By Fred Siegle
JERSEY CITY - Last year wasn't a fluke.
That's what the players for Bayonne were determined to show when they met St. Peters Prep for the second straight year in the Hudson County Tournament final. The Bees had ended St. Peter's long reign as the top team in the county with an upset victory in 2006.
On Wednesday, Bayonne made it two in a row with a 25-17, 25-20 victory at St. Peters College.
"Last year, everybody thought it was a fluke, we just got lucky and had a good day,'' said Bayonne senior Justin Beaumont. "This proves it wasn't a fluke, we deserved to win.''
Beaumont finished with 13 kills, 5 digs and 5 blocks and was named Bayonne's MVP for the tournament. None of his kills was more important than his 13th, which came with the score tied 20-20 in the second game. Beaumont ended a long rally by putting away a back-row attack on the second touch after a dig by a teammate, choosing to hit instead of setting someone else. That made it 21-20, and and the Bees went on to score the next 4 points - a St. Peters error, a St. Peters net violation, a big kill by Coco Ostorga (3 kills, 2 digs), and a block by Pat Rujznica (5 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks).
"I just wanted to attack on that play, if we kept giving them free balls, they're a good team when they're passing well,'' Beaumont said. "I just wanted to be aggressive. We came into this match determined to be aggressive and to play good defense.''
Bayonne survived a scare midway through the second game when setter Mark Gacki (2 aces, 21 assists, 8 digs) cut his chin while diving in a save attempt. When he hit is chin on the floor, he reopened a cut that first occurred during the Livingston Tournament three weeks ago. Bayonne led 12-7 when Gacki left the game to get the injury taken care of, and the lead was down to 12-10 when he returned. The Bees had lost the game at Livingston when he was hurt.
"When that happened at Livingston, we broke down without Mark in the game,'' said middle blocker Danny Kochanski (4 kills, 2 blocks). "We knew we had to play harder with him out.''
Matt Whitford led St. Peters with 9 kills, while libero Kevin McNerney, who was named the Marauders' MVP, had 6 digs. Nick DeBenedictis had 4 kills and 3 digs, and setter Gil Estupinan had 16 assists.
"We just didn't pass at all,'' coach Don Guide said. "If we don't pass well, we can't win.''
Bayonne (26-4) took a 2-1 edge in their rivalry with St. Peters for 2007. The two teams could meet again in the North section final of the NJSIAA Tournament in two weeks, but both will have to win three matches before they get that chance. No. 1 seed St. Peters hosts No. 16 Wayne Valley, while No. 2 Bayonne hosts No. 15 Montclair in matches on Thursday.
"We played a lot better today (than their last meeting with St. Peters, which St. Peters won),'' Gacki said. "We know we have to come out strong against them. Hopefully, we'll keep playing well throughout the states.''
"We just have to concentrate on Wayne Valley right now,'' Guide said.
If both teams do make it to the North final, which will be played June 6 at South Brunswick High School, they'll be ready for each other.
"We know who their go-to guys are, we know what they like to do,'' Kochanski said. "We just had to put up a block and play defense. They know what we like to do, too.''
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