New Top 10

Aside from the shakeup at the top, not a lot of changes so far. The reasoning on 1, 2 and 3: It's one of those classic 3-way situations. In order: East Brunswick beat St. Josephs, St. Josephs beat Southern, Southern beat East Brunswick. So: St. Josephs has played the toughest schedule, and has the longest winning streak (the loss to East Brunswick was in the first match of the season). Since East Brunswick and Southern have lost more recently, the Falcons probably are playing better right now.

1. St. Josephs. The Falcons have already played teams 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the rankings.

2. Southern. Lefty right side player Dave Ambrose, a junior, provide some key blocks (6 in the match) as the Rams beat East Brunswick on Saturday. They play No. 8 CBA in the biggest Shore Conference match of the season on Monday.

3. East Brunswick. The Bears have settled into a lineup with senior Greg Zegarek and junior Rohan Patel as the middles (senior Alex Rigley isn't with the team - he didn't play or travel with the Bears against Hillsborough or Southern last week - at least for the foreseeable future).

4. St. Peters. The Marauders may have the state's most varied offense - seniors Jake Blicharz and Miles McCann have numerous play combinations they run - and if their passing is on, they'll be tough against anyone.

5. Bayonne. The Bees travel to St. Peters on Tuesday for the first of several big meetings in Hudson County.

6. Old Bridge. The Knights have lost to East Brunswick and St. Joes. They won the Hillsborough Tournament on Saturday.

7. Don Bosco. Bosco's losses are to St. Joes, Southern and Bayonne, and it's already had a key win over Clifton. They reached the semifinals before losing to St. Joes at the Bloomfield Tournament on Saturday.

8. CBA. The Colts visit Southern on Monday in the Shore Conference. They reached the semifinals at the Bloomfield Tournament on Saturday, losing 25-21 to St. Peters. Jon Rohan and Ryan Gelenitis had 3 kills each against the Marauders.

9. Wayne Hills. Hills lost to Livingston in the semifinals at the Clifton Tournament on Saturday.

10. Eastern. The Vikings have already beaten Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West and seem to be the top team in the Olympic Conference so far.

Teams to watch: Vernon (undefeated, with wins over Fair Lawn, Passaic Valley and Wayne Valley); West Windsor South (beat Moorestown, Hillsborough, and gave Cinnaminson its first loss on Friday); Livingston (beat Wayne Hills, Eastern in 1-game playoffs at Clifton Tournament); Passaic Valley (beat Fair Lawn in three games); Moorestown (I still think the Quakers will rebound from a tough start).

Thanks to coaches Sweeten (Cherry Hill West) and DeYoung (Vernon) for their helpful websites (http://www.njvb.com/hs/vernon/stateres.xls, and http://www.chlive.org/ssweeten/lionvb_standings.htm)

Edited on 4/14 to fix Livingston results at Clifton Tournament