Brooklyn Heights, NY - The 2019 season brought new excitement to the St. Francis volleyball team.
Under first-year head coach
Amable Martinez, the Terriers won 14 matches, which is the most the program has won since 1999.
Starting the 2021 campaign, the Terriers and Martinez are ready to continue the growth of the program.
"Preseason is going really well," Martinez said. "We have a big group of new players that came in this year. We are getting them acclimated, it's a lot of work, but it's going really well."
The Terriers have 13 freshmen and four first-year players who were on the team last year, but had limited experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The key to the early practice was having the team come together.
"We have to put in the work. We have a lot of new pieces," Martinez said. "We are trying to build. We are making sure we are getting quality players, as well as quality people, and we'll go from there. We are rebuilding the foundation. Hopefully, the foundation will do well in the future."
A key to the rebuild are the two senior captains
Angelee Ng, who recorded 836 assists in 30 matches in 2019, and
Una Stevic, who recorded 254 kills in 29 matches in 2019. The duo will lead and show the new players the Terriers' culture.
"They bring experience and know what is expected," Martinez said. "They set the example. They know you set examples with your actions. They understand what we are trying to do. There will be ups and downs, but they will level out our young group."
St. Francis Brooklyn starts the season with 14 non-conference games, which will be important to get the team experience and also prepare them for the Northeast Conference schedule.
"The matches are huge," Martinez said. "We made sure we had a lot of games prior to our first conference game. To make sure we are building that consistency, to make sure they are coming together as a team especially with all the new pieces."
Once league play starts, the Terriers, who were picked sixth in the NEC Preseason Poll, have their eyes set on a stretch from Oct. 1 – Nov. 5.
"In the middle of the season, we have a tough stretch where we go CCSU, Sacred Heart, Bryant, LIU, and we repeat it right back," Martinez said. "We feel if we do really well it will make our season, but if we don't it can take us in the wrong direction."
The 2020 season was a difficult one for everyone in college athletics. Martinez and the Terriers are ready for the 2021 campaign, where they will continue to grow the program.
SFBK starts its season this afternoon against Bucknell at 7 p.m. in the Delaware State Tournament. The Terriers will play Saint Peter's at 11. a.m. and Delaware State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 28.
"We are super excited," Martinez said. "We can't wait to get going and finally get some normalcy. The girls are itching to get back. We look forward to getting started on Friday. It will give us a lot of information on where we are and where we need to go."
Follow the latest action from the St. Francis Women's Volleyball team on Facebook (St. Francis College Women's Volleyball), Twitter (@sfbk_vb) and Instagram (@sfbk_vb).
