This fall season, Girls Varsity Volleyball, Boys Badminton, and Girls Varsity Soccer all finished at the top of their division. Boys Badminton made it to the City Championships for the second year in a row, Girls Volleyball made it to quarter finals, and Girls Varsity Soccer won the city championships at Randall’s Island last Friday. 

Athletic director Lauren Caiaccia said, “I am very proud of the performance of all our fall teams. We have 12 competing programs in the fall semester. They started back in August and some teams [were] still going…in the middle of November.”

The captains of each of these three teams shared their thoughts on the season. 

Senior Natalia Ramlogan, one of the captains of Girls Varsity Soccer, said, “The season went really well for our team. We were undefeated and we worked really hard to be first seed in the playoffs. One challenge we faced in the playoffs was playing teams we’ve never seen before. We didn’t know what to expect, but ultimately our team is full of strong players, so we were able to triumph over any contender in the playoffs.”

Prior to their championship win, Ms. Caiaccia was confident that they’d be victorious. “They have improved with each successive game and really look like they are poised to take home the championship,” she said. 

Junior Kelly Gildea, one of the captains of the volleyball team (and a Classic editor), said “The season’s been going really well. …We’ve gone to more tournaments and faced better competition, which has been a great challenge. But we’ve persevered and built such a strong team culture these past few months.”

Ms. Caiaccia discussed the progress of the girls volleyball team. “[The] team got ranked fifth in the city this year. After coming off a season of rebuilding, Coach Hannif, who was a new coach to the girls varsity team, implemented an excellent coaching philosophy that worked well with our program and they are shining right now. So I look forward to seeing their progress.”

This past Wednesday, the girls varsity volleyball team lost their quarter final game against Metropolitan High School. Junior Gabby Renzi, a player on the team said, “This has been a really successful season and I’m proud of the team for making it so far. We’re going to miss our seniors so much, and I’m proud of us for getting division champs. There are teams that are going to be better than you, but as long as you play your best you should be proud of yourself.” 

Senior Sean Zhou, captain of the badminton team, said, “This season has been intense but we’ve always entered each game with such a strong passion and we’ve continued to excel. We definitely started the season with some uncertainties, many amazing players graduated last year, opening up 4 of the 7 starter spots.”

The badminton team once again made it to the City Championship match, which they won last year against Stuyvesant High School. This year featured a rematch between the two teams, and this time, Stuyvesant took home the title.

“[It is] a tremendous accomplishment to be a city finalist,” Ms. Caiaccia said of the badminton team. “They were put in a position to defend their city championship title, which is tremendous.”

The captains also shared the teams’ secrets to excelling in the playoffs. Kelly said, “I think that our team made it to the playoffs because of our strong team chemistry and our work ethic. We’re always willing to try new things or come in for another practice and our coach is always there to help us out and lead us through a tough game.” 

Sean also praised his team’s chemistry and unity as a key to their success.

“While we didn’t win the City Champion title this year,” he said, “we saw such a large level of growth with our newer players, and I’m excited to see what they will achieve later.” 

Natalia believes that the outstanding championship win of Girls Varsity Soccer results from the team’s overall hard work, dedication and solid team chemistry. She said, “We all supported each other when someone got hurt, and we were able to pick each other back up. We wouldn’t have made it this far without our hard work and our positive attitudes.”

“We are very proud of the effort and hard work and everything that goes into getting those teams off the ground,” Ms. Caiaccia said, adding that none of these achievements would be possible “without our excellent coaching staff, dedicated professionals, and our student-athletes who really make all of us look good.”