Volleyball

Team Information: Volleyball is a Fall Sport offered at the Varsity,  Junior Varsity and Freshmen levels here at MHC Academy. Volleyball tryouts are held in August, and games go through the end of October. 

Fall 2023 Season Summary: Our Volleyball program consisted of 3 levels; Varsity, JV & Freshmen. We have 30 student-athletes in the program, including 3 seniors, 8 juniors, 8 sophomores and 11 freshmen.

Our Varsity Volleyball Team finished with a record of 7-12 this season, being in a tough division with some of the top teams in the state. The Varsity team entered the Passaic County Tournament this season, for the first time since 2017, and was seeded 8th out of 19 teams.

The Varsity Team stat leaders include: KILLS - Janelle Martinez (‘25) 74, Melissa Zdanowicz (‘27) 70 & Sophia Allison (‘24) 54; SERVICE POINTS - Martinez (‘25) 79, Allison (‘24) 56, Briana Vaniapillil (‘26) 52, Zdanowicz (‘27) 44 & Lesly Leiva (‘25) 41; ACES - Martinez (‘25) 25, Vaniapillil (‘26) 19, Allison (‘24) 16, Leiva (‘25) 16, & Zdanowicz (‘27) 12; ASSISTS - Adanya Sullivan (‘25) 97, Keira Fay (‘24) 88, & Allison (‘24) 36. 

Defensively the team was led by Layla Welch (‘25) with 366 DIGS, followed by Allison (‘24) 155, Zdanowicz (‘27) 136 & Liliana Eastlake (‘25) 98; and BLOCKS - Martinez (‘25) 39, Leiva (‘25) 14, & Vaniapillil (‘26) 12.

Layla Welch (‘25) was recognized on nj.com for NJIC Girls Volleyball State Leaders, for 2nd highest DIGS overall in the conference.

The following players were honored on the NJ Power Rankings:                                                     NJIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM HONORABLE MENTION - Janelle Martinez (‘25) & Layla Welch (‘25)                                                                                                                                                  FRESHMEN ALL-STATE TEAM-2nd TEAM ALL STATE - Melissa Zdanowicz (‘27)                                    TOP 50 DIG LEADERS - #12 Layla Welch                                                                                               TOP 50 DIG/SET LEADERS - #2 in the State, Layla Welch                                                                       TOP 50 BLOCK SETS - #44 Janelle Martinez 

The 2023 team graduated 3 seniors, #1 Sophia Allison, #36 Keira Fay and # 16 Catherine Hart. 

 

 

Fall 2022 Recap: Our Varsity Volleyball team finished with a record of 8-12. They closed out the season with 3 consecutive victories over Wood-Ridge, Eastern Christian and Elmwood Park. Our Varsity Team consisted of 6 seniors, 2 juniors, 3 sophomores and 1 freshman, our JV roster consisted of 2 juniors, 4 sophomores and 4 freshmen, and our Freshmen team roster held 8.

The Varsity team was led in stats by senior Kaitlyn Raleigh, who had 82 Service Points, 42 Aces, 74 Assists, 37 Kills and 26 Digs. Following closely behind was senior Karli Orosz with 77 Service Points, 40 Aces, 36 kills; sophomore Janelle Martinez with 72 Service Points, 35 Kills, 34 Blocks; and Junior Sophia Allison with 45 Service Points, 38 Aces, 76 assist.

 

Defensively the team was led by senior Libero Catie Terminello who had 61 Digs as well as 70 Service Points, sophomore Layla Welch with 53 Digs and senior Meghan Rydell with 43 Digs and had 38 service points.

 

Our 2022 team graduated 7 seniors including #30 Giuliana DiBenedetto (4 year player), #29 Karli Orosz (4 year Varsity), #39 Kaitlyn Raleigh (4 year Varsity), #17 Meghan Rydell (3 year player), #20 Allison Schroll (3 year player), #15 Catie Terminello (4 year Varsity), and Manager Natalia Jarpa (1 year mgr/3 year player).

 

Fall 2021 Season Recap: The Varsity Volleyball Team finished the season with a record of 7-1, coached under the direction of first year coach, former Mary Helper Victoria Schwendeman. The Blue Jays had a dominate season going 2-0 against 6 of their 8 opponents. The team was led by three captains, Senior #2 Kayla Sullivan, Senior #3 Paris Tampol and Junior #41 Deana Nazzarese. 

 

Nazzarese, Outside Hitter, is led the team in Kills with 19, followed by Freshmen Sophia Allison with 14 and both our Middle Blockers Senior Paris Tampol and Junior Sarah Hart closely behind. Defensively the team is led in Blocks by Tampol and in Digs leading is Sophomore Libero #15 Catherine Terminello with 85 and Nazzarese with 59. Offensively the team is led by returning varsity starter, Sophomore Setter #39 Kaitlyn Raleigh, who finished the season with 81 service points including 52 Aces and 68 assists. 

 

Raleigh is #1 in the state for Aces per match in the Final Statewide Stat Leaders for Season 3, 2021. Raleigh also holds the #10 spot for most Aces in the season and is joined by fellow teammates, Allison #36 for Aces per match and Terminello #48 for Digs per match. 

 

 

The 2020-2021 Team is graduation six seniors: #19 Brianna D’Aleo, #18 Kelly McKenna, #8 Emily Papay, #9 Brittani Scarpone, and two of our Captains, #2 Kayla Sullivan and #3 Paris Tampol.

 

 

Individual Achievements: 

 

• Second Team All-County – Kaitlyn Raleigh, Class of 2023
• Honorable Mention All-County – Deana Nazzarese, Class of 2022 and Catherine Terminello, Class of 2023

 

• Honorable Mention All-League –Isabel Condon, Class of 2020

• Honorable Mention All-County – Isabel Condon, Class of 2020
• Honorable Mention All-League –Isabel Condon, Class of 2020

 

• Honorable Mention All-County – Natalie Lamendola, Class of 2018 and Juliette Garcia, Class of 2020
• 2nd Team All-League – Emma Manzella, Class of 2018
• Honorable Mention All-League – Juliette Garcia, Class of 2020

• Honorable Mention All-County – Jane Melse, Class of 2017 and Juliette Garcia, Class of 2020
• Honorable Mention All-League – Juliette Garcia, Class of 2020

• All-League Honorable Mention – Amanda Ochiagha, Class of 2016