Villa Maria Academy

If the New York Mets - the winners of last year's World Series and the team America loves to hate - are prevented from repeating as champions this season, how many tears would be shed? Imagine the same scenario in the world of Main Line softball, but with the Villa Maria ViMacats playing the role of the favorite with the bull's-eye as an emblem. "It's a little easier going into a game as an underdog, something we haven't been able to do," coach Kathy McCartney said of Villa, a school that has ruled the Catholic Academies League sports world for what seems like an eternity.

With her forward linemates, Caroline Troncelliti and Samantha Ostoich, counted on primarily for their scoring, Villa Maria Academy's Kaylee Prendergast knows she's not in the game to provide goals. "I'm not a big scorer. I see my job as keeping everyone motivated and staying focused on the game," Prendergast said after Villa whipped Merion Mercy, 7-2, Tuesday in a District 1 Class AA field hockey semifinal at Conestoga. Prendergast not only did her job of leading the aggressive Hurricanes, but she also added a goal, her fifth of the season.

Villa Maria Academy's aggressive style of play worked so well in the PIAA Class AAA District 1 playoffs that the 22-0 Hurricanes probably will not change it for the first round of the state tournament against 19-5 Exeter tonight at Coatesville. Exeter is the No. 3 seed in District 3. Villa Maria is the top seed from District 1. "We wanted to be aggressive," Villa coach Joe Boland said after his team defeated Unionville on Saturday in three games to win the district title. "When you're the favorite, sometimes you sit back.

At a time when Villa Maria Academy's volleyball team needed to know how to overcome obstacles, Katie Cahill returned to the fold. Out with back problems for more than a year, the senior tri-captain rejoined the lineup at the beginning of the season. The return of her skill, knowledge of the game, and resilience couldn't have come at a better time. Six all-district players had graduated. Only two other seniors were on the roster. Players had talent but little experience at the varsity level.

Megan Maguire is still setting up her teammates perfectly, for strategic spikes and quick kills. But that's not all the Villa Maria Academy senior delivers to the volleyball team. After three years of on-court leadership, Maguire is making a natural transition as one of the Hurricanes' cocaptains this season with Maureen Lafferty. "My role has changed a lot," Maguire said. "We're welcoming in the freshmen and doing a lot of things off the court. I think with my position as a setter, you need to take charge out on the court.

Villa Maria Academy can point to the past with pride, savor the success of the present, and look forward to a sparkling future. Year after year, the Hurricanes have produced distance-medley and 4x800-meter relay winners under head coach Phil Genther and assistant Jim Henderson. No predictions are being made, but senior Kim Malcolm and sophomores Andrea Rockey, Tara Kelly, Christine Egan and Alex Glenn are carrying the Hurricanes to one of their quickest starts yet. In Friday's Delaware Valley Girls' Track Coaches Association Meet at Lehigh University, the foursome of Rockey, Kelly, Egan and Malcolm won the distance-medley relay in 12 minutes, 43.7 seconds.

John Hay, co-coach of Villa Maria Academy's two-year-old swim program, is looking forward to next season because the Hurricanes will become a member of the Southern Chester County League for swimming. "We were grateful for the opportunity to swim at their [first] championships this season although we were not an official member at the time," Hay said. "I think it will be a lot more meaningful for the girls to swim in a league. " Villa Maria is a member of the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies for most sports.

The girls' volleyball teams in District 1 are still chasing Villa Maria Academy, and the Hurricanes are prepared to meet the challenge. Villa Maria won its fourth straight District 1 Class AAA title last season and its sixth consecutive district crown counting the Class AA championships it captured in 1995 and 1994. In Class AAA state competition, the Hurricanes finished fifth the last two years, second in 1997, and first in 1996. Although the opposition may be greater than ever, Villa Maria is still the favorite in District 1 and the Southern Chester County League, where it has won the last five titles in a row. "I think it's going to be a really strong team," Villa Maria coach Joe Boland said.

A day after a seventh-grade student at the Villa Maria Academy lower school died from meningococcal meningitis, about 200 parents of other students gathered for solace and medical advice. Emily Koenig, 12, of Coatesville, died suddenly Wednesday. She had been suffering from flu-like symptoms for several days but had been attending school. On Wednesday she became very sick and weak and was runnning a high fever. She was taken to Brandywine Hospital in the late afternoon, where she died at 6:15 p.m. The school, which was closed because of bad weather Wednesday, remained closed yesterday and will not open until Monday, principal Sister Rose Mary Walsh said.

She's like a bug skating across a pond, darting here and there across the water. She's always on the go, never stationary long enough for a field hockey opponent to get a bead on her. That's Villa Maria Academy's Liz Bateman. The speedy wing may have been at her whirling dervish best Friday when she punched in two goals, one in the second overtime, to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over Perkiomen Valley in the District 1 Class AA championship game at Methacton. Her first goal with about six minutes left in regulation tied the game and sent it into overtime.