Sayville Community Pays Tribute To Former Grad Madison Mergl

SAYVILLE, NY — A year after the tragic death of Sayville grad Madison Mergl, the local volleyball team honored her in a touching moment during a recent game.

Last March, Mergl, who was attending the University of Mount Olive at the time, was among three college students who died in a car crash in North Carolina.

The Sayville volleyball team paid tribute to the former student-athlete in a special ceremony during a game last Monday. During the event, Coach Deb Urso gave a touching speech that was live-streamed to the spectators watching across the country.

Read a portion of Urso's speech below:

"This moment is a dedication to a very special young woman, our Number 1, Madison Mergl. She touched the lives of so many. For those of you that don’t know Maddy, I am hoping to give you just a glimpse of who she was, and how much she has done for so many. Maddy had been around our volleyball program since she was a very little girl watching her older sister, Kayla, play the game. She played in the program for six years, five of which she played on Varsity. Maddy graduated Sayville High School in 2019. She was an incredible athlete who could have played any sport she chose, but her passion was volleyball and lacrosse. The entire Sayville Volleyball team along with Coach Jim McLoughlin and members of Maddy’s family (her parents Joanie and Dave, her brother and sister Lucas and Kayla, and her grandparents Joan and Frank Mergl), Coach Sznitken, and his four Senior Lacrosse Captains stood in silence on the court, as Coach Urso continued her speech. Maddy was a setter, in my opinion, one of the hardest positions on the court. She was the middle man, the player responsible to right a bad pass and put up a great set that made her hitters/team successful. Knowing Maddy, there was no better position for her to play (although over her career she played them all). Her position on the court was parallel to the position she played as our Captain. She lived her life like a setter. She would help make people’s wrong a right, with a challenge, a smile, a joke, or even just a Maddy expression. She helped them right their wrong by inspiring them to work hard along with her. Each person she touched she would make them determined to be better. She would help make you see what you were capable of. Many coaches we played against reached out to me and said she was a coach's dream, she was like family, she always brought her energy to every match. I can still see her on the court after dumping the ball to four or setting up a hitter for an amazing kill, rocking her hands in a swaying, cheering ‘I got you motion.’ You would maybe get a wink, but definitely a proud look as she looked over her shoulder at you. I love that girl. Maddy embodied everything a coach could ever want in an athlete. She has changed the face of Sayville Volleyball. Many of these girls are here on this court because of her. Many of these girls here and watching at home were her teammates, and even her competitors and her friends."

In 2019, Mergl received the Marinus Buyes award, the highest honor given to the most outstanding athlete of the senior class (male or female). In that spirit, Urso announced during the event that Sayville High School has created the Madison Mergl My Captain Award, which will be given to an outstanding female athlete who displays all the qualities that Mergl possessed.

Mergl's family, which includes her parents Joanie and Dave, her brother and sister Lucas and Kayla, and her grandparents Joan and Frank Mergl, were in attendance during the tribute. That night Urso also announced that the family created the My Captain Scholarship in her name.

Mergl's jersey, Number 1, was then retired and presented to the family. A replica of her jersey was cut out, painted, and hung up on the high school gym wall.

"We are all blessed to know Maddy and now so will everyone else. In years to come, young girls and boys who may not have had the honor of knowing her or playing with her can see this and be inspired," Urso said. "Her legacy will live on in all of us. No one will ever wear this number again. No matter where I go she will forever be our number one, forever our Captain."