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Amanda Gannon

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Lauren Kehoe leaps up for the spike in a game last season. File photo by Bill Landon

By Clayton Collier

Coming off a year in which they boasted a 32-2-5 record and took home a Long Island Championship, the Kings Park girls’ volleyball program has kicked off their 2015 season with a number of new faces.

The most recent addition to the Kingsmen family came on Sept. 7 — Labor Day — when head coach Lizz Manly gave birth to her second son, Braden. Manly’s husband and the team’s assistant coach, Ed, has taken over the head coaching duties for this season in her absence.

Though she said the team misses Lizz, senior middle/right side Lauren Kehoe said she and her teammates have not had to adjust to Ed, who in addition to being an assistant, is also the junior varsity coach.

Lauren Kehoe leaps up for the spike in a game last season. File photo by Bill Landon
Lauren Kehoe leaps up for the spike in a game last season. File photo by Bill Landon

“We really haven’t had to adjust much at all,” she said. “We know what he expects from us, which is just giving it everything we have at all times on the court. He pushes us to be better athletes and people; always asking us how our days are and making sure we’re staying on top of our school work.”

Lizz Manly said it isn’t easy not to be coaching this season, but has full confidence in her husband’s abilities.

“It is sad for me not to be there,” she said. “Luckily, my husband took over for me, so I can still feel a little involved, and he is doing a great job so far. I think with confidence and determination, they will continue the Kings Park volleyball tradition.”

Ed Manly said his players and their families have helped make for an easy transition.

“It’s been a bit crazy, but the team and families have actually been very supportive — sending food home and stuff, asking to babysit my older guy,” he said. “It’s been crazy, but so much fun, too.”

In addition to their coach, Kings Park is also without several of their key cogs from last season, including Amanda Gannon, the program’s all-time kills leader and reigning Long Island Player of the Year.

“Any time you graduate a player like Amanda, there is an adjustment period,” Ed Manly said. “We also lost another All Long Island player in Kat Benson, who is now at Pace, and Emily Stephens, who was a four-year starter and a Second-Team All-Long Island player.”

Jaclyn Wilton bumps the ball in a game last season. File photo by Bill Landon
Jaclyn Wilton bumps the ball in a game last season. File photo by Bill Landon

Seven of the 16 on this year’s squad are first-year members, while another seven are seniors.

Leading this transitional time for the Kingsmen will be senior captains Kehoe, Jaclyn Wilton and Steph Cornwell. Manly said each of his captains will play a vital role in all aspects of the game.

“Steph will be the leader on the court,” he said of the setter. “As a senior setter and two-year starter, she knows the expectations and the way we want to run things offensively.”

He believes Wilton will be key in his team’s success this year.

“She steps into the role as one of our main hitters, alongside junior Lauren Kloos,” Manly said. “Kehoe in the middle and junior Tara Carlin on the right side will anchor our front line.”

Wilton, an outside hitter, said while there is still room for improvement, she is pleased by the progress that has been made thus far.

Amanda Gannon and Lizz Manly are both absent from this season’s squad. File photo from Bill Denniston
Amanda Gannon and Lizz Manly are both absent from this season’s squad. File photo from Bill Denniston

“This season is definitely an adjustment, because we have a lot of young and new faces on the team,” she said. “Luckily, we all get along very well and are starting to understand better how to play with each other. It’s still early in the season and we still need a lot of work, but I definitely see us going far.”

Other key contributors include senior libero Lauren Baxter, sophomore defensive specialist Meagan Murphy and sophomore middle Erika Benson.

Kings Park lost its opening match to Westhampton Beach, but have since responded with four straight wins against Comsewogue, Sayville, Islip and Rocky Point.

While there is plenty of turnover from last season, Manly said the expectations remain high for his squad.

“We are confident that we have a great group of girls that will continue to get better and do great things,” he said. “There is a great sense of team chemistry already and the play on the court will only continue to get better.”

 

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Amanda Gannon and head coach LIzz Manly pose for a photo after Gannon reached 1,000 career kills. File photo

By Clayton Collier

Having completed a historic high school volleyball resume at Kings Park, graduate Amanda Gannon will look to extend that resume at the collegiate level, as she heads back to Iona College this fall.

Renee Gannon, Amanda’s mother and former volleyball coach at Bethpage High School, said her daughter’s commitment to Iona is a result of years of hard work.

“I am so happy for her,” she said. “This is something she’s honestly wanted since she was in seventh grade when she started travel volleyball. … She’s just worked so hard for this and I’m so proud of her.”

Amanda Gannon sets up the ball. File photo by Bill Landon
Amanda Gannon sets up the ball. File photo by Bill Landon

The four-time Long Island champion graduated high school in January in order to attend her first semester at Iona early, and practice with its Division I volleyball team. Amanda Gannon said she was happy with the decision to forego her final months of high school classes to get a jump-start on college, as well as acclimating herself to the Gaels’ program.

“I can’t wait to go back,” she said. “Going there in the spring was amazing and I’m so happy I decided to leave high school early. We only trained in the spring and didn’t get to play, but the girls are really nice, I love the coach and I’m looking forward to the season starting.”

Iona head coach Jon Killingbeck said the extra semester has been beneficial for all parties.

“We’re super excited to have Amanda as part of our program,” he said. “With every player we try to get to know how to reach them better and I think in the last six months I have strengthened my relationship with Amanda. For her, I think she has learned what it means to be a college athlete.”

Gannon, Kings Park’s all-time kills leader and reigning Long Island Player of the Year, verbally committed to Iona in the winter of her junior year. The outside hitter said having college already planned out helped ease her mind heading into her senior season.

“I didn’t have to go through the process of filling out a bunch of college applications; I had one,” she said. “I knew what my future was. I just had to worry about becoming better in volleyball and taking my game to the next level. I never used committing as an excuse to relax on my school work or volleyball. I always worked hard and strived to do better.”

Amanda Gannon bumps the ball in a previous contest for Kings Park. File photo by Bill Landon
Amanda Gannon bumps the ball in a previous contest for Kings Park. File photo by Bill Landon

Kingsmen head coach Lizz Manly said Gannon, her only player to have played in all four consecutive championships, only got better as the years progressed.

“She spent all year every off season training to become the player she is today, and has showed that hard work does pay off,” she said. “Her last two seasons in high school she was an all-around phenomenal player. She packed the stat sheets all around and those are the type of players that people notice.”

Gannon has not forgotten the work Manly and her husband put in to make her the player she is today.

“They have helped my volleyball technique grow and become stronger,” she said. “They always sparked the competitive drive in me. They always have believed in me and believed I could always do better pushing me to my limits, and off the court they taught me how to be respectful and how to work with others. They are really huge influential people in my life and without the Manlys I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

Manly said she’ll miss Gannon’s consistent desire to improve but takes comfort in the fact that her star athlete has left a legacy behind in Kings Park athletics that won’t soon be forgotten.

“Her impact on Kings Park volleyball is huge in that the sport has exploded in Kings Park due to her and our program’s success,” she said. “Every little girl in Kings Park wants to be a volleyball player now and it is wonderful to see such desire.”