IN 2023, the Sutton Suzies volleyball team finished 9-11, an improvement from the previous years. This ranked them 15th in the MIAA Division Five bracket and earned them a home playoff game against 18th ranked Pioneer Valley Christian. The Suzies won 3-0, and then lost 3-0 to 2nd ranked Bourne.
While this made for a satisfying year, it is still a long ways from the past decade when the team won back to back Central MA District titles. We sat down with Trisha Cullen, the coach. to talk with her about what to expect this season.
Coach Cullen is in her 14th year of coaching volleyball, but last year was her return to coaching after having twins. The big reason for her to return was the athletes. The seniors and her have a long history together and she wanted to work with them.
Last year was a rebuilding year, and the work continues this year. Whenever a team changes coaches (Erin Messier, Class of 2014, coached previously), the players and coach have to find common ground. Coach says, “We grew as a team and made it to the playoffs, we beat Douglas twice, and we hope to continue moving in the right direction this year.”
Programs grow in the offseason, and this was a busy offseason for the Suzies. They played in the Whitinsville Christian summer league, hosted a week long camp (with Douglas and Millbury), and this gave the girls a chance to work together and learn from their opponents. The more experience and the more practice a team gets, the better they should get, but the relationships built with your teammates helps them perform as a team.
Coach Cullen sees the team’s strength in its experience. “We are an older team (several upperclassmen) and several kids that played club, so we are experienced and have an excellent sense of togetherness that will really help us.” While Coach stressed that there is still room for improvement in all phases, the offseason work should pay off during the regular season.
The Suzies hope to once again make the playoffs, win a playoff match (or several), get respect from the athletic community, do community service, and build up the program from the middle school. If they can continue to work hard and meet these goals, the Suzies will be a team on the rise.
The Suzies open their season this Thursday, September 5 @ Tantasqua. Their first home game is Friday, September 20 vs. Millbury.
