by Stephen DeSalvo
Volleyball continues to gain popularity in the local area, and the NYC Lady Bulldogs Volleyball Club excelled during the 2024 Club Season! If you do not know, club volleyball is high-level competition, national travel opportunity for both girls and boys volleyball. Club volleyball provides a next level of play for girls who are interested in improving their skills and gaining the experience necessary to play in high school and beyond. It allows players to improve skills, provides great experience through practice with a selected team and offers play in tournaments that provides the best way to help players get collegiate exposure.
The NYC Lady Bulldogs Volleyball Club is a Queens/Brooklyn base club that operates within the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). In only their second full-season competing against national competition, the NYC Lady Bulldogs, now with 10 teams ranging from 11 – 18-year-olds, made a significant impact this year. The under-12 Blue team especially with multiple-championships throughout the season.
The 12U Blue team led by captains, setter Sienna DeSalvo and outside attacker Isabella Cioczek mowed down competition right away in the first tournament of the season in Philadelphia beating some teams even two years older. They brought home their first gold medal at the Martin Luther King Weekend tournament in Atlantic City where they took home the Open Level championship and earned their first national bid.
They protected their home court by winning gold in the NYC Lady Bulldogs Invitational Tournament President’s Day Weekend and then took silver in the March Madness event at SpookyNook. However, maybe the most significant and gratifying was finishing up the season on the podium with gold at the York Strong Finish Tournament with an action-packed game, going undefeated in pool play, losing the first set 25-23, but rallying to win sets 2 (25-17) and 3 (15-8) to earn another national bid!
The rest of the team is made up of girls from all over Queens anchored by the defensive specialist, libero, Angelina Pardo, hitters Julia Wiszowaty and Barbara DiMaria, setters, Ava Leone and Milena Soltys, middles Rosalie Estrella, Liliana Labarca and Kaya Lupinska, well as assistant coach Samahra Pardo.
Head Coach, and Director of the NYC Lady Bulldogs Volleyball Club, said “It was amazing to see all of the dedication and hard work pay off this year. These girls play sick and hurt, travel hours away and sometimes play 6 games in one day, but it is all worth it when you see them celebrating and tears of joy when they receive their gold medals!”
Other NYC Lady Bulldogs teams also made their presence felt including the 12U White (coached by Julia Dib), 13U Blue (Stephen DeSalvo and Chris Lamotta) and White (Brandon Colon) and 15U (Stephanie Filip) teams taking home multiple medals throughout the season. Teams include players all the way up to 18 years old and are comprised of players from all of the major programs in Queens and Brooklyn such as St. John’s Prep, Christ the King, McClancy, St. Francis Prep, Molloy, Mary Louis, Fontbonne, and many of the public school programs.
DeSalvo added, “None of it could be done without the commitment of the parents and coaches. They give all this time and effort to see the girls be the best players they can be!”
If you are interested in playing club volleyball, please go to www.nyclb.org and inquire today!
