They have all the ingredients, and they certainly know the recipe well. But when it comes to creating the final product, the Paul VI High School girls volleyball team enjoys using a pressure cooker.
“There’s pressure,” Paul VI senior setter Danielle Mascolo said. “You definitely feel like you need to do your job. But I wouldn’t say it’s the pressure that hounds us. We just know what we have to do.”
Over the course of the past handful of seasons, the Eagles found themselves in a lot of tough situations. It’s not because they struggle; it’s because they seek out the toughest competition they can find during the regular season to prepare themselves for the playoffs. Three straight trips to the Non-Public A state championship game proves there’s some success behind that strategy.
“Our schedule is what it is,” Eagles coach Dan Chung said. “I know for a fact I have the best athletic director in the state of New Jersey. [Mark Ferretti] lets me go out and schedule whatever teams I need. I have nothing but praises for him because he makes this program go. Yes, I am coaching, but we have an administration that supports the program a lot. It makes my job a lot easier.”
On Oct. 4, Paul VI won a five-set thriller at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. In New Jersey high school volleyball, matches are usually best-of-three. But under certain circumstances, teams can agree to play best-of-five during the regular season, which is the format in several other states including Delaware and Pennsylvania. Paul VI won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-19, and normally would have been boarding the bus home without breaking much of a sweat after roughly 45 minutes. On this occasion, Notre Dame battled back to take the next two sets 25-23 and 25-20 to force a 15-point tie-breaking set.
Suddenly, Paul VI’s undefeated record was on the line. But instead of crumbling to momentum, the Eagles dug deep and pulled out a 16-14 final set.
“These are our favorite games to play. The pressure is high, but we always seem to pull through,” said sophomore outside hitter Amelia Reagan.
Aside from its Olympic Conference schedule, the Eagles have traveled to play Avenues The World School in New York and are scheduled to visit Padua Academy and Ursuline Academy in Delaware. Other tough matchups this year include New Jersey perennial powers Moorestown, Princeton and Cherokee. It’s all in preparation for a run at another state championship later this fall. The Eagles won it in 2021 and have finished runners-up the last two seasons.
“In terms of where we want to be as a team, I think we are much more balanced this year,” Chung said after the victory over Notre Dame raised PVI’s record to 14-0. “Obviously, we have really good players. We have multiple players going D1 and D2. We have a lot of talent, but we’re still trying to figure out how to put it all together. We’re just trying to make sure everyone is good and make sure we get it right by mid-November. We still have time to work at it.”
That work started in the summer in the form of a community service project that helped the team become even closer. The Eagles’ volleyball team put together packages of cake supplies and birthday decorations in support of the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation, which helps children who have to spend their birthdays in the hospital.
“It feels really good to help out as a community and even better to do it with your teammates,” Mascolo said.
With only three seniors on the roster, these opportunities to strengthen team chemistry can be vital to helping underclassmen feel like a bigger part of the team. So many of them are already playing key roles.
There’s juniors Maggie Carcillo, Kam Wertz and Megan Evans. And then there are the young players like Brynn Casmay and Amelia Reagan, who are sophomores, and Khloe Greene-Gordon and Avery Margre, who are freshmen.
“Playing for this team is such a fun experience,” Mascolo said. “I love all the girls, and I think the energy on this team is so special.”
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