MetroWest Daily News - On Campus: Casali Has Framingham State Volleyball Team Set for Success

By Craig Gilvarg/Daily News Staff

The first year at the college level wasn't at all what she had expected. It certainly got off to a foreboding start when she received a call from Peter Maneggia — the coach who had spent two years recruiting her during her time at Algonquin Regional High School — three days before she was set to enter school and join the team. He was no longer her coach, he informed her. His assistant, Megan Silver Droesch, would be taking over the program.

Leonard didn't know a single member of the team, and now she didn't know whom she'd be playing for either. It was a bad start to what would be a strange season. Eastern Connecticut had a decent year in 2014, going 17-17, but Leonard played sparingly. The experience, overall, was discouraging and she decided she would not return to the team the following season.

"I wasn't going to transfer at all," said Leonard. "I just wasn't going to play. In some ways it didn't work out."

But she returned to the sidelines that summer to help coach her sister's summer club team. It was the same team she played for while she was in high school, under the same coach — Richard Casali.

They had developed a strong relationship over those high school summers, to the point where he asked her to join him on the bench as an assistant.

It was then that Leonard realized her passion for the game hadn't left her completely. What she needed, desperately, was a better situation.

"Just seeing how he was coaching made me miss being with a coach who actually cared about their players and helping them get better," said Leonard. "I missed that, and that made my decision a lot easier."

The decision, of course, was to transfer to Framingham State where she could play, once more, under Casali — the Rams coach for the last 12 seasons.

Casali has spent the last five years building FSU into a MASCAC powerhouse. What was once a modest program with middling results has transformed into a force to be reckoned with in the conference. The Rams won their second straight MASCAC title this season — and third in four years — and returned to the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history.

"Things go better when you win," said Casali. "And we've been winning. I've got a really good group of kids. I've been very lucky that way. Things are great, really."

The good times keep rolling in Framingham.

"I think winning breeds winning," said Casali. "When you win, good players want to show up."

The players might argue that coaching has something to do with it as well — a culture developed by Casali focused on advancing the skill of each individual player while simultaneously stressing the importance of team above all.

For Leonard, that atmosphere, that culture of success and camaraderie, was exactly what she needed.

"My confidence was honestly at an all-time low and that hasn't happened before," said Leonard. "And that's another reason I wanted to transfer, because I felt coach Casali could make me into the player I'm supposed to be.

"This team made me love volleyball again, which I thought I had lost the year before."

The benefits were mutual. As FSU provided the foundation Leonard needed to reinvigorate her spirit and ability, she returned the favor with an excellent season in which she took over as the team's setter — to tremendous results.

In a season where the Rams went 25-9, Leonard led the team with 703 assists even though she didn't see consistent playing time in the early part of the season.

"Sarah was a very high energy player and that's something we were missing early in the year," said Casali. "We made the move for her to set most of the time and that was a big lift to the team."

Her addition was a boon for a team that already enjoyed a deep and talented roster.

Casali believes every great program starts with one great player. For the Rams, that player was Framingham native Andressa Fernandes, a two-time MASCAC Player of the Year who helped the program reach new heights, including its first-ever conference championship, before graduating in 2012.

"You have to get that one really great player," said Casali. "And she was it."

Since then, Casali has enjoyed a more fruitful recruiting process. Fernandes' talent, and the emergence of the program during her tenure, made selling the team easier than it had been in the past.

Players like Danielle Girard, Julia Wan, Annie DeLoid might have been out of the program's reach in the past. Now they're helping to establish its reputation as a destination.

Which is how Casali was able to lure a player of Alycia Rackliffe's caliber.

Rackliffe, in her third year at Framingham State, has taken the torch from Fernandes, serving as something of a successor to the Rams' model player.

What Rackliffe has accomplished in her time at FSU is nothing short of astonishing. She has a stack of MASCAC Player of the Week awards, including five this past season.

This year she added the biggest conference honor to her resume, being named MASCAC Player of the Year after compiling an incredible 469 kills as a junior.

It was her best season, bypassing the high standards set by her freshman and sophomore campaigns in which she had 373 and 405 kills, respectively.

"She's the best hitter I've ever coached anywhere," said Casali. "By far."

Most impressive to Casali this year was her emergence as a leader, which was on display in FSU's matchup against Brockport State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

After FSU dropped the first two games, Casali brought the team together. Before he could speak, Rackliffe took control of the meeting. 

"Sometimes I'm leery of letting the girls talk, but I said OK," said Casali. "Alycia also plays basketball, and she said to the team, 'Listen, I'm not ready to play basketball. I still want to be a volleyball player. We need to come back and win this game.' That's what Alycia is becoming, and I think with an attitude like that things are looking really good for us next year."

Framingham ended up dropping the third game, bringing an end to its season in the first round of the NCAA tournament once again. Though the Rams were swept, the games were close — 19-25, 21-25, 22-25 — and they were able to take pride in their performance against a considerably skilled team.

"We stayed with them the whole time," said Leonard. "We fought back, gave it everything we had, and in some ways that was a win for ourselves because we just stayed with a team that was amazing and I think that's an accomplishment in itself."

And as the focus turns to next season — and beyond — there is plenty of reason for optimism. Casali laments the loss of his two senior captains — Girard and DeLoid — and will have to find a way to replace their production and influence. No easy task, he says.

But when he considers the players returning — Rackliffe, Leonard, Wan to name a few — he can't help but express optimism.

"We have to replace three hitters," said Casali. "That's difficult to do, but with the core we have, we have very good chance of going back again."

Which is another way of saying the Rams are here to stay.

"Framingham has never been high up on the MASCAC chain," said Leonard. "That's just happened in the past couple years, and it's awesome to have the feeling of everyone wanting to be there. It's exciting, honestly. We can only get better.

"The season just ended but everyone's saying let's get in the gym, let's practice, let's get better. It's great. I've never been with a team that is this excited to just keep playing."