Week Five Top 10

Powerzonevb.com Week Five Top 10

1. St. Josephs.
2. Southern
3. Old Bridge.
4. East Brunswick.
5. Fair Lawn.
6. CBA
7. Don Bosco
8. Lakeland
9. Eastern.
10. St. Peter’s Prep

1. St. Josephs (19-1). Preseason rank: 2. Week One: 1. Week Two: 1. Week Three: 1. Last week: 1. The Falcons went 4-0 at their Super Six, beating Southern, Bridgewater-Raritan, Fair Lawn and Cherry Hill East.

2. Southern (19-3). Preseason rank: 1. Week One: 6. Week Two: 6. Week Three: 6. Last week: 6. The Rams move closer to where they started the season after a super showing at the Super Six Showcase on April 29. They beat Old Bridge, Fair Lawn, and Cherry Hill East there, and lost a close one to No. 1 St. Joes.

3. Old Bridge (14-3). Preseason rank: 6. Week One: 5. Week Two: 5. Week Three: 5. Last week: 2. Libero Scott Behnke had 13 digs and middle Lance Rogers registered 7 blocks in a 25-23, 25-14 win over J.P. Stevens on Wednesday. Rise to the top was thwarted a bit with a loss to Southern at the Super Six Showcase on April 29.

4. East Brunswick (14-2). Preseason rank: 3. Week One: 2. Week Two: 2. Week Three: 2. Last week: 3. Southern’s win over Old Bridge knocks the Bears down another spot, but they could move to the top on Monday with a victory at St. Joes, which beat them earlier in the season. Won three matches at the Eastern quad on April 29.

5. Fair Lawn (14-3). Preseason rank: 5. Week One: 3. Week Two: 3. Week Three: 3. Last week: 4. Had a tough day at the Super Six, but rebounded Tuesday with an emotional victory over Clifton. Setter Jon Bashon knows where to go when he’s in trouble – leftside Vlad Livshits had 21 kills against Clifton. “Vlad’s our leader,’’ Bashon said.

6. CBA (9-6). Preseason rank: 9. Week One: 10. Week Two: 10. Week Three: 9. Last week: 9. The Colts have slipped a little with middle Steve Santangelo out with an ankle injury, but all the losses except a week-one three setter against Williamstown have come against ranked teams. Most recent loss was Thursday against No. 3 Old Bridge.

7. Don Bosco Prep (12-0). Preseason rank: unranked. Week One: unranked. Week Two: unranked. Week Three: 10. Last week: 10. The Ironmen continued to cruise with a 25-11, 25-14 win over Belleview on Wednesday. Setter Matt Oczkowski had 6 blocks in the win.

8. Lakeland (11-2). Preseason rank: unranked (teams to watch). Week One: unranked. Week Two: unranked. Week Three: unranked. Last week: unranked. The Lancers are on a 9-match winning streak, including a victory over Wayne Valley, which beat them in the first week of the season. They play Wayne Hills in a Passaic County Tournament match on Monday.

9. Eastern (14-3). Preseason rank: 7. Week One: 4. Week Two: 4. Week Three: 4. Last week: 5. The Vikings had a tough quad on April 29, losing to Clifton and East Brunswick. They did beat Livingston, however.

10. St. Peter’s Prep (14-2). Preseason rank: Not ranked (teams to watch). Week One: 9. Week Two 9. Week Three: 8. Last week 8. The Marauders slip a bit because of Eastern’s drop. They lost to Eastern the first day of the season, but continue to roll along in Hudson County matches.

Teams to watch: Clifton (loss to Passaic is holding them back); Williamstown (slips out of the top 10 after losing to Clearview on Friday, and also falls some because of Eastern’s drop); Bloomfield (cruised to 25-13, 25-13 win over Hackensack on Thursday); West Windsor South (improved to 9-4 with a win over Bridgewater on Thursday); North Bergen (15-3, with losses to St. Joes and St. Peter’s).

NOTES
SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT: One of the few tournaments where the playoffs count against teams records (they’ll play actual 2 of 3 matches starting with the quarterfinals) takes place at Southern on Saturday.
Old Bridge, West Windsor South, Collingswood, and a second team from Southern will be in one pool, while Southern, Williamstown, West Windsor North, and Washington Township will be in the second.
Crossover playoffs should start around 2:15 p.m., with the second-and-third place teams from the opposite pools facing each other. The winners of those matches will face the first-place teams from the pools in the semifinals, with the winners then meeting for the championship. “The teams are going to get a lot of volleyball,’’ Southern coach Eric Maxwell said.

TOUGH CUT: With the cutoff looming for qualification into the state tournament (teams must have a .500 or better record after games played on Tuesday, May 16), there are a number of teams that will be fighting for playoff berths.
Tops among them: Last year’s state tournament winner, Bridgewater-Raritan. The Panthers’ loss to East Brunswick on Friday dropped their record to 8-9. They have four matches remaining (vs. Hillsborough on Tuesday, at CBA on Thursday, then against Livingston on Monday, May 14, and against Watchung Hills on the cutoff day.

The Panthers will have to go 3-1 in those four matches to earn a chance to defend their title. “We’ve got some winning to do,’’ coach Corey Romanak said. “It’s pretty simple, we can’t lose twice.’’
Bridgewater has played the last week without junior Chris Metzger, the team’s second option after Chris Allen. Metzger has bronchitis and Romanak is hoping he’ll return in time for the match with CBA
Fred Siegle is the communications editor and reporter for powerzonevb.com. <fsiegle@powerzonevb.com>