Mount volleyball adjusting to eight graduation losses

by Tom Utescher
Posted 9/8/23

The Mount St. Joseph Academy volleyball team lost eight seasoned athletes with the departure of the Class of 2023.

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Mount volleyball adjusting to eight graduation losses

Posted

There's been a considerable turnover in personnel for the Mount St. Joseph Academy volleyball team, which lost eight seasoned athletes with the departure of the Class of 2023.

The most seasoned player for the Magic this season is Gillian Manas, who performs as setter and right-side hitter and was the only freshman on the 2020 varsity roster. She's a team captain this fall along with senior classmate Sarah Dutkissis, a setter and defensive specialist.

Amy Bergin is embarking on her seventh season as head coach for the Magic, and assistants Jerry Abdalla and John McKnight are also well known to the players.

In a pre-Labor Day contest, the two captains started along with senior classmates who are all hitters, Laine Giovanniello, Kaitlyn Kovatch and Charlie Wyke. Libero and defensive specialist Marin Stensrud, a junior, was the sixth player on the floor at the beginning of the match.

Quickly rotating in were senior Gabby Clair and junior Lauren Montgomery, who can play both outside or middle hitter, and junior defensive specialist Elisabeth Johnsson.

Montgomery's older sister Taylor, who graduated from the Mount last spring, was a first team all-star both in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies and in PIAA District 1.

Providing depth for this year's MSJ varsity are setter Jaidyn Mitchell, a junior, along with three sophomores, hitter Bridget Horgan and defenders Nina Kephart and Amelia Martinelli. Hitter Greta Swope is the only freshman on the varsity roster heading into the season.