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Dominant
Westies shut out Hillhouse in opener
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 8, 2023) - The West Haven girls volleyball team opened the season in impressive fashion with a 3-0 road victory over Hillhouse Friday evening. The Westies won by scores of 25-5, 25-20, and 25-12.
“It was good to start the season off on a positive note with a solid win,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “Before the game, we talked about playing our game at our pace and we did that for the majority of the game. We had some moments where we lost focus, but we got right back on track.”
Maddie Scillia led the way with nine aces, Hudanur Sahin had eight assists and two aces, Camila Queiroz had six kills, Alison Frazer had five aces and two digs, while Bianka Portugal chipped in three aces and three digs and Olivia McDonnell had three aces and three kills. Sarah Davey added four assists and Jayden Braacker had three aces.
“Alison (Frazer) and Maddie (Scillia) were consistent and tough on the service line,” Coldren said. “Olivia (McDonnell) and Camila (Queiroz) were strong at the net.” 
 
Westies blank North Haven
Westies improve to 2-0
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 9, 2023) - With a consistent team effort, the West Haven volleyball team improved to 2-0 with a 3-0 victory over North Haven in the home opener for West Haven Saturday afternoon. The Westies topped North Haven 25-14, 25-10, 25-18.
“We are off to a strong start and I couldn't be more proud of this team,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “So far, they have shown me a tremendous amount of chemistry and resiliency. They are communicating and working well together, and I can't say enough about their mental toughness so far. They are fixing mistakes and not getting down on themselves.”
Hudanur Sahin led the Westies as she ran the offense with 13 assists and added nine digs on the defensive side. Alison Frazer also had nine digs, Bianka Portugal Morales had seven digs and three aces, while Avery Criscio added five digs, and Camila Queiroz had four kills and four digs.
“Hudanur (Sahin) had a great game and showed great leadership,” Coldren said. “She took control of the offense and played smart. Olivia (McDonnell) and Sam (Close) were really strong in the middle at the net, and at the service line.”Olivia McDonnell also played well with five digs, five kills, and two blocks, Shannon Hoey had three digs, and Maddie Scillia added three digs and three aces.

Three in a Row
Westies blank Foran
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 12, 2023) - The West Haven volleyball team is on a roll. Not only did the Westies win their third straight match, the was their third straight shutout victory as West Haven topped Foran 25-22, 25-9, 25-22 at West Haven High Tuesday evening.
“We played well tonight,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “We definitely need to make sure we don't get too comfortable against teams because that will lead to us getting sloppy and a lot of unforced errors. We had a few too many of those tonight.”
Hudanur Sahin led the Westies with 12 assists, four digs, three kills, and two aces, Olivia McDonnell had nine kills and four digs, while Bianka Portugal Morales had nine digs and five kills. In a balanced attack, Sarah Davey had eight assists and three aces, Sam Close added six blocks, six kills, and three aces, Alison Frazer added six digs and two kills, and Shannon Hoey added four digs and three aces. 

“Olivia (McDonnell) and Sam Close had another great night at the net,” Coldren said. “Bianka (Portugal Morales) was fantastic all the way around. I am so impressed how everyone on this team is doing their job and they are supporting each other through the frustrations until they can get back on track. They have an amazing team mentality.”​

First Loss
Westies fall to Guilford
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 15, 2023) - After opening the season with three straight shutout victories, the West Haven volleyball team had the favor returned. Playing host to Guilford, the Westies were shut out, losing in three straight games, 25-18, 25-19, and 25-23.
“It was a super frustrating game for so many reasons, but the bottom line is we didn't play our best volleyball,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “We struggled to turn some outstanding passing/defense into points at the net. We didn't keep things simple, and our communication wasn't good at all. That is a recipe for a loss. We will recover from this loss and be just fine.”
Hudanur Sahin led the West Haven offense with 18 assists and had eight digs on the defensive side. Alison Frazer led the defense with 10 digs, and Bianka Portugal Morales had nine digs, Maddie Scillia had eight digs, and Shannon Hoey finished with six digs. Olivia McDonnell had nine kills and Portugal Morales also added five kills.

“Alison (Frazer), Maddie (Scillia), Shannon (Hoey), and Bianka (Portugal Morales) had a great game defensively,” Coldren said.

Law tops Westies
Westies fall to 3-2 with 3-1 loss
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 18, 2023) - After starting the season in impressive fashion with three consecutive sweeps, the West Haven volleyball team has hit a bump in the road. After falling to Guilford, the Westies dropped their second consecutive match with a 3-1 loss at Jonathan Law Monday evening.
The scores of the match were 22-25, 15-25, 25-13, 23-25.
“This was definitely a frustrating loss tonight,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “It took us a while to wake up and play, but we dug ourselves a pretty significant hole and just couldn't get out of it. We started to play way too cautious when we needed to be more aggressive, but we never quit, and I give them tons of credit for that.”
Olivia McDonnell led the Westies with a solid all-around game, finishing with 14 kills, six aces, four blocks and four digs. Alison Frazer was stellar defensively with 17 digs, while Bianka Portugal Morales added 11 digs, three aces, and two kills.
Sarah Davey ran the offense with 21 assists, Avery Criscio had 11 digs, Shannon Hoey had six digs, Camila Queiroz added five digs and four kills, while Sam Close finished with five kills.“

Olivia (McDonnell) had an amazing game tonight and was pretty much unstoppable at the net,” Coldren said. “Alison (Frazer), Avery (Criscio), and Bianka (Portugal Morales) worked really hard in the back row and had some big plays. Sarah (Davey) came in off the bench tonight and played really smart.”

Westies fall to McMahon
Westies fall to 3-3 with 3-0 loss
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 20, 2023) - The West Haven volleyball team dropped its third consecutive match with a 3-0 loss at Brien McMahon Wednesday evening. The 25-20, 25-15, 25-9 loss dropped the Westies to 3-3 on the year.
“We struggled to pass against some really tough serving tonight,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “When we can't pass, we can't run an offense and score points. The defense did a decent job tonight, but we still need to be more disciplined and get to our base in order to adjust to hitters. We have to get back into a good rhythm again and play with more confidence. Our current rhythm isn't working for us.” 

Bianka Portugal Morales led the defensive effort with 10 digs, Alison Frazer added seven digs, and Hudanur Sahin had five digs and four assists. Olivia McDonnell chipped in four kills, three aces, three digs and two blocks, while Maddie Scillia and Camila Queiroz each had three digs.

Westies blank Career
Westies improve to 4-3 with 3-0 win
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 23, 2023) - The West Haven volleyball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 home victory over Career Saturday afternoon. With the 25-16, 25-9, 25-18 victory, West Haven improved to 4-3 on the year.
“We played well today,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “We definitely needed this win for a confidence boost. Hopefully, we can stay on this track.  We have a quick turnaround with a game on Monday. We really wanted to focus on making fewer mental mistakes and making sure we stay in every play and every point. We still had a few too many errors than I would like to see, but we definitely played better, and we can build on this.”  
In a balanced attack, Hudanur Sahin ran the offense with 10 assists, while also adding three digs. Olivia McDonnell had six kills and three aces, Bianka Portugal Morales had eight digs, four aces and two kills, Shannon Hoey added four digs and two aces, Maddie Scillia had three aces and three digs, while Sarah Davey chipped in three assists and two digs, and Avery Criscio and Sam Close each had three kills.“Bianka (Portugal Morales) played very well on both sides of the ball and Shannon (Hoey) had a great game in the back row,” Coldren said.

SHA tops Westies
WH falls 3-1
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 25, 2023) - A match after snapping its three-game losing streak, the West Haven volleyball team fell back to .500 with a 3-1 loss against Sacred Heart Academy Monday afternoon at West Haven High. With the 20-25, 25-18, 16-25, 23-25 defeat the Westies dropped to 4-4 on the season.
“We had some really great moments and some not so great moments tonight,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “Our inconsistency is killing us right now. We have to do a better job of staying in every play and every point. We have to keep a lead once we have it and finish out games.”
Alison Frazer led West Haven’s defense with 14 digs, while Olivia McDonnell was impressive on both sides of the ball with 16 kills, three blocks, and three digs.
“Alison (Frazer) had a fantastic night on defense, and both Liv (McDonnel) and Sam (Close) played well at the net. We have another busy week this week, so we have to recover quickly from this loss.”

Sarah Davey ran the offense with 18 assists and four aces, while also providing eight digs on defense. Sam Close added seven kills, four blocks, and two aces, Camila Queiroz  had eight digs, Shannon Hoey had seven digs, and Hudanur Sahin chipped in three digs and six assists.

Westies fall to Sheehan
WH drops heartbreaker
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 27, 2023) - The West Haven volleyball team fell to 4-5 with its second straight loss. The 23-25, 25-21, 25-14, 24-26, 14-16 defeat at Sheehan dropped the Westies under .500 after an impressive 3-0 start to the season.
“This was absolutely heartbreaking for us tonight,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “The girls worked so hard, but just didn't finish things when they had the opportunities. We had Sheehan's back against the wall by being up two sets and we gave them hope.  There were some fantastic rallies and exciting plays by both teams, and it really could've gone either way, but we ended up on the wrong side of this one.”
The Westies received a tremendous team effort in the loss. Hudanur Sahin ran the West Haven offense with 27 assists and three aces, while also playing well on the defensive side with 20 digs. Alison Frazer, Bianka Portugal Morales, Shannon Hoey and Camila Queiroz all were exceptional on the defensive side as Frazer had 23 digs, Portugal Morales had 21 digs, Hoey had 17 digs, and Queiroz also added 14 digs in the loss.
Olivia McDonnell had a solid match with 19 kills, four blocks, four aces, and three digs, Sam Close had nine kills, four aces, and three blocks, and Maddie Scillia added seven digs in the loss.

“Alison (Frazer), Bianka (Portugal Morales) and Shannon (Hoey) were unstoppable in the back row tonight,” Coldren said. “Avery (Criscio), Olivia (McDonnell) and Sam (Close) were really strong in the front row. I'm beyond proud of how they played tonight because this one was a tough one.”

Back on Track
WH edges Lyman Hall
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(September 28, 2023) - The West Haven volleyball team snapped its two-game losing streak and got back to the .500 mark with a thrilling 3-2 victory at Lyman Hall Thursday evening. The 28-26, 24-26, 25-20, 24-26, 15-8 victory helped the Westies improve to 5-5 on the year.
“Tonight, this team really showed me what they are capable of doing if they really stay focused and stay in the moment,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said.  “They battled the entire match and did what they needed to do to get the win. Defensively, we played awesome, and offensively, we were smart and consistent.”
Alison Frazer was tremendous on defense as she led the way with 38 digs. Six players were in double digits in digs on the defensive side as Bianka Portugal Morales and Shannon Hoey each had 18, Hudanur Sahin and Maddie Scillia each had 17, and Camila Queiroz had 12.
“Hudanur (Sahin) played really well tonight and took control of the offense, and I can't speak enough about Alison (Frazer) and Bianka (Portugal Morales). They make huge plays, and it motivates everyone else in the game. Shannon (Hoey), Camila (Queiroz), and Maddie (Scillia) stepped up and did a tremendous job in the back row. We need to keep this energy going into the second half of the season.”

Sahin also added 18 assists, Portugal Morales had eight kills and three aces, Sam Close had nine kills, Avery Criscio had four digs and four kills, and Kemely Gomes-Soares finished with four kills and four digs.

VOLLEYBALL 2023