GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ volleyball team will be relying on a strong group of seniors to compete in the tough Suburban Council this season.

The Lady Dutch opened the season with a four-set win over Bishop Maginn on Aug. 30 and then beat Voorheesville in five sets last Thursday.
"We have a strong group of seniors," said first-year Guilderland Coach Meaghan McGonagle. "They play during the off-season for clubs. We also have juniors that are in club leagues. They show good camaraderie and good communication on the court."

McGonagle takes over for Warren Bollinger, who is coaching the junior-varsity team this fall.
"Warren and I flipped," McGonagle said. "And it has fit perfectly. Warren loves teaching fundamentals with the younger players. And we felt I’ll be strongest with the varsity. It’s a great situation for everybody."

McGonagle coached most of the varsity players at the j.v. level and is familiar with the kids, which should make the transition to varsity coach smooth.

Senior leaders

The Lady Dutch will be led by seniors Gwen Simmons, Katrina Ernest, Amanda Zuspan, Katie Jacobson, and Sarah Jurczynski. Juniors on the team are Dana Saragaglia, Laura Doak, Lauren Jurczynski, Amanda Baldwin, and Mark Kate O’Connell.

Emily Collen is the lone sophomore on the team.

There are no captains on the team so far, but McGonagle is looking for leadership from her seniors.
"The seniors have been on varsity for the past two seasons," the coach said. "I’m looking for them to be big on the court as a group...They are the foundation of the team and will be for the year."

And the seniors came through against Voorheesville.

After a disappointing fourth set, where Voorheesville tied the game, the Lady Dutch took command in the fifth set and held off the Blackbirds to win the final game, 25-13.

Guilderland was led by the serving of senior Jacobson and the strong hits by classmate Sarah Jurczynski in the final game.

Jacobson ran off nine consecutive service points in the final set to build on a one-point Guilderland lead. When Jacobson finally hit a serve out of bounds, she had made the score 19-9.

Lauren Jurczynski and Ernest also played well in the fifth and final set.
"A lot of our girls play with the Voorheesville girls in club," McGonagle said after the match. "They’re very competitive. It’s great to see a team like that. I’m satisfied with the start."

Tough matches

The team has not made many goals for the season and hopes to continue the strong start with tough league matches against Saratoga and defending state champion, Burnt Hills.
"We’re going to get as far as we possibly can get," McGonagle said. "We’re not setting anything in stone. We play Saratoga on Tuesday and Burnt Hills on Thursday. We’ll see how far this takes us. They are both very good teams."

McGonagle, who is in her fourth year teaching in the Guilderland School District, is looking forward to her first season as varsity coach.
"It’s very exciting to start the season," McGonagle said. "But I was very nervous. The seniors were around during my first year of coaching. I coached them on j.v. when they were in the 10th grade. They’ve really been helping a lot."