Athlete of the Week: Andrew Poggione
The ball hurtles down over the net and flies toward the far right corner of the court—an almost perfect spike from Andover. Senior Andrew Poggione sprints to his right and dives toward the ball with one hand extended, his body parrallel to the ground as he flies. His hand makes contact with the white and red volleyball, sending it flying toward the net. An unbelievable dive and save. One of the other Exeter players jumps straight up and slams the volleyball down onto Andover’s court, an unreturnable shot. The crowd was silent in awe for a moment, then ecstatic cheers broke out as they chant in unison: “Pogg! Pogg! Pogg!”
Poggione always had an interest in volleyball. He grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and used to play with his sister. When they were younger, they participated in pickup volleyball matches, but he had never really thought about doing it competitively. When he first came to Exeter, he would never have thought he would one day become the captian of the boys’ varsity volleyball team.
“It’s kind of weird being captain of the team, only because I’ve really only played one season of volleyball. When the younger guys come to me for guidance, I sometimes don’t really have the knowledge for which they are looking. But I do my best to share everything I do know with my teammates.”
During Poggione’s first two years at Exeter, he focused on basketball and baseball. “My junior year when Coach Shang started the school’s first mens’ volleyball team, I was very intrigued. My younger sister has played volleyball since she was seven, so I grew up playing a little bit with her,” Poggione said. Poggione jumped on the opportunity and began honing in on his volleyball skills in order to become a crucial player to the team.
His excitement, natural leadership skills and ability in the sport make him a vital to the team’s success. In his upper year, he was able to grow as a player learning from his teammates, namely Alec Hernandez, Marc Steele, Ryan Heavirland and Kevin Flynn. Upper Timothy Wu said, “Pogg has really gotten much better as a player since he started playing last year.” His skills improved exponentially in his first season of play, which put him in a great position for the next season.
This year Poggione has been recognized for his exceptional performance as he was given the title of team captain. Poggione has worked hard to become a leading player on the team and to inspire his teammates to be the best they can be. “It’s kind of weird being captain of the team, only because I’ve really only played one season of volleyball. When the younger guys come to me for guidance, I sometimes don’t really have the knowledge for which they are looking. But I do my best to share everything I do know with my teammates,” Pogionne said. He really hopes that his performance and leadership this year will lead to success in the coming season.
To many younger players, Poggione is a source of inspiration to work hard and succeed on and off of the courts. Prep Noah Asch believes Poggione is an irreplaceable team leader that the team will never forget. “He is someone I can always look up to as a great role model. Without Andrew, the team would lack a leader, and I think that having that leadership is essential for the team’s success,” Asch said.
Both in practices and game, Poggione is a fantastic team player who always builds up his teammates. His presence helps keep the team’s attitude positive even when they are not performing very well. “Overall, Pogg is just a really nice guy and very energetic, which really helps to keep up team moral,” lower Graham Rutledge said. He also works very hard to improve the entire team’s abilities in practice and games.
Lower Kelvin Green said, “Pogg keeps all of us in check. He is constantly telling us what to fix and congratulating us when we do something right. He works hard and inspires us to do the same.”
Despite receiving countless compliments for his work ethics, astonishing leadership and his refined skills, Poggione is able to remain humble and, whenever possible, tries to credit his successes to other teammates.
As a player, Poggione is very aggressive and tenacious, always willing to put his all into every single play. His serve will be especially beneficial the the team’s overall success. Wu said, “In particular, his jump serve is looking aggressive—I think it’ll be exciting to watch once we start playing.”
Even though Poggione is threatening and relentless while playing, upper Zaidee Laughlin, one of the team managers, affirms his uplifting personality is also remarkable on the court. “Andrew has a really good attitude on the court, and he’s a really fun member of the team to play with. He keeps the players positive and never takes himself too seriously, which can be important.”
According to Rutledge, Poggione also leads by example. “Pogg is a great player. Just seeing him get out there and do his best at every practice and game keeps us doing the same.”
On Apr. 18, the boys’ volleyball team will have its first game of the 2015 season, the second season of its brief existence. The team outlook on the season is very optimistic. With Andrew as captain, the team is confident that they can improve upon their record from last year, when they won four matches and lost five. This is Poggione’s last year playing for Exeter, and he is really looking to focus on improving everyone’s gameplay to develop team dynamic and comradery.
“I always just try and do what’s best for the team. This season I think we have a solid shot at winning it all, and I have been focused on doing everything I can to get us there,” Poggione said.