Aiming High

The Marco Island Academy (MIA) gymnasium is filled with joyful noise as successful Rays head coach Alyssa Stolinas and brother-in-law/assistant coach Rich Costante put the 2024 MIA volleyball team through a spirited Friday evening workout. The players seem to be enjoying the snappy drills the coaches have designed to strengthen their fundamentals and familiarize them with their teammates' tendencies under pressure. And what better time and place to practice responding to the split-second twists and turns of a volleyball point than on the practice court under the coaches’ watchful eyes.

Stolinas is not-so-quietly building a team to be reckoned with at MIA - and judging from the sounds echoing through the gym, the athletes are buying in big time. They need to buy in, so they'll be ready to take on a beefed up schedule designed to prepare them for the state championships at the end of the season.

Stolinas is a victim of her own success. She’s built a team that is too strong for the conference the Rays play in. She led the Rays to 17-5 and 21-7 records the past two seasons, including a trip to the state’s Sweet 16 last season. 

The Rays barely worked up a sweat in coasting through their conference schedule last season, including a conference championship run that saw them win every game easily. The problem for the Rays is that the competition ratchets up several notches when they enter the state tournament. 

Fortunately, the Rays have state championship caliber competition right in their backyard. Seacrest, in East Naples, has won three state titles. First Baptist Academy of Naples and Canterbury in Ft. Myers are also state powers. 

Stolinas is taking advantage of a deep and strong incoming freshman class from Marco Island Charter Middle School by starting a JV program at MIA. The JV team will tangle with some of the weaker varsity opponents in the Paradise Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC), freeing up schedule space for the varsity to hone their skills against tougher competition.

“We obviously upped our schedule strength a lot this year,” Stolinas said. “We're playing a bunch of top-level teams. I just think we're ready for that challenge. Our past couple seasons we ended up doing pretty well, so I think we need that push. We dropped a couple PCAC games from the schedule. Everglades City, Naples Classical and Village School all agreed to play games against our JV team, so that frees some varsity schedule space.”

The Rays are also playing in two Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA) tournaments later this month. And their schedule is now peppered with top local teams.

“This year we're playing Canterbury, we're playing Seacrest - programs that have always produced great teams. We're playing FBA again this year. And Community School. Our strength of schedule has definitely gone up. And I think the girls are excited for it. Playing at a higher level all year is going to help us tremendously, playing that faster-paced game."

The Rays return a trio of junior leaders in Madison Stolinas, Medney Garraux and Rylee Howard, who have been with the program since they were freshmen. Two sophomores, libero Sophia Ogdin and Kamea Blaskovich return. Setter Sarah Friedhoff is a sophomore transfer from Lely. Mia Berryman, Cambree Grensing, Riley High, Alessandra Sanzera, and Liv Sanford head up a strong freshman class that led Marco Island Charter Middle School to a championship last year. The JV squad is filled with up-and-coming players with club volleyball experience.

“We still have our solid core,” Stolinas said, "the three juniors. We have no seniors. We lost one senior in Jenna Ragan last year, which is a big factor for us. But we also gained a lot of freshmen this year, so we're still really young. We have a lot of freshmen playing key roles, so it's going to be a matter of getting them to that pace of playing a high-level game. Once we conquer that I think we're going to be doing very well."

Stolinas said the freshman class will definitely be contributing on the varsity level.

“Absolutely,” she said. "I’m not sure where yet. I thought we had a plan at the recent referee scrimmage, but you know how that goes. So, we've just got to keep working lineups. That's what the pre-season is for.”

Stolinas is pleased with the growth she’s seen in her returnees.

"Madison, Medney and Riley,” she said, "you know, they worked hard all year. And Sophie at the libero position. They trained all year long with club. And we did weight rooms all summer and open gyms. That's one thing I have to say about these girls, my freshman barely missed any open gyms during the summer. They're dedicated."

Stolinas is excited to have a JV team.

“It just means our program is growing,” she said. “We've tried in the past to start a JV team, but this year we've got 10 JV players, so we've got 20 girls total in our program. For a small school, I think it's amazing that we can run two programs. I can only play six at a time, so it kind of gives more girls the opportunity to play and grow the sport. That's ultimately the goal."

Stolinas will depend on her niece, Madison Stolinas, to be the team’s captain. She prefers to look at all her players as captains, but the rules say you have to pick one. 

"I have to have a captain, unfortunately,” she said. "Madison, she's my speaking captain. But you know at the end of the day I don't have a particular captain. I want them all to be captains. On the court, I have to have a captain. It's not like baseball. I'm not allowed to talk to the up ref, so I have to have a captain.”

The up referee stands on the referee stand positioned on the side of the court across from the team benches. The coaches can’t talk to the up referee, only the captain can do that.

“At the end of the day,” she said, "I always stress to them, I would rather them all step up and be a leader than to kind of designate a couple people as captains."

That being said, Stolinas has confidence in Madison speaking for her to the up referee.

“She knows the game really well,” Stolinas said. "She knows it from a player’s viewpoint and she knows it from a coach's aspect. That's kind of why she is my captain. She's worked so hard. She deserves it. At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with her being family. She knows the game through and through. I have to have someone to relay my message. That's what I look for, someone to get my point across.”

The Rays hosted two preseason events on Tuesday, August 12 and Thursday, August 14, that included big school programs Naples and Lely. She sees it as an opportunity to work on her lineup.

“Get some game play in front of fans and figure out lineups,” she said, "see what works best for us.” 

MIA opens the regular season by hosting Mason Classical Academy on Thursday, September 22, at 6:00 PM before hitting the road for the SSAA tournament on August 23-24.

“It's a big deal to get invited to that,” Stolinas said, “there's a bunch of good-level teams there, which is pretty awesome. We're going to be challenged, but it's a good challenge.”