Randolph girls volleyball staged an admirable comeback this fall 2022 season, finishing 9-11, a great improvement over the team’s disappointing 5-18 record of last year.

“This past season was really good; we had a lot of team chemistry, even though we did not get as many wins as we were expecting,” senior libero Kiersten Tinio said. “We still tried our best and fought for every point, every game.”

The Rams finished the season in their second round of States, falling to Wayne Hills, despite fighting hard to keep the season alive by taking the game to three sets. In the first set, the Rams lost 25-20 to Hills. They rebounded in the second set, enjoying a 25-17 win, but were ultimately sent home after losing the third set, 25-13.

The 2022 team was led by senior Moira Durkin, a co-captain and outside hitter, and senior Isabella De Nigris, a middle blocker. Joining them at the helm was junior Dora Katsanos, a setter who was also named captain.

The team captains were also the season’s team leaders in stats. Durkin led the team in kills with 131 and De Nigris led the team in blocks with 16. Katsanos led the team in assists with 148.

The season started off slowly, like a unwelcome repeat of last year, with the Rams losing five games straight. However, the players were able to turn their losing start around after beating Pope John in the Rams’ fifth game of the year.

However, Tinio said the game that changed the course of the season was played against Chatham. “It was a home game, and we went to three sets, and they were ranked higher than us,” Tinio recalled. “We knew it was going to be a tough battle, but we kind of put all the pieces together and everything was working well for us, and we beat them.” The Rams took an early loss in the first set but rebounded and took the final two sets to take the game.

“This season we definitely wanted to try to make it to the first round at least,” Tinio added. As the Rams looked to prevent a repeat of last year, they started to pick up in the middle of the season, losing just two games.

The Rams credited their success this year to their tight chemistry and communication, with the juniors having played with each other the previous year on JV. “We all wanted to win, and we all picked each other up whenever someone was feeling down,” Tinio added.

The team added many new faces this year, expanding the team’s versatility and providing the team with many options for setting and hitting. The new faces were sophomores Isabella Carreira and Caitlin Sciubba as well as freshman Anna Jankowska and Jazmine Holder, all of whom were integral to the team’s newfound versatility.

Next year, head coach Sheri Data will be counting on captain Katsanos to lead as she enters her senior year and last season on the team. Other new faces from this year will also be called on to step up.

With the 2022 season over, the Rams will look to learn from past mistakes in order to advance even further next year.