Beavers captured 15 wins during the regular season 

By Chris Villani

The Blackstone Valley Tech Girls’ Volleyball team is right where head coach Jacob Ramos thought it would be: at the top of the standings. The Beavers went 15-5 during the regular season, setting themselves up for a strong showing in both the state vocational tournament and the statewide playoffs.

“I can’t be any happier, being a first-year coach,” Ramos said. “A lot of the girls were on the team when I coached at the JV level, so I kind of grew up with them. It’s been a seamless transition.”

BVT rolled to an 11-1 start to the year, beating the teams that Ramos thought it should beat and playing tough against some of the better competition.

Junior Nadia Shloul is one of the team’s best players at outside hitter and has one of the top kill totals in all of Division III.

“She is an unbelievable player,” Ramos said. “It’s truly an honor to be able to coach her and know that she is a junior and still has some room for growth.”

Shloul is one of the four captains on this year’s squad, joining Paige Connolly, Abigail Whittier, and Lauren Gronda. Ramos said all four have been terrific leaders for Valley Tech.

Libero Manuella Bernardes is a great passer, Ramos said, and the leader in the division in both digs and serve receptions.

“She is only a sophomore,” the coach pointed out. “It’s pretty remarkable to think we have her for the next two years.”

Another skilled sophomore is Franceska Malo.

“She has been fantastic,” Ramos said. “She is having a great year serving the ball, setting the ball, and she has shown a lot of growth from her freshman to sophomore year. We are super excited to have her.”

In addition to having one of the top teams in the area this year, the number of strong underclassmen on the roster means the Beavers are likely set up to compete in the future as well.

“If you see our roster, we have a lot of good seniors, but I think we are just scratching the surface with some of these younger players,” Ramos said. “We have a whole boatload of kids coming up in the pipeline, and a great core coming back.”

He added, “There should be no drop-off.”