Colleen Romero commits to Post

By Mike Zummo
Posted 7/8/20

As the summer began, Colleen Romero became the latest member of the Wallkill volleyball team to commit to playing the sport collegiately.Romero, who has been playing the sport for five years, the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Colleen Romero commits to Post

Posted

As the summer began, Colleen Romero became the latest member of the Wallkill volleyball team to commit to playing the sport collegiately.
Romero, who has been playing the sport for five years, the last four at the varsity level recently signed her letter of intent to play Division II volleyball at Post University in Waterbury, Conn, on a full athletic scholarship.
“It means everything to me,” said Romero, one of Wallkill’s senior captains. “I have sacrificed so much of high school to play on this elite travel team. I kind of had to give up my social life. I had practices five times a week. I started doing this young and I missed a good amount of school, so I had to learn how to balance the student-athlete life.”
Romero also played for the USANY elite volleyball club, which Wallkill volleyball coach Julie Michella said handled her college recruiting, and the process was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t feel like it was late because of all the coronavirus stuff,” Romero said. “Recruiting for a lot of people has been delayed.”

She also hasn’t been able to visit the campus yet due to the pandemic, but says she is going soon.
Post struggled last season to a 6-24 record under coach Michael Brienza, who will enter his 14th season in the fall. She is also expected to join former teammate middle hitter, Aniya Goodman.
“I know it’s going to be hard work balancing school and volleyball and (Brienza) told me the whole staff is there to help me,” Romero said. “They have trainers to keep us in shape, and I feel like I am going to have help with everything I need.”
While her club experience helped get her recruited to play at Post, she had a special run at Wallkill High School. She was part of a strong class of 2020, which also included Madison Dembroski, Angela Mayer and Emma Secor, which helped the Panthers to two straight Mid-Hudson Athletic league championships.
The Panthers advanced to the Section 9 Class A championship game but fell to Cornwall.
“It’s meant a lot to me because I know I made a big impact on the program,” Romero said. “Wallkill volleyball is something that I’m going to have close to my heart. The coaches have helped me come a long way and winning MHALs with my team was one of the best experiences ever.”
Romero started playing volleyball as an eighth grader. That’s when Michella saw her height and got her into the Wallkill offseason program, where she showed a ton of improvement.
She went from riding the bench as an eighth grader on modified to being pulled up to the varsity as a freshman.
“I saw that she didn’t have any fear during our preseason workouts, and she was challenging other players,” Michella said. “She was challenging other players and was able to create a lot of different situations, affecting other people. I knew at that point she was ready for the higher level.”
Romero said it was that offseason program between her eighth- and ninth-grade seasons that made her realize her passion for the game. However, the sudden advancement was nerve-wracking.
“That was definitely a big change for me, but coach Michella was there for me and was such a great coach to me,” Romero said. “I think of her as a second mom.”
The memories will be with her forever, including the two straight MHAL titles in her junior and senior seasons, as her class helped elevate the program.
“I will definitely miss the coaches and my teammates,” Romero said. “We had such a family bond. We all had a special friendship with each other. I’m definitely going to miss the bond the most. Some people might not look forward to going to practice, but every day I was excited to see the coaches and my teammates.”
She hasn’t had much time to practice volleyball since school was shut down in March and all facilities were closed. However, she said her club program is going to be starting soon so she expects to be ready for the college season.
“She’s always had the goal of playing at the collegiate level,” Michella said. “She’s been working hard at that goal and now she has the opportunity to continue her academics and volleyball at the next level. Not many people can say they’re going to college for free and she can do that by excelling in volleyball.”