RIDLEY TWP. — Alicia Higgins and Isabella Tront are Garnet Valley’s only returning varsity players from last season’s District 1 Class 4A championship team.
By merit, they are two of the leaders on a new-look Jags squad, hoping to live up to lofty expectations under first-year head coach Eryn Brady, who was previously an assistant coach for the now happily retired Mark Clark.
There are many fresh faces on this year’s Jags, who said goodbye to senior Maddie Wood, the two-time Daily Times Player of the Year as well as All-Delcos Kelly St. Germain, Sara Weins and Klaira Zakarian. Sophomore Sarah Wood is concentrating on beach volleyball after she enjoyed a remarkable freshman campaign at Garnet Valley.
An excellent setter, the senior Higgins was injured for a large chunk of the 2022 season due to a high ankle sprain. Tront, a junior middle hitter, was a valuable contributor on the front line on the Jags’ senior-laden team last fall.
“I am the oldest player and there are many younger players who I never played with before, so there has been an adjustment and it’s a whole new dynamic,” Higgins said following Garnet Valley’s sweep of Ridley (24-15, 24-14, 24-13). “Last year I was hurt so I had to take a break and I don’t play club in the offseason. So, really, I haven’t set in a game for like two years, so it’s been different for me but I really did miss it.”
Higgins dished out 55 assists and seven aces against Ridley and set Tront up for the game-winning point. She has been a pleasant surprise according to Brady, who was an excellent player at Upper Merion, where she won two District 1 titles, and York College.
“I tell Alicia all the time how I’m so proud of her, how she leads this team,” Brady said. “I am really impressed with her play. She has really blown me away, with the expectations I had of her coming into this season, she has done a great job leading the team on and off the court.”
Tront dominated at the front of the net alongside outside hitters Abigail MacMillan, Cara Furchner and Mary Nancarrow.
“What’s been less of an adjustment is that we had a bunch of these girls on JV and our practices are very in line with one another, so it was like bringing half the team up with us for this year,” said Tront, who posted seven kills. “We’ve developed great chemistry with all the girls and I think we’re definitely showing it out on the court.”
Regan Hill chipped in with six kills for the Jags (7-1, 3-1 Central League), who have won four consecutive matches. Their lone defeat was at the hands of first-place Haverford (8-1, 3-0).
“We are a bunch of new players playing with each other, so chemistry is going to be important for us … especially setter-hitter dynamics and being able to get those passes to the front row,” Tront said. “Basically building that chemistry between each of the inner links, the passing and the setting, and setting in the hitting, to really put that ball away.”
Brady wants to see better consistency. There were times Monday when the Jags were comfortably ahead, only to allow a tough Ridley team to battle back. The third game was probably their cleanest effort, with the Jags taking 12 of the final 15 points.
“A lot of people have said to me, ‘Oh, you graduated so many people, you’ll have a down year this year.’ I feel like, no, our girls played against those great seniors and can keep the ball up,” she said. “They give it 110 percent and they go above and beyond. … I do think one of the things that we need to focus on is consistency. You know, there’s some days we are really, really good and some days we are not as good, so keeping the level more even across the board is something that I’ve been focusing on.”
Higgins said that continuing the tradition of excellence at Garnet Valley “holds a lot of pressure,” but she believes this year’s squad is up to the task.
“It’s a lot to work on because we are so young,” she said, “but we know we are going to keep getting better as a team.”
The Green Raiders (3-4, 1-3) received solid performances by setter Kyla Carney (13 assists, five digs), libero Kayla Varney (12 digs) and middle hitter Julia Solomon (five kills).
Mel Malseed, who was a volleyball standout at Ridley and Neumann, is in her third season coaching her alma mater.
“This is going to be a big year for them. We have eight seniors and there is a lot of talent to work with,” Malseed said. “I think once the girls realize their full potential, they’re going to be pretty unstoppable against most of the teams we play.”
