By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - At some point early in the season, St. Joseph's found it's "A'' game. And after that, the Falcons played at that level day after day, match after match, as the wins piled up.
On Thursday, the Falcons won their 43rd straight match, as they finished the season again playing their best, beating St. Peter's Prep 25-14, 25-18 to win the state championship.
"We knew as long as we brought our "A'' game, we'd do well,'' said setter Steve Brandenburg. "When we play like this, we're not getting beat.''
"We were really prepared for this,'' said senior right side hitter Marcin Midura, who finished with 11 kills and 10 digs. "Every aspect of the game, we were perfect.''
The Falcons took control right from the start, jumping out to a 9-1 lead in the first game. Senior middle blocker Paul Konopacki had three kills and two blocks during that stretch.
"We started really strong, everything was on,'' Midura said. "Our serves were strong, Paul was blocking, the defense and passing was very good, and Steve's sets were awesome.''
"We didn't want to get a start like EB (in their south section final win over East Brunswick, the Falcons had fallen behind by 6 points early in the first game), that would allow their fans to get into it,'' Brandenburg said.
Prior to the game, coach Miguel Cabrita had emphasized serving tough to his team as a key to victory. The Falcons did just that, forcing the Marauders out of their game and making it easier to stop the Marauders' top hitters, Miles McCann and Jake Blicharz.
"He (Cabrita) guaranteed us that if we served tough, it would start to wear them down, and it definitely worked,'' said senior libero Eddie Rossiter, who had 13 digs. "Their passing broke down, it forced them to give us free balls, which we converted. Everything clicked for us.''
The closest St. Peters was able to get in the first game was a 6-point deficit, 14-8.
"Our passing killed us,'' said Blicharz, who finished with 7 kills and 11 assists. "We knew coming in St. Joes would be tough, but we felt like we had a chance. We were well prepared, but I don't think we left it all on the court. I loved being here, but when you come this far and don't get the title, that's tough ... I'm not saying it wasn't worth it, but it was definitely disappointing.''
The Marauders were able to regroup and held a 6-3 lead in the second game. But kills by Midura, Konopacki, and Midura again gave the Falcons a 12-8 lead and St. Peters never got closer than 3 points.
"We had a little drop off at the start of the second game, but we got it back at around 10 points and then just kept going,'' Midura said.
Brandenburg finished with 23 assists and 6 digs, while Konopacki had 8 kills. Danny Vaccariello had 3 kills and Kyle Ditmars had 2, while Bobby O'Grady contributed 2 blocks.
The Falcons won 43 matches in a row after losing their first match of the season, on April 1, to arch-rival East Brunswick.
"That was a wakeup call for us,'' Rossiter said. "We didn't like how we played, and we got down on each other. But we talked about it afterward, and we promised each other it wouldn't happen again. It's been an amazing season, everybody on this team played up to their potential.''
"We worked hard for this all season,'' Midura said. "Everything we did wrong in that first match, we talked about it and tried to eliminate the mistakes. For us, it wasn't just about the skills, it was the mental part, also. That was our biggest challenge all season, the mental game.''
McCann had 8 kills and Al Yasneski had 4 kills and 4 digs for St. Peters, which finished with a 32-8 record. Jeremy Bonafe had 3 digs and 9 assists, while Ben Brenneis and Peter Jimenez had 2 kills each.
The Marauders repeated as NJSIAA North champions with a win over Vernon on Tuesday, and were in the state final for the second straight year.
"We have practically a whole new lineup, Jeremy is a first-year setter, I had never set before, everything was new for us this season,'' Blicharz said. "But we pulled together fast, we know we did well after losing all the seniors from last year.''
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
St. Joes rules South
By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Falling behind by 6 points once, and 7 points later, in the first game couldn't stop St. Josephs from winning its 42nd straight match and the NJSIAA South championship on Tuesday.
The Falcons trailed 8-2 and and 16-9 in the first game against East Brunswick, but came back to win 26-24. The second game was anti-climatic as the Bears made numerous errors and St. Joes won 25-18. They'll face NJSIAA North section winner St. Peter's Prep for the overall state championship on Thursday.
"That first game, that was exactly what this season has been about for our team,'' said libero Eddie Rossiter. "We were down 7 points, but not once did I think we were going to lose. We have so much faith in each other. Our passing wasn't there in the beginning, and they were fired up. But once we started passing, everything clicked.''
After setter Andy Balint's ace gave East Brunswick a 16-9 lead, the Falcons took control, with tough serves by Danny Vaccariello disrupting the Bears' offense. A service error made it 16-10, then Bobby O'Grady had a block. Three straight East Brunswick errors made it 16-14, then Marcin Midura had a kill to make it 16-15. East Brunswick finally sided out with a kill by Mike Kvidahl, but the Falcons had the momentum.
They took their first lead, 22-21, on a kill on a 10-ball by Midura. East Brunswick earned a game-point attempt after a kill by Kvidahl made it 24-23, but Midura's kill tied the score. An East Brunswick error made it 25-24 in favor of the Falcons, and Rossiter had a dig that Midura converted into a kill for the game-winner.
"We served tough, and their passing broke down,'' Rossiter said. "And Marcin was a monster in this match.''
East Brunswick had beaten St. Joes in the first match of the year, on April 1, for the Falcons' only loss.
"The way we started tonight, the same thing happened in the first match this year, they beat us because we had a rough stretch and we lost focus,'' said setter Steve Brandenburg. "We kind of turned on each other. This time, we knew we had what it takes to come back, and we just put it into action.''
The poor performance was a tough way to end the season for the Bears, who were the defending state champions.
"We were playing great, then we just lost the momentum,'' said senior Christian Portera. "I don't mind losing to them - they're a great team - but I still think we can play better than we did. We just lost this one ourselves.''
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Falling behind by 6 points once, and 7 points later, in the first game couldn't stop St. Josephs from winning its 42nd straight match and the NJSIAA South championship on Tuesday.
The Falcons trailed 8-2 and and 16-9 in the first game against East Brunswick, but came back to win 26-24. The second game was anti-climatic as the Bears made numerous errors and St. Joes won 25-18. They'll face NJSIAA North section winner St. Peter's Prep for the overall state championship on Thursday.
"That first game, that was exactly what this season has been about for our team,'' said libero Eddie Rossiter. "We were down 7 points, but not once did I think we were going to lose. We have so much faith in each other. Our passing wasn't there in the beginning, and they were fired up. But once we started passing, everything clicked.''
After setter Andy Balint's ace gave East Brunswick a 16-9 lead, the Falcons took control, with tough serves by Danny Vaccariello disrupting the Bears' offense. A service error made it 16-10, then Bobby O'Grady had a block. Three straight East Brunswick errors made it 16-14, then Marcin Midura had a kill to make it 16-15. East Brunswick finally sided out with a kill by Mike Kvidahl, but the Falcons had the momentum.
They took their first lead, 22-21, on a kill on a 10-ball by Midura. East Brunswick earned a game-point attempt after a kill by Kvidahl made it 24-23, but Midura's kill tied the score. An East Brunswick error made it 25-24 in favor of the Falcons, and Rossiter had a dig that Midura converted into a kill for the game-winner.
"We served tough, and their passing broke down,'' Rossiter said. "And Marcin was a monster in this match.''
East Brunswick had beaten St. Joes in the first match of the year, on April 1, for the Falcons' only loss.
"The way we started tonight, the same thing happened in the first match this year, they beat us because we had a rough stretch and we lost focus,'' said setter Steve Brandenburg. "We kind of turned on each other. This time, we knew we had what it takes to come back, and we just put it into action.''
The poor performance was a tough way to end the season for the Bears, who were the defending state champions.
"We were playing great, then we just lost the momentum,'' said senior Christian Portera. "I don't mind losing to them - they're a great team - but I still think we can play better than we did. We just lost this one ourselves.''
St. Peters wins North crown
By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - St. Peter's Prep is getting used to playing, and winning, at South Brunswick High School.
The Marauders repeated as NJSIAA North Section champions on Tuesday, beat Vernon 25-22, 25-19 in the championship game, and earning them a chance to win the overall state title when they face St. Josephs on Thursday.
"We weren't near as nervous as last year (when they beat Bayonne in the North final before losing to East Brunswick), one of our players threw up before that match,'' said senior Al Yasneski. "We didn't have anything like that this year. We spent the whole season getting ready for this game, and we were ready.''
"Having been in this game last year, that definitely helped tonight,'' said senior Jake Blicharz. "That's probably a part of why we won ... they (Vernon) were ready, but experience definitely matters. There's a big crowd, your season is on the line, and having already been through that helps. We had that.''
After the close first game, St. Peters went ahead 12-7 on a rotation call against Vernon in the second game, and the Vikings were never able to close the gap to under four. An ace by Austin Both got Vernon to 19-15, but after a timeout, Blicharz had a kill to make it 20-15. Yasneski teamed with middle Miles McCann for a block for the match winning point.
Blicharz finished with 8 kills, 16 assists, 4 digs, and 3 blocks, while McCann had 8 blocks, 6 kills and an ace. Yasneski contributed 8 kills and 4 digs, while Peter Jimenez had 3 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs and an ace and Jeremy Bonafe 11 assists and an ace.
"We were able to just pull it out tonight,'' Yasneski said. "The first game, their blocking was effecting us, but we pulled through. We neutralized (middle Tom) Burke pretty well for the whole match. And in the second game, our passing was good, so we were swinging.''
"The key for us was that we stuck together,'' Blicharz said. "There was no negativity on the court. I think if everybody stays positive, and we just take one point at a time, we have a chance against any team. Thursday's game is going to be tough, real tough, but we feel we have a chance.''
Kyle Washburn and Miles Eustace each had 6 kills for Vernon, which finished 26-2 and had earned it's first-ever spot in the final four by beating Bayonne last Friday. Burke had 4 kills and 2 blocks, and setter James Gibson had 2 kills and 15 assists.
"I have no complaints,'' coach Jeff DeYoung said. "We could have played a little better, our serve-receive was definitely off a little. There were 100 other teams that would have loved to have been here, but it was us.''
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - St. Peter's Prep is getting used to playing, and winning, at South Brunswick High School.
The Marauders repeated as NJSIAA North Section champions on Tuesday, beat Vernon 25-22, 25-19 in the championship game, and earning them a chance to win the overall state title when they face St. Josephs on Thursday.
"We weren't near as nervous as last year (when they beat Bayonne in the North final before losing to East Brunswick), one of our players threw up before that match,'' said senior Al Yasneski. "We didn't have anything like that this year. We spent the whole season getting ready for this game, and we were ready.''
"Having been in this game last year, that definitely helped tonight,'' said senior Jake Blicharz. "That's probably a part of why we won ... they (Vernon) were ready, but experience definitely matters. There's a big crowd, your season is on the line, and having already been through that helps. We had that.''
After the close first game, St. Peters went ahead 12-7 on a rotation call against Vernon in the second game, and the Vikings were never able to close the gap to under four. An ace by Austin Both got Vernon to 19-15, but after a timeout, Blicharz had a kill to make it 20-15. Yasneski teamed with middle Miles McCann for a block for the match winning point.
Blicharz finished with 8 kills, 16 assists, 4 digs, and 3 blocks, while McCann had 8 blocks, 6 kills and an ace. Yasneski contributed 8 kills and 4 digs, while Peter Jimenez had 3 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs and an ace and Jeremy Bonafe 11 assists and an ace.
"We were able to just pull it out tonight,'' Yasneski said. "The first game, their blocking was effecting us, but we pulled through. We neutralized (middle Tom) Burke pretty well for the whole match. And in the second game, our passing was good, so we were swinging.''
"The key for us was that we stuck together,'' Blicharz said. "There was no negativity on the court. I think if everybody stays positive, and we just take one point at a time, we have a chance against any team. Thursday's game is going to be tough, real tough, but we feel we have a chance.''
Kyle Washburn and Miles Eustace each had 6 kills for Vernon, which finished 26-2 and had earned it's first-ever spot in the final four by beating Bayonne last Friday. Burke had 4 kills and 2 blocks, and setter James Gibson had 2 kills and 15 assists.
"I have no complaints,'' coach Jeff DeYoung said. "We could have played a little better, our serve-receive was definitely off a little. There were 100 other teams that would have loved to have been here, but it was us.''