RHAM rolls to 18-0 regular season in Connecticut girls volleyball

It was the third match of the season and the RHAM (Hebron, Conn.) girls' volleyball team trailed East Lyme, 2-0, just as they did when the latter swept them in last season's CIAC Class L championship match.

"As a coach sitting on the sideline," Sachems coach Tim Guernsey said, "you realize what is about to happen, and there's not anything you can say to the kids where it's going to get them out of a funk. You know you're about to get swept."

Except this time, RHAM didn't. It rallied to win the final three games and take the Sept. 17 match. It was the first time in the program's 11-year history that it had comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

Since then, the Sachems (18-0) have dropped only one other game. That was during a four-game win over Class LL contender Southington.

"They're a little tougher than last year's team," Guernsey said. "That East Lyme match where we came back and won three in a row really brought them together as a group and made us tougher as a team."

RHAM has evolved into one of the state's top girls' volleyball programs in a short period of time, winning four CIAC state titles over the last five seasons.

This year's team has lived up to those lofty standards despite graduating seven seniors, four of which were starters.

"I have a lot of kids where, not that they have to wait their turn, but their champing at the bit to get their opportunity," Guernsey said. "One of the things we talk about every year is, ‘it's this senior group's year.'

"We have four seniors, and it (2012) is their season."

Briana Geoghegan (right-side hitter), Hannah Hyatt (defensive specialist), Francesca Mack (middle hitter) and Katie Wood (libero) make up the Sachems' senior core.

"Francesca Mack is probably our emotional leader," Guernsey said. "She's a kid that came into the season and really took over that leadership role. She wanted to be that voice of reason, and she has been the voice of the team.

"Briana Geoghegan and Katie Wood are probably two of the most even-keeled kids. They're very levelheaded. They're excellent leaders. The kids respect them. Hannah Hyatt, she's been leading by example.

"We have talked about roles and what a team needs to do, and all four have done a great job fulfilling their roles."

Junior outside hitter Sarah Veilleux has a team-high 274 kills and Mack has 141. Mack has a team-best 40 blocks.

Junior Hannah Schmidt leads the team with a 94.8 service percentage, and Geoghegan has a team-high 55 aces.

RHAM has also benefited from the play of sophomore Kelly Ryan. Guernsey said he's never had a sophomore setter, but Ryan earned the job. She's had 564 assists and just six errors.

"She's been great at taking constructive criticism," Guernsey said. "Our team is loaded with hitters; it's whether-or-not she can get them the ball. She does a great job of listening to them, taking their advice as to where they want the ball. I feel that she's had her best games in the biggest games.

"I run an optional 6 a.m. practice every morning, and she's been there every morning."

The Sachems will be one of the top two seeds when the Class L tournament starts next week. The division features one of the toughest fields of the four with the likes of Barlow (Redding, Conn.), perennial powers Bristol Eastern and East Lyme, and Farmington, which took RHAM to five games in last season's semifinals.

It's rather remarkable that the Sachems are in position to win another state title given how young the program is. They went 0-18 their first season (2002) and played all road games because the gym floor didn't have holes to set up the net's poles. Guernsey didn't have any volleyball experience, either.

RHAM went 11-8 the following year, and it has skyrocketed since then.

"RHAM used to be a huge soccer town," Guernsey said, "and I've got a lot of athletes that have, because of our success, have jumped ship and have started playing volleyball. There's no middle school program, so when they come in as freshman, it's a new sport for them. They're like sponges. They learn how to play and put a lot of time in during the off-season.

"Success breeds success."

Ned Griffen has covered high school, college and professional sports in the Northeast since 1992. A 2003 New England Associated Press News Executives award winner, he may be reached at nedgriffen@gmail.com.