The 2025 season has begun and the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Girls Volleyball team isn’t 1-0. The Titans are 2-0 and feeling really good about the rest of the season.

Coach John DeVine and his talented Titans stand perfect on the season after victories at Hamden Hall Country Day School and Northfield Mount Hermon - both strong programs. 

WMA has improved every season since Coach DeVine took over, going 4-12, 6-10 and 8-8. This is the first time in his four-year tenure that WMA won its opening match, let alone both.

“Coach (Rita) Sullivan and I are very pleased with our fast start,” beamed Coach DeVine. “Our team has finally embraced the ‘culture’ of a volleyball team. If you watch a match between two equal teams in ability, the team that wins 95-percent of the time is the team with the most energy and enthusiasm. We have that this year. We have several talented athletes who are adapting to an entirely different skill set and mindset that volleyball demands. 

“In a 20-minute game that ends in a score of 25-23, there are 48 times somebody failed to keep the ball off the floor,” Coach DeVine continued. “Failure happens quickly and often, and in front of everyone watching the game. Our team is doing a much better job understanding the importance of shaking off the mistake and adopting the ‘next play up’ attitude. Most impressive, however, is our team spirit and enthusiasm so far. The energy our players on the court receive from our players on the bench is off the charts.”

WMA earned a 3-0 win at Hamden Hall, which returned one of the best players the Titans will face this season, on Sept. 6. In the win at Hamden Hall, Coach DeVine implemented a triple-block strategy at the net.

“We have made some changes in our lineup and they have worked extremely well,” Coach DeVine explained. “We moved senior co-captain and all-league selection Cat Ravosa ’26 to the outside hitter spot to get her more swings and inserted super sophomore Addison Brennan ’28 to the middle blocker spot. We have also given floor leadership responsibilities to sophomore co-captain, and third-year starting setter, Adelina Brown ’28. Addie is working with a powerful group of hitters that include all-league selection Selah Prignano ’26, Gabby Ravosa ’28, Jala Witherspoon ’27 and Julia Chang ’29. Our team has a plug-and-play defensive squad, led by our liberos Genevieve Trembley ’26 and Kendall Schechterle '27, and defensive specialists Pristine Rithy ’26 and Vicky Luo ’28. Doing a great job in backing up Adelina in the setter spot is sophomore Sarah Laporte ’28.”

Four days after the Hamden Hall win, WMA topped NMH, which has twice as many females at its school than the Academy. How the Titans topped the Hoggers was particularly sweet, especially for one player.

“Last season, in a five-set loss to a very good Suffield team, Jala had ball-in-hand to serve for match point. Jala served hard and aggressively in an attempt to win the match. The ball sailed long and out and we lost in a heartbreaker. This year in our win against NMH, Jala had match point and ball-in-hand once again at 24-22. What did Jala do? When most players would have thought about past failure in that spot, Jala embraced the challenge, stepped up and hit a bullet down the line for an ace and match point. Jala was mobbed by her teammates.”

WMA hosts MacDuffie School Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 2:30 p.m.