ST JOES WINS AT BLOOMFIELD

By Fred Siegle

BLOOMFIELD - It doesn't completely erase the sting of a 25-8 loss in the second game on Tuesday, but St. Joseph's 27-25 victory over Southern in the final at the Bloomfield Tournament on Saturday definitely helps.

"We played a lot better this time,'' setter Richie McCobb said. "We came together as a team and stuck it out until the end.''

"We know this really means nothing, its just one game and not a match, but they're still a great team and we won this time,'' said middle blocker Drew Colon, who provided the game-winning point with a solo block.

Southern seemed to have momentum in the back-and-fourth final when the Rams took a 23-22 lead on a serve by Nate Lee that hit the top of the net then trickled over for an ace. But Falcons' coach Miguel Cabrita called time out and the Falcons went back to the court and tied the game on a kill by Keith MacDonald.

After the team traded side outs twice, junior Kyle Ditmars ended a long rally with a powerful hit from the left side to end a long rally, then Colon registered his block against Southern senior right side Nolan King, who ran a play in the middle off serve receive.

"I knew Nolan runs middle in that rotation,'' Colon said. "It was basically a guess on my part on where he would be swinging. I won the lottery.''

Most of the St. Joes and Southern players have been friends for several years since they play on the same club teams in the offseason, and they enjoyed the chance to play each other in the final of the 18-team tournament. Both teams went undefeated in pool play (5-0), then beat the other top teams from the 3-pool event on their way to the final.

"It's a fun rivalry between us,'' Colon said. "It's obviously intense, both teams are playing at a high level. But when we play, there's a lot of smiles out there, too. It's fun to play them. There was a play where someone had a big hit and a player on the other team got hit, and I just looked over at Nolan, and we both just laughed.''

St. Joseph beat Bayonne, 25-19, and St. Peters, 25-19, in the playoff quarterfinals and semis. Southern beat Bridgewater-Raritan 25-19 in the quarterfinals and Old Bridge 25-19 in the semis.

The Falcons had a balanced offense throughout the day, with middle Paul Konopacki leading the way with 23 kills, 4 blocks and 4 aces. Ditmars had 19 kills, 5 aces and 14 digs, Colon contributed 19 kills, 2 aces and 20 digs, MacDonald had 17 kills, 5 aces and 22 digs, Eddie Rossiter had 10 kills, 5 aces and 20 digs, and libero Aidan Nemergut had 17 digs.