St. Paul’s Isabella McCulloch sets the ball for a teammate during Tuesday night’s NVL girls volleyball match against Woodland in the Rev. Brian Monnerat Gymnasium.
The St. Paul girls volleyball program has been on the rise over the past several seasons.
That success put the Falcons into the Naugatuck Valley League Copper Division under a new power division format. The division includes Woodland, Holy Cross, Seymour and Naugatuck. If those teams ring a bell, it’s because three of them have been NVL tournament champions over the last five years, excluding 2020, which had a modified schedule due to COVID. Naugatuck won the championship in 2019, and Woodland and Seymour have met in each of the past three finals. The Wildcats won in 2021, but the Hawks have claimed the last two titles.
St. Paul wants to be in that conversation, but it is fighting that battle with a younger team than it’s had in recent seasons. Still, Falcon head coach Riley Maloney welcomes the challenge the power schedule brings. St. Paul plays its division foes twice and has been defeated twice by Woodland so far, including a 3-1 defeat on Tuesday night inside the Rev. Brian Monnerat Gymnasium.
“We’ve really, over the past few years, been trying to really prove that we’re in that caliber, in that conversation,” Maloney said after the Woodland match. “Having the power divisions group us in there, I think it was kind of ‘OK, we’re here now, time to show up.’”
St. Paul’s players are excited about having two matchups with rival Holy Cross during the regular season. They still have the two matches against the Crusaders – on Sept. 24 and Oct. 18 – and two against Seymour (Oct. 8 and 15). There is also one left against Naugatuck on Oct. 17.
St. Paul dropped its first meeting to Naugatuck, 3-1, on Sept. 13. The Greyhound height proved to be a tough matchup for the Falcons.
“We knew it was going to be a competitive game, but I think everyone’s really showing up,” Maloney said.
Maloney said she’s been impressed by what she’s seen so far in the NVL. The Falcons, who are 2-3, have defeated Ansonia (3-0 on Sept. 5) and Watertown (3-1 on Sept. 10). Watertown, which is rebuilding after losing several starters to graduation, was still able to take a set off St. Paul in their matchup in Bristol.
In the Woodland matchup on Tuesday, St. Paul was led by seniors Maddy Kaufman (three kills, nine digs, two aces) and Ella Dubitsky (seven digs, two kills, two aces). The Falcons also have senior Taylor Williams in their lineup at libero. Junior Isabella McCulloch is the setter, and fellow juniors Zola Cudjoe and Abigail Jensen provide a presence at the net
St. Paul travels to Derby on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. match.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Tuesday night’s St. Paul-Woodland match.
