VICENZA, Italy – The Vicenza girls volleyball team needed to step up for the Cougars to reclaim the DODEA-Europe Division II volleyball title.

Coach John Kohut and the Cougars asserted that multiple players did exactly that during the season that ended with a European championship Saturday. But no one did so as much as sophomore Alessandra Macy.

“For sure,” Kohut said after watching his team sweep a stubborn American Overseas School of Rome squad 25-18, 27-25, 25-18 in the final. “You’ve got to be able to match up with the other team’s top hitter.”

Macy, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, had 16 kills and five blocks and also added eight digs and a pair of aces against the Falcons.

“Last year, I was a freshman and just kind of feeling my way,” she said. “But I’m not someone who feels that I’ve become good enough and am happy with that. I’ve always wanted to be better.

“I definitely think my hitting has gotten better this year, and because of that, so has my confidence.”

Kohut said coaching and practice doesn’t hurt either. Macy plays Italian volleyball when it doesn’t conflict with the Cougars’ practice or game schedules.

“She’s got good coaching from Italians and me, with 47 years of experience,” he said, smiling.

Her teammates have noticed.

“She’s improved so much this year,” said Isabell Green, one of numerous Cougars asked to take on multiple roles on the court. In her case, that involves being the middle blocker and one of the team’s two primary setters. “She’s someone I turn to when it gets tight and we need a point.”

It did get tight Saturday against the Falcons, who endured a five-set victory over defending champion Black Forest Academy in a morning semifinal delayed by play running behind schedule Friday.

Especially in the second set, when AOSR rallied from down 24-21 by scoring three straight points. Both fan bases were alternatively nervous and ecstatic during a series of points back-and-forth that ended with a Green block falling onto the AOSR side of the court.

The Falcons didn’t get as close in the third set as Vicenza reclaimed the title it won in 2024 and lost a year ago.

“We’ve worked so hard for this, so I think we deserve it,” Green said.

Falcons coach Claudio Olivieri said he thought his team could have played better in certain aspects.

But “at the start of the season, I couldn’t have imagined we’d be playing in the finals,” he said. “So that’s good. But when you get to the championship, you want to do better.”

Gloria Olivieri was named tournament MVP and teammate Carolina Poddighe was named all-tournament. Macy and teammate Emily Bell also made the team along with BFA’s Priscilla Sivonen and Esther Lee, Aviano’s Koda Roush, Naples’ Guliyana Pablo and Rota’s Jeanice Desilva.