Marta Armatys was worried this summer as volleyball preseason was approaching. Her Bryant girls volleyball team had a nice run to the PSAL Class A second round last year, but she would be the Owls’ only returning starter.
“To be honest,” the senior setter said, “I thought we were going to be really bad.”
So far, just the opposite has happened. After a 27-25, 14-25, 25-14 win Tuesday at home against Flushing in PSAL Queens A8, Bryant is 8-0, off to its best start in coach Mark Brinken’s 10 years as head coach.
“I absolutely had no expectations,” Brinken admitted. “I was hoping to finish .500. This is way beyond.”
He credited his players’ dedication for the emergence. The Owls began practice Aug. 17, as early as they possibly could according to PSAL rules, and worked hard four hours per day while most of their peers were at the beach.
The improvement has been tangible. Kristina Kozlitina, who had 13 kills in 12 matches last year, leads the division with 55 kills. She had 17 of them and five digs in a dominant performance against Flushing and finished the match with two straight service aces.
“Now she’s my best hitter,” Armatys said.
Jane Yim, who had three aces last year, has a Queens A8-leading 28 aces and had six digs and five aces Tuesday. Maria Petropoulos and Zlatina Baeva, who played JV last year, have been reliable options and Kristen Brosnan (12 assists against Flushing) has stepped up as a second setter in Bryant’s 6-2 rotation. Denisa Music, one of the school’s softball stars, never played volleyball before, but she has made an impact also.
“Hard work, hard work, hard work,” Brinken said. “I think it all paid off.”
Armatys, of course, makes everything go. She’s a smooth setter who utilizes all of her weapons well. And running the offense isn’t the only thing she’s good at it. Armatys had eight digs to go along with her 13 assists against Flushing.
“She’s one of my best defenders, too,” Brinken said.
The Owls don’t play club volleyball, like many other Queens girls. But they do have the benefit of volleyball classes at Bryant with Brinken and boys coach Steve Hagenlocher, an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Fordham University.
“It’s almost like 10-month-a-year training,” Brinken said.
Bryant also doesn’t participate in any tournaments. Brinken said most of his players have high grade-point averages and are focused on academics. Volleyball is just another activity.
“It wouldn’t be fair to take them on weekends,” he said. “I think it’s too much sometimes.”
It certainly hasn’t hurt them in league play. Flushing has long been Bryant’s nemesis in Queens A8. Last year, the Red Devils, a perennial power, beat Bryant twice. It has been a long time since the Owls defeated them before knocking them off twice this season. Bryant’s nine wins in 2008 had been its most under Brinken, who has never won a division title in a decade as coach.
“Now we’re the best in the division,” Kozlitina said. “It feels good to make Bryant history.”
