By Fred Siegle
EAST BRUNSWICK - If East Brunswick's volleyball players had their choice, they'd have played Southern in the final at the Bears Invitational.
They wanted a rematch with the Rams, who had beaten them in a 3-game match two weeks ago. But CBA had it's own issues to take up with Southern after its own loss to the Rams at Southern. So, after the Colts beat Southern in a one-game semifinal, East Brunswick had to refocus on a different opponent. The Bears did, earning a 25-19, 25-18 victory in the final.
"We definitely wanted to play Southern, not that we were disappointed to play CBA,'' said East Brunswick right side hitter Mike Kvidahl, who had 8 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces in the final. "We just wanted another chance at Southern, to show how good we really are.''
East Brunswick's only match loss this year was to Southern, No. 2 in the PowerZonevb.com state rankings. East Brunswick is No. 3, while CBA is No. 8. The rankings could change when a new Top 10 is announced this week based on the results of the past two weeks.
Christian Portera had 5 kills and Rohan Patel had 3 kills and 3 blocks for the Bears, who emerged from the 6-team pool play portion of the tournament as the top seed for the playoffs.
It was a pool-play match against Southern that started East Brunswick on its roll toward the title.
"We got pumped up for the Southern games and that just carried through the playoffs and into the final,'' Kvidahl said.
East Brunswick beat Hillsborough in the semifinals after Hillsborough had won a one-game quarterfinal match against Old Bridge.
Middle Jon Rohan had 8 kills and 2 blocks for CBA in the match against East Brunswick, while Neil Slattery had 6 kills.
CBA finished second in pool play and beat Southern 25-22 in the semis, with libero Matt Coccaro leading the way with several aces and some big defensive plays. Southern was the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and beat No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan in the quarterfinals.
CBA and Southern split two games in pool play.
"We have a big rivalry with Southern, it's a lot of fun to play them,'' Coccaro said. "Our goal coming in to this tournament was to beat Southern.''
The Colts feel they've rebounded from a three-game loss to unranked Colts Neck earlier in the week.
"We're not going to let it (the loss) get to us,'' Coccaro said. "We'll just go out and play our best each time.''
"This was a great experience for us, getting to play East Brunswick, they're one of the best teams in the state,'' CBA setter Corey Fallon said. "We really played well in the playoffs. Beating Southern was big for us.''
IN OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY
St. Josephs, No. 1 in the state rankings, won the title at the 20-team Quakertown Invitational in Pennsylvania.
The Falcons went undefeated in pool play, then continued their winning ways through the playoffs, which included match wins in the semifinals and final.
St. Peter's Prep, No. 4 in the rankings, won the 15-team Livingston Tournament, beating Eastern in a one-game final.
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