Fall has just begun, and NPHS sports are giving it their all. The volleyball season, which started in late August, is almost halfway through. With successful events like the Gold Out just completed, and Dig Pink on the way, let’s take a look at the coaches leading these teams.

First up is the Varsity Coach, Alessandra Finis. She’s been head volleyball coach at NPHS for the past 6 years.

Finis realized she loved volleyball at age 10, and began coaching in high school, when she had the opportunity to coach younger girls’ volleyball.

“We went to the YMCA after school everyday and we trained elementary school girls for about two to three hours,” she said. “We did it with our volleyball team, which was great as a bonding experience, but it also made me really enjoy coaching as well, even from a young age.”

Here at New Providence, Finis has two roles—teacher and coach. She started both roles in New Providence simultaneously, but finds them to be completely different.

Her favorite part about coaching is that “it’s a different feeling from being in the classroom. It’s very exciting. There is a sort of adrenaline rush, and there’s a different level of fun and communication you have with your student athletes than you would in a classroom with just your students.”

Coaching can also come with challenges.

Finis said: “Every season you have new players that join your team, you have new talent, and trying to organize your team to see which lineup works best is difficult for me.”

Right now, the varsity team is mid season.

She said: “The girls have been working very hard and most recently  in our Millburn Varsity tournament this past Saturday, we did win our very first set so it was very exciting and it was a boost of encouragement for the team.”

Now that she has been coaching for a while, Finis finds it difficult to be a player.

“This past winter, I actually went back to playing adult volleyball. I found it very difficult because it’s so hard not being a coach,” Finis said. “I think that [with] more time playing in an adult league, I would be able to let those things go and just be part of the team rather than put my coaching hat on.”

Working with Finis is the JV Coach, Kristina Berrios. Berrios has also been coaching JV volleyball at NPHS for six years.

Berrios didn’t actually play volleyball growing up; she played soccer and did track. She began to play recreationally after beginning to coach.

She took the position because: “The opportunity presented itself. I was a new teacher,” she said.  “This was six years ago, and I had just met Coach Finis for the first time and she said, ‘You know, here’s an opening, would you be interested?’ And me, I like to try new things. So I said ‘Sure, why not?’”

Since then, she’s experienced the joys and challenges of volleyball. Now, she’s gotten to know the sport.

“The favorite part of volleyball that I have is really seeing the girls grow and develop throughout the season,”Berrios said. “As a player, you start the season and things are a little bit chaotic or they’re not gelling as well. And there’s a lot of skills that we need to work on. But then, by that midpoint season, you know, you really see things come together. I love seeing the players continue to improve.”

Right now, the JV team, which is made up for mostly younger players, is mid season, too. 

Berrios said: “I’m seeing the girls really gel and mesh together.  We’re having an awesome season so far.”

After a few years in coaching, she’s experienced highs and lows, and has learned that coaching isn’t easy.

“I think the hardest part of coaching is knowing your player’s needs,” she said. “And kind of just making sure that every single player is having those needs met. Because when you have a lot of people, it’s hard to make sure that everyone is playing in the appropriate position or everyone working on a skill that’s specific to them.”

Berrios has found things to love about coaching too.

She said: “My favorite part of being a coach is forming those good relationships with my players. Every year I’ve had an awesome team and I love working with them. I love seeing them grow and develop and seeing them themselves become really awesome players.”

The newest addition to the volleyball coach trio is freshman coach Lucy Zheng. Zheng is a 3rd grade teacher at Salt Brook Elementary School in New Providence, but jumped at the chance to coach freshman volleyball at NPHS. 

She played volleyball “all four years when [she] was in high school, and then played kind of on and off after high school in recreational leagues.”

Zheng said: “I think my favorite part of volleyball is building that teamwork and bond with the team, having the girls practice good sportsmanship and overall just supporting each other.”

What really drew her to the position was her love of the sport, combined with her teacher’s instinct of “working with young people and kind of seeing them grow, taking them from somewhere and then bringing them to their best potential.”

She also said: “I just saw it as a new opportunity for myself. I love New Providence, so I wanted to get more involved in the community.”

Her first freshman team is mid season right now.

“I think that we still have a lot of room to grow,” she said. “And you know, each time we play, we’re learning something new. We bring it into practice and then hopefully we can bring that back into our games.”

Zheng is the only coach in the NP trio who has just started her coaching career.

She said: “It’s filled with a lot of joy, challenges, a lot of happiness, seeing how the girls are growing, and just overall a really good and exciting experience for me so far.”

Coaching is all about being a part of the team and being strategic, and that’s the hardest part for her.

She said: “I feel responsible for our team. So whether we win or lose, I kind of take that information. I take it back home. and I analyze how we can do things better.”

Her perspective changes when she coaches as compared to when she was a player. 

She said: “It reminds me of some of the things that I’ve done or mistakes I’ve done or things I’ve had to do as a player, and then [it’s] so different because you’re on the outside looking in.”