Wallkill’s Angela Mayer commits to Saint Rose

By Mike Zummo
Posted 5/20/20

 

Angela Mayer has been a three-year member of the Wallkill Panthers volleyball team and even yet, her best volleyball may be in front of her.

Mayer recently, committed to continue her …

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Wallkill’s Angela Mayer commits to Saint Rose

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Angela Mayer has been a three-year member of the Wallkill Panthers volleyball team and even yet, her best volleyball may be in front of her.

Mayer recently, committed to continue her volleyball career at Division II College of Saint Rose in Albany.

“I didn’t want to go there at first,” Mayer said. “but I went to visit the school with my parents and ended up really liking it a lot.”

Mayer plans to join a St. Rose team that finished 11-17 in 2019 and a 4-9 mark in the Northeast-10 conference. She will also face Wallkill teammate Madison Dembroski, who is committed to conference rival Le Moyne.

She met the team and coach Vanessa Volpe-Rivera, who led the Golden Knights to their ninth straight season with at least 10 victories. She met both the coaches and members of the team.

“They all had really nice personalities when I met them,” Mayer said. “They made me feel welcome and they were really enjoyable to be around.”

Mayer has been an outside hitter for the Panthers and came up to the varsity as an eighth grader. She’s been under the tutelage of coach Julie Michella since eighth grade.

“Angela is a phenomenal athlete,” Michella said. “She has great jumping ability. From the time I saw her in middle school, I knew she’d develop into a very good player. She’s been working very hard to improve her game.”

Mayer features an effective jump serve that can be difficult for other teams to receive. She had a 10-point service run in the Mid-Hudson Athletic league championship match against the Mount Academy on Oct. 30.

“That really sealed the win for us against Mount Academy,” Michella said.

Michella also said she has drastically improved her passing and defensive game.

“She’s always had good jumping ability and arm swing,” Michella said. “She has really worked hard to develop and that’s allowed me to use her all around offensively and defensively.”

The history Mayer shares with not only Michella, but her teammates made the Panthers’ rise over the past several seasons extra special. When her senior season ended on Nov. 10, it was hard to say goodbye to her teammates after playing with them for so long.

“I feel like it’s going to be really different because I won’t be starting the season with the people I usually do,” she said. “Everything’s going to change when I start volleyball there. I will have to adjust to a different place, but I am looking forward to it.”

Mayer hasn’t had an opportunity to talk much with Volpe-Rivera about expectations for the fall as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered most of New York state in the middle of March.

Wallkill closed nearly a week earlier than everyone else – on March 11 – after someone who may have had contact with a student or Wallkill school district employee tested positive for the disease. By the following week, all schools were shuttered. Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed schools for the remainder of the academic year.

“It makes it harder to get things done, like things I need to do for the volleyball team,” Mayer said. “Going to gyms are not an option so I’ve been trying to keep it together and get everything done.”
There is still the question of what will happen when the fall comes, but for now the plan is to have her freshman volleyball season in the fall. And she still may have untapped potential to contribute collegiately.

“I think Angela still hasn’t reached her full athletic potential,” Michella said. “I think she has a lot more growing to do. I think she can get stronger. I think the St. Rose coach probably sees that in her. She’s already good player and could be better.”