By TONY BELLISSIMO
³I knew very little about the competition or how we¹d fit in because we¹ve got such a young team,² Parisi said. ³I have mixed feelings about ability grouping because it makes it difficult to maintain or establish rivalries. At the same time it gives everyone a chance to compete in every match.²
It¹s safe to say the Lady Rams, who went 6-7 a year ago and were brushed aside by eventual county Class B champion Valley Stream South in the opening round of the playoffs, are enjoying life under the current system. Their three-game sweep of Malverne last Thursday upped their record in Conference ABC-IV to an eye-popping 11-1.
³The main thing I wanted was to see us build off last season,² Parisi said. ³The girls are playing well and having a lot of fun. Almost every match so far has been close, including the ones that ended in three games. It shaped up to be a pretty good conference.²
Clarke¹s starting lineup features only two seniors: setter Ronnie Widmaier and outside hitter Elena Buttgeriet. Widmaier has been coached by Parisi since she was an eighth-grader and makes the offense tick, averaging 13 assists per match. ³Ronnie¹s most definitely like a point-guard out there, spreading the ball around to the hitters and communicating with everyone,² he said. Buttgeriet used to do her hitting from the middle until late last season when she switched to the outside. She has more than 100 kills so far this fall. ³Elena¹s an instrumental piece of the puzzle,² Parisi added. ³She¹s an accurate hitter who keeps the ball in play.²
Junior Molly Karcher and freshman Marie Cotter give the Lady Rams a solid 1-2 punch in the middle. Karcher is averaging a team-high six aces per match to go along with eight kills, while Cotter is approaching 50 blocks. ³They¹re quite a presence at the net,² Parisi said.
Sophomore Angela Carmine, who starts on the outside opposite Buttgeriet, has been a consistent hitter and server from the very first match, and right-side hitter/setter Anna Duong, also a sophomore, gets the job done regularly. Junior Sarah Liao is thriving as the libero, averaging 15 digs per match. ³Sarah¹s in charge of picking up whatever anyone else couldn¹t get to,² Parisi said.
Sophomores Amanda Kenny and Allison Tamney are providing the biggest sparks off the bench for Clarke, which has two big tests upcoming at Manhasset on Friday and at home versus Glen Cove on Tuesday. ³I want to see us make the playoffs and put up a good fight once we get there,² Parisi said.
Comments about this story? tbellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
