Former Italian national team coach looking to turn Carrollton into volleyball contender

The Carrollton Cyclones have just one lonely girls’ volleyball banner in their gym, and that stems from a district title that was earned 45 years ago.

Administrators at Carrollton -- an all-girls school established in 1961 – surely hope to add another banner soon, which is why in 2019 they hired Marco Paglialunga, who in his native Italy served as the head coach of the junior national team. He was also an assistant on the senior national team, and he held those posts for close to a decade.

But even with his vast experience, Paglialunga, 41, is no miracle worker. Carrollton went 10-16 in 2019, 9-3 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and 11-10 last year.

Asked if the Cyclones can win a district title this year, Paglialunga answered in brutally honest fashion.

“No,” he said. “We have a tough district with (reigning state runner-up) Westminster Christian as well as Ransom Everglades, Florida Christian and Riviera Prep.”

However, don’t mistake Paglialunga’s frank assessment with a lack of effort. He’s all in on volleyball. In fact, he and his wife, Mia Causevic, run the Miami Wave girls-only program.

They opened the club in 2019, and they already have close to 400 girls in the program, all of them ages five to 16. The club boasts 18 coaches.

Paglialunga’s love affair with volleyball began in his home city of Modena, which is known as the capital of the sports-car industry, including Ferrari and Maserati.

“Modena is the only city in Italy where volleyball is bigger than soccer,” Paglialunga said. “It’s crazy.

“What I love about volleyball is that passing is not an option – it’s the rule. It’s a sports built around teamwork.”

The 6-foot-tall Paglialunga, who didn’t have the talent to play pro volleyball, started coaching at the age of 16. He soon found that all of his friends were volleyball players.

That connection to the sport extended to his romantic life as he married the 6-foot-1 Causevic, who was born in Croatia and came to Italy to play pro volleyball.

The couple has two daughters – ages eight and five. For the first time this year, Causevic is serving as an assistant coach at Ransom, one of Carrollton’s district rivals.

“It’s probably better we’re in two different gyms,” Paglialunga said, “or we’d argue every day.”

Asked if Causevic might brag about a Ransom victory over Carrollton – if it happens – Paglialunga said the boasting would likely be “subtle.”

Either way, Paglialunga said his love for volleyball has never wavered.

“I was lucky to coach in front of 20,000 fans in Italy,” he said. “(High school coaching) is not that dimension, but I like to teach young women how to play.

“I love to see them excited about something they are learning. I love when alumni members come back, and they thank us for teaching them life lessons. It’s a different kind of excitement from what I did in Italy.”

Paglialunga, who left Italy for California seven years ago and won a state title on the West Coast at Menlo School, is building his 2022 team around Sofia Ibarra, a 6-foot junior outside.

Ibarra missed her freshman club season after suffering an ACL right-knee injury, but she made it back seven months following surgery. This past summer, she competed for Guatemala at the Under-21 Central America Championships, held in Belize.

Guatemala won the event, and Ibarra was named the tournament’s best blocker.

“It was a lot of pressure,” Ibarra said. “But it was fun, too, because the stadium was full (estimated 5,000 fans). They wouldn’t stop making noise, and we couldn’t hear our coach during timeouts.”

Ibarra, who wants to study finance and business in college, has been getting Division II recruiting interest.

She is joined on Carrollton team by the Bales sisters – 6-foot senior Brielle and 5-10 junior Aubrey. There’s also sophomore setter Luciana Lee, junior Andrea Lopez and senior Viola Lake.

Ibarra agreed that a 2022 district title would be tough.

“Probably not -- it’s a really hard district,” she said. “The girls on those other teams have been playing since they were two.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Key dates - This week: Regular season matches began; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Florida Christian Invitational; Oct. 4: GMAC tournament; Oct. 17-21: Districts; Oct. 24-28: Regionals begin; TBA: State championships.

▪ Westminster Christian, which finished second at state last year, returns three first-team All-Dade outside hitters: 5-10 Emily Matias, 5-9 Gaby Arroyo and 5-9 Alyah Cadavid. The setters are senior Lamaya Fuller and junior Alyssa Catavid, and both of them are also right-side hitters. Watch out for 6-2 freshman middle blocker Gigi Artiles and 5-6 sophomore outside hitter/libero Zoey Matias.

▪ Mater Academy, which has won two straight state titles, has to replace a large senior class from last season. Seniors on this year’s roster are outside hitter Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu and libero Genesis Lopez. Coach Elsa Lopez’s young roster also includes three juniors, two sophomores, one freshman and one eighth-grader.

▪ Doral Academy is still led mostly by juniors and sophomores who led the team to the Class 7A state semifinals and a 21-9 record a year ago. That core is highlighted by 5-7 sophomore setter Melissa Gonzalez, 6-1 junior middle blocker Izabela Molina, 5-10 junior outside hitter Sophia Torres and 5-4 junior libero Angeline Vazquez.

▪ Riviera Prep went 15-11 last season, reaching the regional semifinals. The Bulldogs are led by 5-8 senior outside hitter Rayna Anders and 5-9 senior setter Alexandra Ragan, who teamed up and made first team All-Dade in beach volleyball this past spring.

▪ Lourdes went 23-5 last season, reaching the regional semifinals. The team is led by 6-0 sophomore middle blocker Olivia Guzman, who is a Division I prospect who is getting recruited by Miami and Wake Forest; 5-9 senior right-side hitter Carmen Rionda, who is a fourth-year varsity starter and the team captain; and 5-9 senior outside hitter Sofia Santamaria, who is a fifth-year varsity starter.

▪ Gulliver Prep, which went 12-16 last season, is led by 5-8 junior outside hitter Hailey Brenner, who led the team with 266 digs; 6-0 junior Jackie Taylor, who is highly athletic and elite and blocking and attacking; 5-4 junior libero Sophia Wong, who is a menace on defense because of her ability to cover ground; and 6-0 outside hitter Lia Gonzalez, considered one of the top freshmen in the state.

▪ Divine Savior graduated 12 seniors from last year’s regional runners-up. In nine years in the FHSAA, this program has yet to lose a district game. The top returner is 5-11 senior Thalia Iglesias, a gifted setter and powerful hitter.

▪ La Salle, which went 14-9 last year, is led by senior outside hitter Angelina Cambo and sophomore setter Grace Blanco.

▪ Reagan went 10-9 last year and returns senior outside hitter Lani Ridoutt to lead its squad.

▪ Palmetto, which went 9-14 last year, is led by senior outside hitters Gabrielle Schwartz and Hailey Zambrana.

▪ Florida Christian is led by 5-6 sophomore outside hitter Frances Vinuela, who placed third at nationals in club ball this past summer.

▪ St. Brendan, a reigning district champion, is led by 5-8 senior outside hitter Sofia Tobar.

▪ Southridge is led by 5-7 junior outside hitter Destiny Harvey.

▪ Monsignor Pace is led by 5-8 junior outside hitter Cortnee Smith.

▪ Miami Country Day is led by 5-5 junior libero Isabella Brod.

▪ Colonial Christian is led by 5-11 junior middle hitter Caitlyn Campbell.

This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 8:15 AM.