Displaying items by tag: Grace Fornabia

Ballston Spa Boys Soccer
BALLSTON SPA — On September 4, Niskayuna visited Ballston Spa on a hot, sunny Tuesday afternoon. Jeff Matthews scored for BSpa, assisted by Ethan Cook, in the first two minutes of play.  But BSpa wasn’t able to put another point on the board and Niskayuna came away with a 5-1 win, with a hat trick by Ozisik, and goals by Mesbahi and Viggiano.

Suburban Field Hockey
SARATOGA SPRINGS —  Saratoga at Columbia
First Half: Toga 5 v. Columbia 0
Haley Waghorn assisted by Kylie Folts
Lindsey Frank-1
Jane Ginley assisted by Olivia Vukelic
Katelyn Ginley-1
Danielle Geils assisted by Maddie Messitt
Second Half:
Hunter Yourch-1, Molly Russell- 1, Katelyn Ginley- 1
Final Score: Toga 8 v. Columbia 0
Corners: Toga -12 | Columbia - 0
Shots: Toga 27 | Columbia 3
Toga Goalies: Kristen Rodecker and Emma Piccirillo  - 3 saves
Col Goalie: Maddy Hogan - 16 saves
Toga 3-0 | Columbia 0-3

SRYMCA Over 50 Basketball League 2018-2019: Announcement
Saratoga Regional YMCA Over 50 Basketball League will begin its 13th season. Signups are now open at the Membership Desk of any SRYMCA Branch, or online for YMCA Members at srymca.org. New Player Evaluation will be October 17, First Game schedule for October 31. Games are played Wednesday nights. Dues are $130 for members and $260 for non-members. Sponsors and Team Captains are needed. For additional info call Paige Minear at 518-583–YMCA (9622), ext 120.

St. Michael’s College Women’s Volleyball at Union Invitational
SARATOGA COUNTY — In Friday's opening match against Skidmore, first-year Grace Fornabia (Saratoga Springs/ Saratoga Central Catholic) led the team with six kills on 11 attempts, finishing with a .455 hitting percentage. Fornabia and Statile also contributed five kills. In the final match of the weekend against Williams, Fornabia again led the Purple Knight with five kills and a .625 hitting percentage.

Wasaren League Saratoga Central Catholic Volleyball
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Central Catholic hosted Cambridge on Monday, September 10. Saratoga Catholic Saints beat the Cambridge Indians 3-1.
Scores: 25-17, 22-25, 25-13, 25-14
Highlights for the Saints: 2-0 overall and league Elise Browell (senior) 19 service points, 2 aces 23 assist Kennedy Murphy (senior), 9 kills Emy Murray (Junior), 9 service points Grace O'Reilly (Junior), 10 service points, 6 aces 5 kills Molly O'Reilly (Sophomore), 11 service points 5 kills.
Highlights for the Indians: Keana Sherwin 6 kills 7 blocks, Katie Simon 5 service points, JoJo Griffith 7 service points 1 kills.

[Photos provided]

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Adirondack Sportman’s Alliance brings their total scholarship donations to $43,000 to date. This year’s recipients are as follows: Ian Conlon: Ian is currently a senior at Johnsburg High School and will be attending SUNY Adirondack in the fall for two years and will eventually further his education, working towards a Bachelors Degree. Ian will be taking classes concentrating his major in Computer Hardware and Business.

The Mike Suriano III Scholarship: This scholarship is named in honor of one of the founding club members, Mike “Mitch” Suriano, who passed away in 2009. This year’s recipient is Grace Fornabia, a senior at Saratoga Central Catholic. Grace has been accepted at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT and will be concentrating her studies on Biology.

The Mike Suriano Jr. Scholarship: This scholarship is named in honor of another founding member of the organization, Mike “Mickey” Suriano, who passed away in 2016. This year’s recipient is Seth Cooper. Seth is a senior at South Glens Falls and will be attending Full Sail University in Orlando, FL to major in Sports Broadcasting.

[Photos by www.PhotoAndGraphic.com]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – On Wednesday, Nov. 8 Saratoga Central Catholic High School held their third annual Mega Bowl, a volleyball game with faculty versus senior athletes of all sports. From the start, the whole crowd was excited and the senior athletes created a “pumped up” atmosphere. The faculty players were good sports, teasing the seniors with floor routines and special handshakes every time they’d score a point. Maria Izzo, varsity volleyball coach, was the very amused referee for Mega Bowl.

This event is held to raise money for the school, as the MC for the evening joked, “we really need your money, so donate. I am accepting personal checks and cash donations of up to $100 or even pocket change. But really, this goes to a great cause, we have a great school. Thank you.”

With that, the first set kicked off. Faculty came in hitting hard and it was hard to miss the amused expressions on the volleyball seniors faces. The seniors team consisted of boys and girls from all the different sports offered at Saratoga Central Catholic, including senior volleyball player Ani Crocker. The first set was won by the faculty, 25-20.

The second set saw some amusing anecdotes as the ball came down and one senior girl hit it with her shin exclaiming, “I’m a soccer player!” The crowd went wild with laughter. The faculty dominated this set again, winning 25-16.

The third set saw a change up in the seniors roster, bringing in MVP volleyball player Grace Fornabia. It was then clear to the faculty that they would have to step up their game as Fornabia effortlessly made the points rise. The third set was won by the seniors, 25-10.

During halftime, there was a $1 volleyball serve game. Crowd members could pay $1 to serve the ball and see if they could make it into any of the three trash cans set up. Grace O’Reilly, junior varsity volleyball player, came the closest to sinking the ball.

Since the faculty did not win the third set, a fourth set was required. The seniors won the fourth set, 25-23, creating a tie between teams and requiring a fifth and final set. The faculty fought hard in the fifth set to keep their winning title for the third year in a row but ultimately, the seniors won for the first time, 25-21.

The mix of different specialty athletes versus faculty members made for an amusing but athletically skilled game. The point of the game was to raise money and have a good time. That certainly seemed to be accomplished.

[Photos Provided.]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Sierra Delaney is in her junior year at Ballston Spa High School and she is the only female varsity football player in the history of the school. Delaney plays on the defensive end and as a wide receiver. She started playing football at four years old when she and her cousin began on pop warner.

Delaney says there is definitely a difference between varsity and pop warner, “the guys get bigger,” she laughed.

Delaney says that the guys on the team are accepting of her but the ones who haven’t seen her before wonder why she’s there at first.

“We’re a giant family, especially as the year goes on we just get closer and closer. Coach always says, ‘brothers and sister,” Delaney explained.

“Most of my friends are pretty accepting, they’re always in line to wear my jersey on game days and are excited to watch me on Friday nights,” Delaney said.

Delaney is 5’11” and while she loves to play football, she plans to play basketball seriously in college and is already being scouted for that sport.

Jessie House, a 17-year-old senior at Saratoga Springs High School, is an offensive player on the field hockey team. House plans to continue playing field hockey at RPI next year. Starting in seventh grade, Coach Hostig was House’s PE coach in elementary school and she encouraged House to pursue field hockey.

“As soon as I could try out for a team I did and I’m glad I continued it,” House said of field hockey.

House will be attending RPI next year for Biomedical Engineering while also participating in D3 field hockey.

“I hope to be successful in both areas,” she said, “Academics are a big part of my life and I know I have to take them more seriously, but as a player, being on that field and playing the game I love takes that stress and thought of academics away and allows me to thrive in the sport.”

House had nothing but praise for her teammates and said that the proudest moment of her life thus far has been this season of varsity field hockey.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played better field hockey than I am right now. There is always room for improvement but I take pride in my accomplishments so far this season. The team this year is one of the best teams I’ve ever been on for field hockey. Everyone is so close and the rookies are a huge asset to the team and everyone is included as much as possible. We work hard as a team on and off the field,” House explained.

House is also a tennis player.

Grace Fornabia is a 17-year-old senior volleyball player from Saratoga Central Catholic High School. Fornabia’s main sport is volleyball, where she plays middle hitter and blocker, but she also successfully runs track and field. She intends to continue playing volleyball in college, either D2 or D3, and is still talking to coaches about which school is best for her.

“The first time I ever played volleyball was going into seventh grade at a Skidmore volleyball camp for beginners. I tried the sport because seventh grade was the year that middle schoolers could begin being a part of a sports team and volleyball was the first fall girls sport at Spa Catholic so I tried it out and fell in love with it and haven’t stopped playing since,” Fornabia explained.

Fornabia also plays volleyball over the summer with a program called IREVA, which stands for Iroquois Empire Volleyball Association, and is coached by college players and coaches.

“The main goal is to make everyone better by the end of the camp than when they first got there,” Fornabia explained.

“A very proud moment of mine was when I was going into freshmen year and I tried out for this camp and found out I made it. I was so excited when my mom showed me the email of me making the camp because I was so young and didn’t really know how to play volleyball correctly. I knew that going to this camp would make me better. All the coaches and players there motivate me by showing how passionate they are for the sport and I have always wanted to play at a high level just like they are at. Even today, the coaches and players motivate me to always work hard and play hard because it does pay off for sure,” she said.

Amy Moreau is a 17-year-old senior varsity midfielder on the Schuylerville soccer team. After playing recreational soccer from pre-school through elementary school, Amy joined the indoor team with Dan Gale in third grade and that is when she became serious about the sport. While she does not plan to pursue soccer after high school, she is committed to play D1 lacrosse at UMass Amherst next fall, where she plans to play lacrosse all four years and study sports medicine.

“Our team is probably the closest we have ever been, on and off the field, in all of the years I have been on a team, which is going to make saying goodbye to this sport that much harder,” Moreau said.

“Amy is a three-year captain and quite possibly the most exciting and hard-working player in all of section two. She’s extremely fast, equally skilled with both feet, and leads with 80 minutes of non-stop hustle. In addition, she’s one heck of a good kid, who’s well liked and respected by all. She’s been a dream player for me,” said coach Michael Kopp.

“My most proud moment so far in sports, has been two years ago losing in the sectional semi-finals one to zero to Schalmont, who ended up having an undefeated season winning states. This has been motivating for our team to work hard to get back to that game, and this year I think we definitely think we have a shot,” Moreau said.