Avon, Jr.

Aleesha Quintana, Coventry, Jr.

LIBERO

Brittany Curtis, Coventry, Jr.

Mallory Grasso, RHAM, Sr.

HONORABLE MENTION

Hitters: Haily Beem, East Hampton, Jr.; Amber Bepko, Mercy, Jr.; Sarah Beres, Ellington, Sr.; Michelle Carilli, Coventry, Sr.; Kelly Draghe, Coventry, Sr.; Kelly Myers, Coventry, Jr.; Megan O’Brien, Haddam- Killingworth, Jr.; Liz Pacyna, Bristol Eastern, Sr.; Jocelyn Taylor, RHAM, Jr.; Paige Trusty, Coginchaug-Durham, Sr.

Setters: Meghan Feeney, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford, Sr.; Ellie Linden, RHAM, Sr.; Eleni Vossoughi, Hale-Ray, Jr.

Libero: Ashley Chasse, East Hampton, So.; Chelsey Weise, Mercy- Middletown, Sr.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Smolinski as Connecticut’s best high school volleyball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award, to be announced in late December, Smolinski joins an elite alumni association of past state volleyball award winners, including USA Volleyball Olympians Kim Glass (2001-02, Horseshoe HS , Penn.), Kim Willoughby (1998-99 & 1999-00, Assumption HS, La.) and Ogonna Nnamani (1999-00, University HS, Ill.).

The 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter recorded 239 kills and 205 digs this past season, leading the Sachems (26-0) to a third consecutive Class M state championship. A 2009 Senior All-Star Volleyball Game selection, Smolinski also tallied 83 service aces during her senior campaign. A returning Class M First Team All-State selection as named by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, she amassed 13 kills, 12 digs and three service aces in a state final-sweep of Barlow, capturing Class M state championship game Most Valuable Player honors for the second straight season. Smolinski compiled 293 kills, 248 digs and 68 service aces as a junior.

Smolinski has maintained a 4.63 GPA in the classroom and ranks No. 5 in her class. The selection leader as a flutist in her school’s wind ensemble and a participant in the Mathematical Olympiads competition, she has volunteered on behalf of countless community-service initiatives, including the Special Olympics, Unified Sports, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Rally and the American Red Cross. Also a panelist at the Connecticut Youth Entrepreneur Seminar and a speaker at the Conference for Teaching Entrepreneurship, she established Pre-wrap.com in order to sell pre-wrap and athletic tape worldwide.

“She is spectacular,” said Laura Arena, head coach of Farmington High, which faced RHAM during the 2009 regular season. “She’s 5-foot-9 and plays as big as 6-foot-2 if not bigger and better. That says a lot. She’s a key reason RHAM became the program it is. Without her, I’m not sure they’re as successful. She’s a well-rounded player. She sees the whole court. I’m impressed with her strategy, finesse and power. She’s a strong server and a crafty defensive player. She’s a leader. And she does it all with so much class.”

Smolinski remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Smolinski joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Volleyball Players of the Year Erika Videtto (2008-09, Greenwich), Janice Ehorn (2007-08, Amity Regional), and Brittany Dickinson (2006-07, Frank Scott Bunnell) among the state’s list of former award winners.

To celebrate the award’s 25th anniversary, Gatorade wants you to vote for the All-Time Greatest Players of the Year at gatorade.com/POY25. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.

It’s also known for something else — winning championships. Those two qualities came together here Saturday as the undefeated Sachems wrapped up a 25-0 season by winning their third straight Class M title with a 3-0 win over Joel Barlow. Game scores were 25-11, 25-22, and 26-24.

RHAM trailed Barlow, 24-20 in the third game when it calmly spurted off the final six points to settle the issue in dramatic style. If ever there was a time to examine the championship DNA of the Sachems, the closing stages of the third game was the perfect time.

“It’s just a matter of getting the job done,” RHAM coach Tim Guernsey said. “We don’t try to think about it too much. We just play.”

The final five points were served by Breault, who was a perfect 23-for-23 during the match.

“When we fall behind, our goal is to never let the ball touch the ground,” Breault said. “When I was serving, I try not to think about it too much. Basically, I just tried to serve it as hard as I could.”

Also supplying some firepower was senior Tessa Smolinski, who was responsible for three of RHAM’s final five points including the game winner, when she blow-torched a rocket that landed in the right corner of the court. She was named the Most Valuable Player in the championship game by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.

“Last year, I scored the last point, but it didn’t count because they said I was over the net,” Smolinski said. “This year when I saw the ball go in, I didn’t hear anyone cheering, and I said, ‘Uh, oh.’ But we got the call, and I was just so excited.”

Her shot was just the exclamation point of three incredible seasons compiled by RHAM’s senior class. Just consider these numbers: three straight titles, 53 consecutive wins, and RHAM lost only one game all season, going 75-1.

Even when RHAM trailed, 24-20, in the third game, there were no signs of panic. That’s because RHAM has faced the identical situation hundreds of times in practice.

“Coach has a simulated game and makes the score 24-20,” Smolinski said. “We have to score six points in a row to win. So we do it all the time in practice. Today, we did it in a match.”

Perhaps the biggest play down the stretch was made by Chelsea Fenton. Her dig with the score 24-23 led to a kill by Smolinski and kept the RHAM rally alive.

“I’m used to getting the ball hit hard at me every day in practice, so I don’t even think about it when the ball is hit hard at me,” Fenton said. “I knew we had it in us.”

The Sachems had it in them all day long. RHAM ran off 10 straight points in the first game, with all the serving done by Breault, to make an early statement.

The statement got louder for the No. 1 seed in Game 2 when kills by Kelsey Welling and Smolinski locked up the win.

Then came the amazing comeback in Game 3.

“We don’t do it on purpose, but when we make it exciting like that, it’s more memorable,” Guernsey said.

Here’s another reason why it was memorable — the senior class of Mallory Grasso (8 digs), Fenton (11 digs), Ellie Lindon (30 assists), Smolinski (12 digs, 13 kills), Breault (9 digs), Welling (4 blocks, 8 kills) and Alie Carlson (4 kills).

Throw in 11 blocks and four kills by junior Jocelyn Taylor, who covered the top of the net like barbed wire, and it’s easy to understand how RHAM pulled it off.

“Our seniors were part of last year’s championship, but it was Kelly Stratton’s banner,” said Guernsey, referring to last year’s senior leader. “This year, the seniors got their own banner. You can’t do anything unless you have a talented group. And this is a talented group.”

Steve Antal, coach of 11th-seeded Joel Barlow (18-5), agreed.

“They’re just such a disciplined group,” Antal said. “They cover the floor well and they all know their roles. And they have some powerful hitters from both sides. They know how to find the gaps.”

And win championships.

“The kids were phenomenal,” Guernsey said. “What you saw today is what we’re been doing all year.”

More accurately, for three years.

By Matt Buckler
Journal Inquirer

Little did Barlow realize.

The Falcons were leading No. 1 seed RHAM 24-20 in the third game of the Class M girls volleyball final Saturday at Berlin High.

Normally that’d be a good situation for Barlow to be in, but it’s also the exact scenario that the Sachems practice routinely. So RHAM executed as it practices, reeling off the next six points, to win the final game 26-24 to complete a 3-0 sweep and secure its third straight state title.

“We simulate that sequence all the time in practice,” said Tessa Smolinski, RHAM’s All-State outside hitter and finals MVP for the second straight year. “Coach (Tim) Guernsey puts 24-20 up on the scoreboard and we play it out.

“If we lose we run sprints. We’ve gone in practice where we’ve gone up to 32-34 and won it out so we just stay mentally focused. We knew we could do it and we just finished.”

RHAM won the first two games by scores of 25-11 and 25-22. The Sachems, who finish 25-0 for their second straight undefeated season, extended their win streak to 53 matches.

“We don’t ever give in,” Guernsey said. “We don’t ever break or get nervous. It’s kind of the same mentality every time where we know we’re good enough to come back no matter what the score is. It’s something we work on in practice all the time.”

Barlow, the 11th seed which ends the year 21-5, actually led in every game, although their 1-0 advantage in the opener was fleeting. The Falcons trailed 9-5 before RHAM went
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on a 10-0 run with Kelsey Brault scoring eight from the service line to extend the lead to 19-5.

The middle game was a back-and-forth affair with no more than three points separating the two teams from start to finish. Barlow hurt itself by serving the ball out of bounds on three straight occasions.

“You can’t do that, especially against a talented team like RHAM,” Barlow coach Steve Antal said. “You can’t give them three points in a row and get none. That definitely hurt us in Game 2.”

The Falcons rebounded in the final game, jumping out to a 7-1 lead on the strength of a monster kill from Caity Van Camp, who finished with 11 kills, a score off a Rachel Schenck block and four service points from Kate Bodurtha (eight points, 10 digs).

The Sachems fought back, however, taking the lead for the first time at 11-10. The teams were tied at 20 and again at 24 before a Barlow return went over the end line and then Smolinski (13 kills, 12 digs) blistered a kill through the Barlow defense for the final point.

Guernsey saluted the Falcons, who reached the final with wins over No. 6 Avon, No. 3 Seymour and No. 2 Sacred Heart Academy.

“They never gave up,” he said. “They never gave in. Right to the end they were fighting. I thought it was a good match.”

Van Camp, who thought the Falcons could have played better, maintained that Barlow wasn’t intimidated by RHAM’s reputation.

“After having to take out the 2, 3 and sixth seeds to get here, we put our mind to it that we had to do what we had to get it done,” Van Camp said. “Unfortunately today we didn’t push as hard as we could have.

“I think we were hot and cold. We had our moments where we had great runs. The third and second games were a lot better than the first. When we got rolling we were good and we thought we had a shot.”

By Dan S. Cohen
STAFF WRITER, The Connecticut Post

RHAM reportedly dominated the scrimmage, which was not disputed by Sommi as she smiled when it was brought up.

“I think that motivated us,” Sommi said. “At the beginning of the season RHAM exposed so many weaknesses and showed us what we needed to work on.”

Asked what that was, Sommi grinned again.

“Weak serve-receive, serving, blocking, hitting, every single thing on the court we had some problem with. This showed us how far we’ve come.”

It was a road that ended at perfection.

____________
Darien volleyball rolls to ninth straight state title
By Dave Ruden
The Stamford Advocate

“We got a bye and then we got beat 3-0,” Smolinski said of the Sachems’ Class L second-round loss to Mercy in 2006. “But back then I didn’t how much of a big deal a state championship was. That was the first year I had ever played.

“Now, going out with a win would mean so much. We’ve been together for three years and to win it all again would be amazing.”

Since that loss to Mercy, RHAM has shown little mercy to its opponents. It has compiled a 71-1 record with 52 straight wins and back-to-back Class M titles.

The unbeaten and top-ranked Sachems will go for a Class M three-peat when they take on No. 11 Joel Barlow today at 1 p.m. at Berlin High School.

For seniors Smolinski, four-year starter Kelsey Welling, Mallory Grosso, Chelsea Fenton, Ellie Linden, Kelsey Brault, and Allie Carlson, it will be their last match in a RHAM uniform. All have played a key role in the winning streak.

While there’s a feeling of sadness that it will be their last time together, the sense of anticipation and excitement of what could be means much more.

“It’s been special,” Welling said. “I know it’s our last match, but what better way for it to end than with a state championship.”

“We’re all best friends,” she added. “We hang out together outside of volleyball. We’re in a lot of the same classes. The chemistry we have is so strong. When one is down we’re able to pick each other up.”

RHAM rolled to the Central Connecticut Conference East and CCC tournament titles in its first year in the league. The only game it has lost in 24 matches was in the CCC final against Southington.

And when Southington won that game, it acted like it had won a state championship.

But the Sachems are used to that kind of reaction because it occasionally happens even when they lose a single point.

“Sure it’s annoying,” Smolinski said. “But, really, if they’re celebrating it makes us want to hit the ball at them harder.”

RHAM (24-0) coasted into the Class M final four with wins over Bacon Academy and East Catholic, but got a semifinal challenge from No. 4 Jonathan Law.

It was another sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-22) but the Sachems had to earn it.

“It was nice to play good competition and show what we can do,” Smolinski said. “I think the semifinal match is the hardest one to win. To win a state championship you have to get to the final first. And even if you don’t win you have a good feeling that you made it that far.”

Don’t get Smolinski wrong. Victory is all that’s on her mind for Saturday.

“We’re very determined to get it done,” she said.

Joel Barlow (18-4) is seeking its first state championship. The Falcons have lost in three finals, including to RHAM in 2007.

They opened Class M play with a sweep of Tolland and then rallied from 2-1 down in games to win at No. 6 Avon. They got to the semifinals by sweeping host and third-ranked Seymour, and reached the final by beating No. 2 Sacred Heart Academy Wednesday 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-13.

The Sachems, though, are only concerned about themselves.

“I haven’t seen Barlow play and I would have liked to see them play,” RHAM coach Tim Guernsey said. “But I honestly believe that we’re one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the state. So if we play like we’re capable of playing, play our game, I like our side.”

Like his seniors, Guernsey has mixed emotions as they enter their final match.

“They’re phenomenal kids,” he said. “I don’t want to let it go, but it has to come to an end.”

All good things, it’s said, do come to an end. A perfect ending for the Sachems is just one win away.

By Carl Adamec
Journal Inquirer