1 week Ago By Jacob Steinberg
Centennial volleyball’s four-member senior class knew it needed to step up this season. The Eagles graduated roughly 60% of the last season’s offense, including 2023 All-Metro and Howard County Times Player of the Year Mailinh Godschall. Each of those four seniors — Natalie Gomez, Amanda Xu, Joy Chen and Simar Sidhu — progressed and saw their roles change in some way.
Gomez and Xu stepped into more prominent roles on Centennial’s attack. Meanwhile, Chen and Sidhu took on increased on-court leadership roles as multi-year starters. Blending those returners with newcomers, it took Centennial some time to jell.
The Eagles lost seven regular-season matches while facing a tough Howard County schedule. However, they hit their stride at the right time, winning the regular season finale and four straight playoff games to reach the Class 2A state title game. Saturday at APG Federal Credit Union Arena, the eighth-seeded Eagles faced No.
7 Williamsport, a matchup between the two programs with the most volleyball state titles in Maryland history. Centennial’s quest for a second straight 2A title fell just short as the Eagles suffered a 3-1 defeat to the Wildcats (25-15, 25-17, 10-25, 25-13). “I knew we were capable, but I also knew that we had to work at it,” Centennial coach Mike Bossom said.
“That’s what we talked about. We talked about, where are we going to find the points that have disappeared? We struggled a little bit at the start of this year to find those points. But at the end, we played our brand of volleyball, the best we, we could be.
I’m just really proud of how this team has performed. How they’ve grown this year. We talked about leaving everything out on the court and that’s how I felt we played.
” While Centennial’s past seniors filled up the stat sheet, they also provided invaluable leadership. Godschall, Kaley MacLellan and other members of the Eagles’ veteran group were a constant voice on the court. That leadership model was impactful on this year’s senior class.
They in turn kept the tradition going. “The seniors, we all had to step up this year because the major seniors last year were always loud on every single point,” Sidhu said. “We knew this year that was our spot, and we had to be loud on and off the court.
We had to bond on and off the court because everyone is new. Since we don’t have the same people, we had to learn how to be consistent and get to know how we all play.” That bond increased throughout the season and played an integral role in the Eagles’ late season surge.
Bossom described the Eagles’ practices as “focused fun”, improving, but also enjoying the time spent with one another. In helping those younger players adjust to the added pressure of varsity volleyball, Gomez took a purposeful leadership approach. “Last year’s big senior class, they were our role models,” Gomez said.
“Something, I like to do is find a connection with each one of our players. They know they have the talent to connect with us and that we all support each other. I like to do this with any team.
Just finding connections, especially with the quieter players because we do have some starters that are pretty quiet and aren’t as loud. So, I really take my time to talk to them and help them find their stride.” Despite the defeat, the Eagles’ collective growth was on full display.
Gomez, Sidhu and Chen all played key roles in Centennial’s dominant third set win, sparking the team with their attacks, collective energy and defense. Juniors Prakhya Chengal and Hannah Shiau as well as sophomores Hailey Wang and Joy Dong showed their development, throughout all four sets. While Centennial’s season didn’t conclude in the way it hoped with the program’s 16th state title, it returns a strong corps, hoping to build on the foundation laid by the recent senior classes.
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