Falls Church High School Volleyball Coach Bob Lombardi says he has always considered himself an optimist, but with this year’s team, a rosy outlook for the season isn’t a stretch.
Last season’s district champions, Falls Church was undefeated in district competitions and 15-3 overall. The season featured impressive victories, highlighted by the team’s unrivaled setting and skilled serving.
This season little has been lost, and the squad has even added some height. With only three players leaving at the end of last season, the Jaguars return a slew of experienced players to defend the title.
One major loss is last year’s star setter, Mana Malick. An Austrian exchange student, her consistently excellent play led the Jaguars to the top of their district. Unfortunately for Falls Church, Malick returned to Austria at the end of the year.
While the loss of Malick is a setback for this season, Lombardi doesn’t see it holding back the team’s performance, believing the ’04 Jags have enough depth to fill the void created by Malick’s absence.
“Most teams, when they lose a great setter, they lose their team. But we still have a lot of strength there,” he said, adding that they are three-deep with setters.
In fact the team even has a star setter coming back. After being named District Player of the Year in 2003, Paola Garcia returns for her senior season.
“Paola is probably the greatest setter that I’ve ever seen for this district,” said Lombardi.
Complementing Garcia’s setting skills is attacker Marie Faveeda.
For most attackers height is an advantage, allowing them to get a better angle over the net and ultimately get more kills. Standing under 5-foot-5, Faveeda doesn’t have the advantages that other attackers have, but instead uses an impressive 30-inch vertical leap and a keen instinct for the ball to excel at her position.
With her serves screaming over the net at 30 to 40 mile an hour, Liz Lash provides additional firepower behind the service line.
“You’re going to see a lot of people really get thumped this year,” Lombardi said.
Along with top-notch performers from last season, are up-and-coming freshmen attacker Judy Bonilla and setter Casey Davenport, who were good enough to be chosen for the varsity team as ninth graders despite intense competition among returning JV players.
Beyond individual performances, though, Lombardi said that he is especially impressed with the teamwork he has seen among his players.
“The chemistry is excellent,” he said. “Last year was good, but this year the team is 13 girls that are also real friends with each other.”
For volleyball, where constant communication and understanding is as important as personal skills, strong cooperation among teammates is the key to winning.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Lombardi pointed out the games he sees as the toughest for his girls. Yorktown High School topped his list, as well as perennial contender Washington and Lee.
Still, Lombardi is confident that the Jaguars will be able to prevail against these teams.
“I think if the girls continue doing what they’re doing in practice, we’ll have a very successful season,” he said.
While only in his second year as coach at Falls Church, Lombardi has been coaching volleyball since 1972 and is excited about the future of the Falls Church program. He said that volleyball has become very popular, which will help the team continue its top-notch performance. At tryouts this year, 65 people showed up for the JV and varsity teams.
Coach Brooke Alexander said that after becoming district champions for the first time since 1976, the girls are in a prime position to repeat. They haven’t lost many players and return First Team All-District players and co-captains Marcella Janczewski, Makenzie Olving, and first team All-Region sweeper Rebecca Wodatch.
In the pre-season Madison Jamboree the team fared well, beating tough Maryland opponent Springbrook High School.
Alexander said that many of her players took advantage of the summer to attend field hockey camps and as a result of their extra training they will be hitting the season in full stride.
“Nothing beats enthusiasm and that we have a lot of,” said Alexander.