East Brunswick reaches Final Four

By Fred Siegle

EAST BRUNSWICK - The defending state champions are back in the Final Four.

No. 2 seed East Brunswick beat No. 3 Southern, 26-24, 25-19 on Friday in the NJSIAA Central South section semifinals to earn a spot in the Final Four at South Brunswick High School next Tuesday. They'll play No. 1 seed St. Joseph's in the South/Central final, while North top seed St. Peters plays No. 3 Vernon in the other match.

The Bears were at their best in earning their way to the Final Four.

"This was our best game all year,'' said senior outside hitter Greg Zegarek. "They pushed us, and we answered. We're excited to get another chance to play St. Joes on Tuesday.''

Southern had leads in both games, going up by three points three different times, 13-10, 14-11, and 19-16, in the first game. But when the Rams had a swing with a chance to go up 20-16, Brian Murphy and Rohan Patel combined for a block to get East Brunswick the point. The Bears later tied it at 21-21 on a combined block by Christian Portera and Mike Kvidahl.

Zegarek had a dig that Portera converted into a point with a kill to give East Brunswick a 22-21 lead, then Portera had a block to make it 23-21. The game ended on a combined block by Patel and Murphy.

"Christian and Rohan dominated the middle,'' Zegarek said. "Our defense, with Ryan (Norland) at libero and us getting digs, and with the blocking, was very good. In this match, we were able to supplement our offense, which is always good, with strong defense.''

Southern's Rob Kraft went on a blocking run for 4 straight points early in the first game, giving the Rams a 10-6 lead. But East Brunswick battled right back with a kill by Kvidahl, an error by Southern, and a combined block by Patel and Kvidahl.

After a kill by Eric Sharkey tied the score at 16-16, East Brunswick took the lead for good on a kill by Portera and a block by Zegarek and Portera. After Ken Connolly blasted the ball through a triple block for Southern's last point (23-19), Zegarek made a diving save that was converted into a kill by Kvidahl for the 24th point, and setter Andy Balint served an ace to end the match.

"They (East Brunswick) played a great game,'' Southern coach Eric Maxwell said. "They kept some balls alive where I was sure they'd hit the floor. We had some leads in both games, but they were able to stop us from going on scoring streaks.''

East Brunswick had shifted its lineup before the the match, moving Murphy to right side and Kvidahl to left, and the players felt it contributed to the strong effort.

"It's like fitting together the pieces of a puzzle, and I think we've got it together now,'' Murphy said. "We have all these good players, we just have to arrange everyone the right way. My defense is just naturally best from right side, and we can get the ball to Mike easier with him on the left.''

Kvidahl finished with 13 kills and Portera had 9 for the Bears and Zegarek had 4 kills and 10 digs. James Mancini and Sharkey each had 5 kills for Southern.

"I love playing Southern,'' Zegarek said. "They bring a lot of fans to the games, they're a tough team to play. In both games, we were down by a few points, and we were able to fight back.''

"I'm disappointed, but not angry,'' Maxwell said. "I guess their best game is a little better then our best game. They were ready today. The credit goes to them for being ready to play their best.''