For the past four seasons under the guidance of Jennifer Burton, the Wachusett girls’ volleyball team has averaged a 12-8 regular season record, which has earned them a 21 seed. During that time, the Mountaineers have compiled a 47-33 record but have not performed to the best of their ability in the Division 1 Tournament. Three of the four years saw Wachusett exiting after the first round with only one win. In 2024, the team was able to defeat Shrewsbury 3-1 and advance into the Round of 16, but then they were shut out and sent home.

This year, Coach Burton hopes her team can put things together during the regular season, string together some post-season wins, and advance further in tournament play. 

“You always want to go further than you did the year before, so we are hopeful that we can go deep into this year’s tournament,” the Wachusett coach said. “Our goals will start with beating our Mid Wach A opponents [Shrewsbury, Algonquin and Westboro]. These are the teams that always bring out the best in us. Unfortunately, we are not always capable of getting the win.”

In their attempt to move further into the post-season, Burton will be returning nine seniors after only losing three from last year’s squad. One of the seniors looking to guide this team into a deep playoff run will be setter Grace Coppolino. She has been with the team since her sophomore year and will be running the show for the second straight year. 

Other seniors who will be contributing in a big way are Ella Darrow, a center middle hitter who was called up her freshman season and began starting as a sophomore; outside hitter Julia Langhill, who was a Mid Wach All-Star last fall; Nalina Lee, a reservist last fall, and Julia Vettese, who will be a fulltime libero this year. As a junior, Vettese split time between libero and defensive specialist, but this year she will find herself mainly as the team’s number one libero.

“She is the quarterback on the floor,” the Mountaineer coach said. “She’ll run the back row for us and is an aggressive player who I can rely on.”

Some other senior athletes to don the Wachusett uniform for Burton will be Marci Siwik who will be returning as a defensive specialist, and two important reserves: Jayne Andros, a right side hitter and Lily Gregorczyk, a back-up setter. 

Unfortunately, Leannn Miller will find herself sitting out her final season at Wachusett as she tore her ACL playing for her club team. According to Burton, Miller is a fan favorite and great locker room individual; it will be a devasting loss to the team.

“I really couldn’t ask for a better group of seniors,” Burton said. “This team has a bunch of ‘littles’ as I call them: small in stature but delivering a huge punch and they are so much fun to watch.”

In addition to the nine seniors, Burton will also look to junior returning starter and talented right side hitter Grace Brochu and freshman outside hitter Pia Larsen to supply some entertaining volleyball this fall. Burton doesn’t usually have freshmen starting, but she has found Larsen to be a very solid athlete who works hard and has a fantastic technique. She brings a lot of experience and talent to the team and is someone who can make a difference on the court.

“You usually get a good percentage of points from your outside hitters and Grace and Pia are two very good outside hitters that are effective,” the coach said. 

Other juniors rounding out the team as first year varsity athletes are setter Eva Gagnon, defensive specialist/libero Marcie Ingles, and outside hitters Ava Knorring and Emily Barton.

This well-rounded Mountaineer team is one that wants to take its game further than it ever has gone. In looking to do so, Burton has scheduled some tough non-league games with Bishop Feehan and Concord-Carlise in hopes to improve their power rankings. These powerhouse teams will also fine tune the squad so that they are ready to make that push when tourney time rolls around. 

Wachusett opened the season with a win over Notre Dame Academy, giving the girls a sense of mental toughness that they can take with them through the season. Unfortunately, following their first win, they were handed their first loss.

“It was a great way to start with a win, but then we took on Shrewsbury, a very tough team that kept us out of sync the whole game,” Burton said. “We’re a strong team and as the season goes on, we’ll start clicking on all cylinders.” W