DigitalSports
Volleyball
Coach of The Year
Carole Ferrante
Reservoir

Click here for Carole Ferrante interview

Last fall, Reservoir volleyball coach Carole Ferrante took a Gators squad into the Class 2A state final against North East of Cecil County sporting an unbeaten record and plenty of confidence.

The Gators had no reason not to be confident, particularly when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in games.

But the Gators would come home empty handed, following a swoon that allowed North East to win the title, 3-2, at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum.

"I didn't leave my house for three days after losing last year, when we felt like we should have won. That was pretty devastating," Ferrante said."You've seen all of our fans, and how supportive they are?" Ferrante said. "Well, I felt like I let all of them down."

Ferrante said she had to endure an entire year before she could receive the uplift she required.

But then, she did, and that made the wait was all the more worthwhile.

The relief came in the form of this year's 20-0, Class 3A state title-winning season, as the Gators' volleyball team the 4-year-old school's first athletic team to be crowned Maryland champions.

For the title, the Gators swept repeat state runner-up Huntingtown, 25-13, 25-22 and 25-19 -- and they did so while playing in the same place they had lost a year ago -- the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum.

In winning its crown, the Gators were the lone championship team in Maryland to win in just three games.

"For a while, I felt like I never wanted to come back here," Ferrante said during a post-game press conference in the bowels of Ritchie Coliseum following the Gator' semifinal, 3-0 sweep of Towson High of Baltimore County. "Now, I think it's safe to say that the demons are gone."

Although extended to five games for the first time all season during their county title-winning effort against River Hill, the Hawks received a game-ending block against 6-foot-2, University of Maryland-bound Howard County Player of The Year Maddi Lee.

That block was executed by the Gators' 6-4 junior setter-turned-hitter, Tiffany Jacobson, an effort that resulted from offensive prowess which matured and was nurtured under the tutilage of Ferrante.

"Tiffany was phenomenal. She came in as strictly a setter, but she's hitting and playing defense," Ferrante said following the win. "That block at the end, it was on point. You can't ask for anything better. The ball was right where it needed to be. Tiffany lined it up and put the ball down. I think the girls did a great job of reading [Lee.]"

And Ferrante did a similar job of reading her team -- all the way through what amounted to a truly perfect ending to a perfect season.