Suffern High School continued its athletic excellence as the girls volleyball team finally climbed the mountain in Glen Falls, NY over the weekend to claim a Class AA State Championship. Led by senior Samantha Uline, the Mounties played rival Penfield and this time captured the title Sunday, November 17.
For the first time in @NYSPHSAA history, Section 1 has a Class AA champion in @SuffernVB. http://t.co/7QaLrNxo8Y pic.twitter.com/uQuGHFfFhv
— Mike Zacchio (@Zacchio_LoHud) November 17, 2014
Uline was voted tournament MVP honors, a feather in her star-studded Suffern career. Uline recently committed to the University of New Orleans on a volleyball scholarship, where she plans to switch positions from hitter to libero — a defensive specialist that paces play. Fellow seniors and teammates Julia Hrycyk and Taylor Cimillo also took home all-tournament honors.
The Village of Suffern will host a parade down Lafayette Avenue for the Mountie Girls Class AA State Champion Volleyball team Friday, November 21, starting at 4:30 p.m.
Honestly, the look on Sam Uline’s face says everything you need to know about what that win meant to @SuffernVB. pic.twitter.com/tYakWH1k24 — Mike Zacchio (@Zacchio_LoHud) November 16, 2014
LoHud sports reporter Mike Zacchio covered the state tournament in vivid detail, along with photographer Peter Carr, capturing the girl Mounties championship run, led by coach Sean Barnes, as they became the first Rockland team in history to take the Class AA title.
Suffern met Penfield in the 2011 tournament, during the team’s dramatic run when it was led by all-county standout Elizabeth Flaherty. Uline was just breaking into the lineup then as a star freshman. This time around, Uline played alongside team fellow Sloatsburger Lisa Flaherty, younger sister to Elizabeth, and the team’s ace defensive specialist. And both players helped ensure that the girls killed a victory.
.@SuffernVB senior Sam Uline named tournament MVP. Seniors Julia Hrycyk and Taylor Cimillo named all-tournament. pic.twitter.com/zB3Xn5RQPp — Mike Zacchio (@Zacchio_LoHud) November 16, 2014
“This is probably the best year of my life,” Uline said in Zacchio’s LoHud tournament report. “I can’t even picture (winning with) any other team, with any other coach.” “I know our name gets put in that book next year,” said Suffern’s longtime volleyball coach Sean Barnes, again via Zacchio’s article. “You look at the book and it has the winners. It does not have the runners-up. So it’s going to be nice to see it in the book.”
The @SuffernVB Mounties get their medals. #NYSPHSAA pic.twitter.com/0qvHmCuhxR — Mike Zacchio (@Zacchio_LoHud) November 16, 2014
Members of the Girls Varsity Volleyball team include: Taylor Cimillo, Kristen Conway, Lisa Flaherty, Shannon Hart, Sara Hayward, Julia Hrycyk, Victoria Limbrick, Amy McDonough, Renee Romagnoli, Cali Santangelo, Taylor Sullivan, Jessica Tarantino, Samantha Uline and Samantha Weissman. The team is coached by Sean Barnes.