Trumansburg has been home to one of the premier volleyball teams in the area for many years. That was the case for nearly two decades under Angela McLennan, winning four Section IV Class C championships and five IAC titles. When McLennan became the school’s athletic director, the Blue Raiders enjoyed a solid two seasons under Rebecca Dann. This fall marks another new era, and it’s been more of the same success early on.
Andrew Ford takes over the program, guiding the Blue Raiders to 3-0 start in league play, as of September 21. They’ve also impressed across multiple tournaments, winning the South Seneca Volleyfest and finishing runner-up at the Tioga Tournament.
While it has been an encouraging start, Ford knows that, like any team early on in the season, the Blue Raiders are still a work in progress.
“We’ve been pretty lucky to have a resilient bunch who’s willing to pick it up a little bit when we’re under the gun and when we’re struggling against some tougher matchups,” Ford said. “We have early success, a lot of place for improvement, and we’re hoping to make incremental steps toward that throughout the season.”
Ford comes to Trumansburg with prior experience at the club level locally as well as in Rochester and Albany, coaching a wide age range from 10 year-olds to college students. Of the 12 players on the Blue Raiders, Ford has previously coached five of them. That level of familiarity has helped the team adjust to Ford’s unique methodology.
“I come in with the strategy, the skill development, the biomechanics, and a lot of the stuff I’m finding are things that some of these athletes have never really done before,” Ford said. “It’s different ways of thinking about approaching skills. For some of them, that’s really challenging, and for others, it’s refreshing, and they’re having a lot of success with it.”
What has also helped out the transition to a new coaching staff (including junior varsity coach Kayla Cummins) is that the Blue Raiders return most of last year’s team. Trumansburg boasts a strong senior core of seven players, and that veteran presence has been beneficial to getting the team off and running.
“Where it’s really good having an older group is that they do have court experience together, some of them for four or five years at this point,” Ford said. “That shows in the way that they work with one another, especially the seniors… It’s a small district with really close connections.”
One of those key seniors is Addie Muraca. As an outside hitter, Muraca spearheads the Blue Raiders’ attack and leads the team in kills. But she brings more to the table than just that statistic
“Addie consistently has the highest hitting efficiency,” Ford said. “She is very consistent with her serves. She’s a great passer, covers the floor well on defense. I told her in practice, ‘You get to be the court general. That’s your personality. That’s where you shine. We’ll give you the tools to make sure that you’re able to do that to the best of your ability.’”
Like Muraca, Ashton Giesy is another senior captain for the Blue Raiders. She plays mainly as a middle blocker but has also showcased her versatility as a pin hitter.
“Ashton is just such a good leader and role model,” Ford said. “She’s been on the team for a long time. She’s so willing to do what the team needs in any given instance… She steps in, has a good relationship with the setter, and is able to put balls away and really pressure their defense. She’s going to be doing that all year. She’s got a killer serve, too.”
The third and final senior captain plays in one of the most important positions on the floor. Lena Everhart is the Blue Raiders’ libero, and she has embraced what it means to wear a different-colored jersey than her teammates.
“On the court, she has this mentality of, ‘If I’m given the libero jersey, I want to represent it well,’” Ford said. ‘“I want to go after every ball. I’m going to get every free ball. I am going to get every pass locked in, and if I mess up, whatever. I got the next one.’ That’s a super valuable thing to have.”
In terms of goals, the Blue Raiders aren’t setting a specific win tally or point they want to get to in the postseason. The focus is more on the day-to-day work and having a good time in the process.
“Enjoying the season doesn’t necessarily have a win-loss percentage attached to it,” Ford said. “Obviously, we want to win. We want to do our best every day. But we’re not going to do that at the expense of player development, at the expense of giving the right opportunities at the right times, and at the expense of making sure that these players, especially all these seniors who are here for one last go, to have just a really good time in their final year. Wherever that takes us, I think that’s the right mentality to have.”
