The Hawthorne High School girls volleyball team ended its season on October 31, 2014. Despite the obstacles of this past season, such as not having a gym in which to play home games and having to practice in Lincoln Middle School with low ceilings, the team managed to focus on the game and end strong. The team won the last three games of the season, including a big win against Eastern Christian. The score was very close throughout the entire game, but the Bears were able to pull through and win 2-1.

Varsity coach, Laura Mazzacca, is proud of the way the girls handled themselves. “This year we were a very young team with extremely limited varsity experience,” she said. “We have a great deal of raw talent, and it had just taken time to fine tune this talent. I am excited to coach a new team next year and see where the season will take us. We have had a motto all season to ‘get better,’ and we will continue it through next season.”

Sophomore outside hitter, Hannah Frascella added, “In every team sport, there are always difficult things that have to be overcome and start acting as a team and a family.” Her highlight of the season is getting her 200th kill: “It is a really good feeling to accomplish my goal and be able to try beating it in the other two seasons that I have as a Hawthorne Bear.”

Mazzacca looks forward to building her team next season with strong players such as Frascella, but she will certainly miss graduating seniors Sabina Mante, Nafin Elias, and Alyssa Matos.

A new face this volleyball season junior varsity coach, Jim O’Hagan. “I am really enjoying coaching at my alma mater HHS,” he said. “The experience has been amazing to get to work with the team and with Coach Mazzacca” O’Hagan was quickly able to gain the girls respect in varsity, JV, and  freshmen teams.