As senior Sierra Cocoziello (arms folded, right) looks on intently, veteran MKA head girls volleyball coach Mike Tully points to a chart concerning the next drill to be undertaken by the Cougar spikers during recent pre-season practice session at gymnasium on Valley Road. (Sideline Chatter photos)

MKA girls volleyball players work hard around the net during practice drill

Coach Tully has a captive audience as MKA players encircle their mentor

Veteran senior Kheri Freeman takes to the forefront in one of the drills

Coach Tully prepares to 'high-five' one of his players for a job well done

Cougar spikers happily go through their suicide drills as Tully times them

Tully Excited About Prospects
For 2010 MKA Girls Volleyball
By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com

A visit to one of The Montclair Kimberley Academy girls volleyball practices reveals plenty of involvement in drills for all 24 players on this season’s varsity and jayvee squads, and lots of smiles and looks of excitement on all the faces in the gym.

After all, this is Mike Tully MKA volleyball, which is centered around motivation and attention to detail, but also always-ultimately-revolving around the importance of the overall enjoyable experience of being part of a team at the high school level.

In making that point, it’s important to realize that whether it was the 24-4 Essex County Tournament runner-up season of 2007 or the 4-15 rebuilding campaign last fall in the young team’s first season in the powerful Super Essex Conference A-Division, there is always plenty to absorb and learn while taking forward great lessons for the young ladies involved as Cougar spikers.

What is also clear is that the 2010 MKA girls volleyball team has enormous promise to make great inroads on getting back to its winning ways this fall, despite the fact there are endless home-and-home battles to face against the likes of Newark East Side, Science Park, Caldwell and Livingston among the powerhouse teams in the SEC’s top division.

“This is a very good group and they have accepted the challenge while realizing that they will be competing at a very high level each and every match,” said Tully, who enters his sixth season at the helm of MKA spiker fortunes with an impressive 89-35 record. “They understand that the hard work they’re putting in during practice is essential to the mission of being a solid team.”

The Cougars are currently in Puerto Rico (beginning Friday, Aug. 27) for a special, pre-season 6-day trip to the community of Bayamon where they will have the opportunity to play two or three private school teams in the community located not far from San Juan, plus get the chance to visit with the Reyes family, including Nayda and Gerardo, the parents of Valeria Reyes, the beloved youngster who the MKA girls volleyball team adopted as one of their own through the Friends of Jaclyn, a special organization that works to improve the lives of children with brain tumors along with their families.

Valeria passed away last November at age 12, but will always be remembered by the Cougars and MKA, according to Tully, who is looking forward to seeing the Reyes family once again, this time in their native country.

“Valeria was a special, young lady, and even though she was going through a very tough time heading into last fall she came to our practice in a wheelchair during our-end-of-pre-season ritual when we hand out team jerseys, and she received hers as our ‘seventh man,’” said the MKA head mentor. “She taught us so much about courage and spirit, and thanks to assistant coach Donna Bruno, who worked so diligently in making many of the arrangements with the Reyes family, we are now able to visit them In Puerto Rico, which should be a sensational trip for our girls.

“Mrs. Reyes calls our team her ‘spiritual daughters’ and we will wear T-shirts on the trip proclaiming, ‘Valeria, our 7 th man!’”

As far as the personnel for the 2010 MKA girls volleyball team, there are five seniors, five sophomores and two juniors on the 12-member varsity. Leading the way in terms of experience from the senior class are four-year starter Kheri Freeman, veteran setter Sierra Cocoziello and experienced middle hitter Lauren Morisseau.

The athletic and quick Freeman has been the team’s Libero for most of her career, but is also being looked at as a possible outside hitter this fall. Others competing for time at outside hitter are senior Isabel Glusman, junior Katie Goulder and sophomore Kayla Eda.

Cocoziello is battling for time at setter this season with sophomore Lainey Bukowiec. Versatile sophs Lizzy Amato and Kaitlyn Eda, Kayla’s twin sister, are in the mix at opposite and libero and each should lend her athleticism to the lineup.

Senior Gianna Bruno and Morisseau are being counted on as middle hitters.

Sophomore Lexi Lordi is having a fine pre-season and will help at opposite and outside hitter as a true plus being a valuable utility player, while junior Allie Sweeney is the consummate role player who can fill in wherever Tully needs her, including libero and opposite.

The sophomore class of the Eda twins, Bukowiec, Amato and Lordi is a special one and all five gained valuable experience last fall as the Cougars went through the rigors of a rare rebuilding campaign while trying to traverse the incredibly-tough SEC.

“You only get better by playing the best and our younger kids did have the opportunity to gain some great experience,” said Tully. “Now, we’re ready to build on those experiences as a team, and we have a good, core group of seniors to help lead the way.”

MKA opens the season on Friday, Sept. 10, at Science Park, before participating the next day, Saturday, Sept. 11, in the highly-competitive “Jersey Classic” at Paramus High School along with several top teams from Bergen County and Rockland County, N.Y. The Cougars’ first home match of the new season will be Tuesday afternoon (4 p.m.), Sept. 14, vs. Caldwell.

COUGAR CLIPPINGS- Tully was a 2007 National Federation of High Schools Association award winner as a volleyball coach as presented through the N.J. Scholastic Coaches Association…Former Cougar spikers currently playing in college include 2009 MKA All-Essex performer Blair Bell (Smith) and last year’s key senior graduate Laurainne Ojo-Ohikuare (Muhlenberg)…during MKA’s pre-season trip to Puerto Rico they will have the chance to share in the birthday celebration of Valeria Reyes’ dad, Gerardo…Returning as MKA assistant coaches this fall are Johnny Odell, Jess Bishop and Donna Bruno, while former Cougars Lhenee Riddick and Jacque Bruno will also help out with the jayvees this season.

MKA Under Tully:

2009: 4-15

2008: 18-6

2007: 24-4 (ECT runner-up)

2006: 22-4 (ECT runner-up)

2005: 21-6 (ECT semifinalist)

As veteran assistant coach Johnny Odell (green shirt, rear) looks on along with team, coach Tully continues to chart drills for attentive MKA spikers.

Coach Tully makes his point to MKA Cougars on the court during practice

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