Volleyball to Highlight Partnership With Smalley Elementary Friday

The Central Connecticut volleyball program will highlight their longstanding partnership with New Britain's Smalley Elementary School in a pregame presentation on Friday night. The Blue Devils have worked with the elementary school for nearly eight years, visiting classrooms and collecting supplies.

"It's a win-win, because they often thank us, but I thank [them] because our student-athletes get just as much out of it as their students and teachers," said CCSU head coach Linda Sagnelli. "It's about helping children and the players and the parents in our program have been instrumental in the success of this pencil and paper drive."

Sagnelli and her program along with principal Andrea Foligno have formed a partnership they refer to as the Blue Devils and Bees Partners in Education. The Blue Devils visit the school throughout the school year and go into the fourth and fifth grade classrooms to meet the students and teachers and assist in various ways.

This year, Sagnelli's team collected pencils and paper to give to the students and teachers at Smalley. To date, almost 14,500 pencils and nearly 60,000 sheets of paper, or 120 reams of paper, have been collected and will be presented to Foligno and teachers from Smalley on Friday night.

CCSU will play Saint Francis U on Friday in a 5:00 p.m. match.