Displaying items by tag: Kennedy Murphy

[Photos provided]

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Kennedy Murphy, a senior at Saratoga Central Catholic, has been playing volleyball since the seventh grade, a sport that in her big sportoriented family, she has all to herself.

“I wanted to play a fall sport and it was a good program at the school, a lot of my friends were playing, so in seventh grade I just joined the modified team and ended up really liking it, so I just stuck with it,” Murphy explained.

She is also a guard on the basketball court and an outfielder on the softball field, though volleyball is her favorite.

“I just really enjoy the sport [volleyball] overall. My family was always a huge basketball family and nobody in my family had played volleyball before, so it was nice for it to be my thing. Sports in general, not specifically volleyball, you get tired of going to the practices and the far away games, but I think that’s all worth it,” she said.

In her limited free time, Murphy enjoys spending time with her family and watching sports on tv and in person. Her dad will be coaching basketball this year at Saratoga Springs High School and she enjoys going to those games to watch. During Murphy’s junior season, the volleyball team went undefeated and were crowned champions of the league. This season, two of their best players had moved on to college.

“I think we were good this year. I don’t think people thought we were going to do as good as we did just because we lost two girls that are now playing in college, so it was nice to come out and show that we were going to do good and have a presence in the league. It was definitely hard coming back, having lost those girls, but I think we figured it out,” she explained.

The reason for the initial difficulties? A lot of the girls had never played together before because they had been moved up from JV to Varsity.

“In the past years, we had all just always played together. So, it took a little bit more work to find that team chemistry but eventually, I think we found it,” Murphy stated.

Murphy has known Coach Izzo for a long time, her parents were taught by her at Spa Catholic as well. Izzo has tried to convince Murphy to play volleyball in college but she’s unsure, for a good reason.

“I have thought about it a little bit, I kind of wanted to go to a bigger school, that I don’t think I could play at. Playing sports in college is a huge commitment and I just want to focus on school, but I did think about it. I could only play at small schools, so I don’t think I’m going to do it,” she explained.

Her top three picks for college are University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, and Syracuse University. She really wants to go down south because, “she doesn’t like winter at all.”

She intends to major in something related to heath and exercise science.

“The plan right now is to get my doctorate in physical therapy but who knows, that may change,” she said.

This season, the team lost in the first round of sectionals. However, while Murphy acknowledged that it was upsetting, she also realizes her entire varsity career has been great and this season was good, aside from the final loss.

[All photos by www.PhotoAndGraphic.com]

SARATOGA SPRINGS - “The Wasaren League has a reputation for girls basketball, it’s a tough league,” said Coach Damian Fantauzzi.

With only ten players this season, Saratoga Central Catholic and their girls basketball program is in the middle of a rebuild after the previous coach was fired mid-season last year. After that, Damian Fantauzzi, cross-country coach, was asked to step in.

“It’s definitely a challenge. When I took it over last year, there was a whole bunch of seniors on the team and now, this season we only have two seniors, including one who has never played before,” Fantauzzi said.

Ani Crocker, a senior, is the only returning starter.

“We’re a very young and green team,” Fantauzzi explained.

The team this year consists of two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores, one freshmen, and one eighth grader. Ani Crocker and Kennedy Murphy, a junior, are the captains.

“They’re just green, there’s a lot they have to learn, one game at a time and one practice at a time, and hopefully we develop a basketball IQ. Not enough of them have played a lot of basketball,” he explained.

Fantauzzi is assisted by Ty Stacey, who played on Fantauzzi’s team at Saratoga Springs High School in the early 1980’s.

“He’s a welcome addition because he knows the game and he’s helping out with the kids. We’re on the same page with teaching the girls,” Fantauzzi said of Stacey.

“The girls are very good and attentive, they’re listening and working hard. Maybe by mid-season or so, maybe we’ll be competitive enough that we can pull off an upset,” Fantauzzi explained.

He said that each practice is like coming into the classroom and learning about the game. Crocker is a triple-threat athlete, with soccer, volleyball, and basketball all on her roster. She is a key-player in the basketball rebuild.

“Ani is just so athletic, she does things that amaze us sometimes because she doesn’t really focus on one sport. She’s just one of those talented kids,” Fantauzzi explained.

Murphy, only a junior, also joined the team last year midseason after transferring from Saratoga Springs High School.

“She has a pretty good basketball IQ because she comes from a basketball family. I’ve coached men in her family before, back when I was at Saratoga Springs High School. She’s got basketball in her blood,” Fantauzzi said.

“Every game is a new challenge for us. We have our moments where we look like ‘wow!’ and then it kind of falls apart, but that’s because we’re learning,” he said.

Coach Fantauzzi is patient though, he enjoys helping the team learn more and be better with each game. “We’re going against tradition and we’re hoping we can build a new one. That takes time and it doesn’t happen overnight. I love teaching the game,” he said. 

The girls basketball team plays Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays.