A star who talks about other players’ achievements

With Devin Rybacki, you never know if she’s going to be describing sports highlights, or making them.

The Camden Catholic senior is part of her high school’s television crew, responsible for sharing sports news with her classmates during the morning announcements each day.

“I love it,” Rybacki said. “I get all the scores from all our sports teams and put together a report. I get to give some shoutouts and some stats. We make it fun. I get to interview kids just like this and it’s really cool.”

Rybacki is no stranger to being on the other end of the postgame interview.

As one of the top scorers of a strong and talented Camden Catholic girls lacrosse team, Rybacki can be seen making the highlight reel by scoring incredible goals on a daily basis, providing 120 goals through her freshman and sophomore years. After her junior season was cancelled due to COVID-19 last year, Rybacki and about a dozen other seniors on the team were excited to get back on the field this spring.

“It feels like forever,” Rybacki said after the Cherry Hill school opened its season at Shawnee on April 20. “It was about 700 days since we played our last game. But we have some good team chemistry already and some girls are stepping up and proving themselves and we’re just having fun. COVID last year taught me that I can’t take anything for granted, and I just have to play every game like it’s my last.”

She’s off to a roaring start.

Through her first two games against Lenape District schools Shawnee and Seneca, Rybacki has already scored 11 goals, accounting for half her team’s total production. More importantly, Rybacki and teammate Brynn Levins have been senior leaders, helping coach Kathleen Notos transition into her first year as head coach after serving the last eight as an assistant.

“Those two have started since their freshman year and they have just played their heart out every game since they were freshmen,” Notos said. “They are so reliable and their teammates trust them. They want to win at all costs.”

Levins is committed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in North Jersey while Rybacki is heading to Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina.

“We actually grew up together and have been playing lacrosse for a while together. We’re both lefties and we have good chemistry on offense and defense. She’s the one I look to the most. I love working with her. I wish I could play with her in college because she’s going to kill it in college.”

The seniors have one last season together wearing green. All 12 of them, a group that also includes Mattigan DiBease, Kayla Cornaglia, Alaina Cornely, Olivia Eilbacher, Faith Hardy, Kyle Hardy, Sophia Martino, Neve Murphy, Jessica Nguyen and Olivia Parry, are loving every minute of every game.

“We’re all captains and we’re all team leaders,” Rybacki said. “We all lean on each other. We’re just a good group of seniors. We have the voices of the team. We’re the ones that have been through this program for three years because last year was taken. We want the younger kids to follow in our footsteps.”

The class of 2021 has set the bar high. In their first two years, the Irish had a combined record of 39-6 and are the reigning Olympic Conference National Division champs after reeling in the program’s 11th division title in 2019. The seniors, especially Levins and Rybacki, will be leaned on heavily as the Irish forge forward on a tight compacted schedule.

“I use them for feedback,” Notos said “I’ll ask them what they are feeling because you trust them. They’ve been around and seen it all four years. They are like my other coaches out on the field.”

And sometimes pulling double duty as a CCTV sports reporter. Rybacki loves to talk about her lacrosse team, but you won’t catch her boasting about her individual achievements.

“When I report, I don’t even report my stats because I just don’t feel like that’s important,” Rybacki said. “I’m not going to sit there and be like ‘I had this many goals.’ No. That’s not me. It’s about the other kids. I love talking about them and I look forward to it every morning.”