Lakeland High School won the Gold Division title and Hackettstown won the Silver Division crown in the Summer Girls High School League at the PowerZone Volleyball Center in Denville.
Molly McCarthy, who had 7 kills, 10 digs, and 4 aces, was named the Gold Division MVP after helping lead the Lancers to a 25-16, 24-26, 25-19 victory over Randolph in the final. The Lancers beat Hanover Park 25-13, 25-10 in the semifinals.
McCarthy had 3 aces to finish Lakeland's first-game victory over Randolph, then had 4 digs and 5 kills in the Game 3 win. Alex Mendoza led the Lancers with 11 kills in the three games, and also contributed 3 digs, 2 aces and a block to the victory. Krista Constantine had six kills, 3 digs, 2 aces and 2 blocks, while Emily Spirko had 3 kills, 3 digs, and 3 aces.
Vicki Jones had 9 kills, 4 digs, an ace and 2 blocks to lead Randolph, which had earned the top seed in the Gold playoffs with victories over Lakeland (25-23, 29-27) and Hanover Park (25-16, 25-17) in the seeding round.
Jen Ginnini and Kelsey Wolters were the co-MVPs for Hackettstown I, which beat Solomon Schecter 23-25, 25-23, 15-7 in the Silver Division final. Hackettstown I beat Hackettstown II 25-19, 25-23 in the Silver Division semifinals.
Solomon Schecter had earned the Silver Division's top seed with victories over Hackettstown I (25-23, 7-25, 15-7) and Hackettstown II (25-23, 25-16) in the seeding round.
Lakeland won the regular-season title with a 28-2 record, while Randolph was second with a 20-10 mark. Hanover Park finished 12-18, Solomon Schecter was 11-19, Hackettstown II was 11-19, and Hackettstown I was 8-22 during the regular season.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
EAST BRUNSWICK REIGNS
By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - East Brunswick's seniors all had their moments last night as the Bears beat St. Peters 25-21, 25-22 to win the state title on Friday.
It wasn't just regular starters Eric Corpus, Travis Heilman, Kyle Barry, John McLaughlin, Dan Korten and Sameer Sood. Coach Greg Rutz was able to give his seniors off the bench - Julian Millan and Brian Gieser - a chance to play in the championship match.
"I'm glad all my friends who've been my teammates since freshman year got to play in the state final,'' said Corpus (3 kills, 10 digs). "When we were freshmen, we all talked about winning the title when we became seniors.''
"It was good to get everyone in,'' Barry said. "Everyone on our team is a good player, but we have so many good players that some people didn't always get a chance in our matches all season. For them to be able to play that much tonight, it was great.''
Heilman led the offense with 12 kills, while junior Christian Portera, who became a key player for the Bears as a front-row substitute for Sood during the playoff run, had 6 kills and 3 blocks. Portera also had the match-winning kill after the Bears (29-2) had missed two chances at match point. With East Brunswick leading 24-20, Heilman and middle Alex Rigley (4 kills) both had errors - Heilman hit wide and Rigley hit long - before outside hitter Portera put the game away off a set from Barry (29 assists).
"Obviously, I'm going to go to Travis first in that situation, he's our most dominating hitter,'' Barry said. "But I set him too far in and he had to hit on too much of an angle. Then I set Alex too high and he waffled it. Then I went to Christian, and thankfully he put it down. It was nerve-wracking at the end of that game, I was definitely nervous, I didn't want to go three games.''
"I just hit it like I always hit it,'' said Portera, who had played middle, sharing time with Rigley, prior to the state tournament. "Kyle had set Travis and Alex the two previous plays, so I was pretty sure he was going to set me on that one.''
Even with the errors, Corpus knew the end was inevitable.
"We had a nice passing rhythm,'' he said. "We had three perfect passes, it was bound to happen.''
Matt Whitford led St. Peters with 11 kills, while middles Miles McCann and Nick DeBenedictis each had four. Al Yasneski had 7 digs and libero Kevin McNerney had 11 digs.
It was the Marauders' defense that kept them in the games.
"We played our hearts out,'' Whitford said. "We watched film of their win over Southern on Wednesday, so we knew what was coming. We wanted to put up a good block but we didn't get a lot. But we also were able to position our defense in the right spots.''
East Brunswick won its sixth title, and first since 2004. St. Peters (31-8) had beaten Hudson County rival Bayonne in the NJSIAA north final on Wednesday to earn the school's first state final appearance.
"Our main goal was winning the north championship,'' Whitford said. "We went into this game just trying to do our best, have some fun, and if we won, great. We wanted to start out strong and see what we could do.''
It was in that 2004 championship that Rutz set the precedent that he would play all his seniors in state championship matches. That year, Saif Kawash made a contribution off the bench in the Bears' victory over Fair Lawn.
"I discussed it with (assistant) coach (Anthony) Alexander, that I wanted all the seniors to play,'' Rutz said. "In 2004, all the seniors played regularly except one (Kawash), and when we got to the final, we put him in and he got a big block, and also made a defensive play that we converted for a point. Those kids all worked hard all year, they deserve to play too. This is something I plan to keep trying to do - unless there's a time when we have like 12 seniors.''
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - East Brunswick's seniors all had their moments last night as the Bears beat St. Peters 25-21, 25-22 to win the state title on Friday.
It wasn't just regular starters Eric Corpus, Travis Heilman, Kyle Barry, John McLaughlin, Dan Korten and Sameer Sood. Coach Greg Rutz was able to give his seniors off the bench - Julian Millan and Brian Gieser - a chance to play in the championship match.
"I'm glad all my friends who've been my teammates since freshman year got to play in the state final,'' said Corpus (3 kills, 10 digs). "When we were freshmen, we all talked about winning the title when we became seniors.''
"It was good to get everyone in,'' Barry said. "Everyone on our team is a good player, but we have so many good players that some people didn't always get a chance in our matches all season. For them to be able to play that much tonight, it was great.''
Heilman led the offense with 12 kills, while junior Christian Portera, who became a key player for the Bears as a front-row substitute for Sood during the playoff run, had 6 kills and 3 blocks. Portera also had the match-winning kill after the Bears (29-2) had missed two chances at match point. With East Brunswick leading 24-20, Heilman and middle Alex Rigley (4 kills) both had errors - Heilman hit wide and Rigley hit long - before outside hitter Portera put the game away off a set from Barry (29 assists).
"Obviously, I'm going to go to Travis first in that situation, he's our most dominating hitter,'' Barry said. "But I set him too far in and he had to hit on too much of an angle. Then I set Alex too high and he waffled it. Then I went to Christian, and thankfully he put it down. It was nerve-wracking at the end of that game, I was definitely nervous, I didn't want to go three games.''
"I just hit it like I always hit it,'' said Portera, who had played middle, sharing time with Rigley, prior to the state tournament. "Kyle had set Travis and Alex the two previous plays, so I was pretty sure he was going to set me on that one.''
Even with the errors, Corpus knew the end was inevitable.
"We had a nice passing rhythm,'' he said. "We had three perfect passes, it was bound to happen.''
Matt Whitford led St. Peters with 11 kills, while middles Miles McCann and Nick DeBenedictis each had four. Al Yasneski had 7 digs and libero Kevin McNerney had 11 digs.
It was the Marauders' defense that kept them in the games.
"We played our hearts out,'' Whitford said. "We watched film of their win over Southern on Wednesday, so we knew what was coming. We wanted to put up a good block but we didn't get a lot. But we also were able to position our defense in the right spots.''
East Brunswick won its sixth title, and first since 2004. St. Peters (31-8) had beaten Hudson County rival Bayonne in the NJSIAA north final on Wednesday to earn the school's first state final appearance.
"Our main goal was winning the north championship,'' Whitford said. "We went into this game just trying to do our best, have some fun, and if we won, great. We wanted to start out strong and see what we could do.''
It was in that 2004 championship that Rutz set the precedent that he would play all his seniors in state championship matches. That year, Saif Kawash made a contribution off the bench in the Bears' victory over Fair Lawn.
"I discussed it with (assistant) coach (Anthony) Alexander, that I wanted all the seniors to play,'' Rutz said. "In 2004, all the seniors played regularly except one (Kawash), and when we got to the final, we put him in and he got a big block, and also made a defensive play that we converted for a point. Those kids all worked hard all year, they deserve to play too. This is something I plan to keep trying to do - unless there's a time when we have like 12 seniors.''
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
East Brunswick tops Southern
By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - East Brunswick and Southern were going point-for-point, hit-for-hit, block-for-block, dig-for-dig and even error-for-error in the second game of the NJSIAA South/Central championship match. Finally, the Bears' Eric Corpus came up with the big play to top all the other big plays and finish off his team's 25-19, 31-29 victory.
When Southern middle Bryan Batiste tried to tip past a double block by East Brunswick middle Alex Rigley and Corpus, a play that probably works 90 percent of the time, Corpus didn't let it happen, pushing the ball back across the net and to the floor for the winning point.
"I think adrenalin just got me up a couple extra inches, and I just hung there as long as I could and got it down,'' Corpus said. "They had game point against us a couple times, but we were still really confident. I don't think the idea of losing ever crossed our minds.''
The victory over Southern, which was 40-0 and had beaten the Bears twice this year, erased all memories of those losses, and also enabled East Brunswick to get past the point their season had ended each of the previous two years - one match before the state final.
''I just kept saying to myself, 'I'm not losing three years in a row in the state semifinals,'' said senior Travis Heilman.
"The past two years, all I've wanted was to get the chance to play in the state final,'' Corpus said. "The last three days, that's all I had in my mind.''
East Brunswick had to battle back from a 22-19 deficit in the second game. Two straight Southern errors and then a kill by Corpus tied the score, and after a Southern timeout, Corpus put the Bears (29-2) ahead with a kill on an overpass. Southern had two game-point chances at the end of the game, while East Brunswick had four chances before Corpus made the game-ending play.
"I was starting to think it might never end,'' Corpus said. "It didn't seem like either team could make a play to win.''
"It was a great game, Southern played great, they really battled us,'' Heilman said. "It was real tense at the end.''
"Momentum kept swinging back and forth in the second game,'' said East Brunswick setter Kyle Barry. "But we stayed focused throughout the match, and then Eric came up with that big block.''
"We were one play away from being in a third game,'' Southern coach Eric Maxwell said. "That game was made up of a lot of little plays, if just one of them had come out a little different, we'd still be playing out there (in a third game).''
East Brunswick had come out strong in the first game, with junior Christian Portera providing a big spark. He hadn't played left side in the Bears' two losses to Southern, but played that spot in the front row and had some important blocks and big kills.
"Christian really stepped up and made a big difference,'' Heilman said. "Especially blocking.''
Player-for-player, the Bears are smaller than Southern, but they out-blocked their opponents in the match.
Instead of basic 1-balls in the middle, Rigley and John McLaughlin ran more back slides and 1-aways.
"We tried to move the ball around more, especially with our middles so they couldn't block us as easily,'' Barry said.
"Blocking was a big part of it,'' said Southern's Jeff Elsasser. "They definitely out-blocked us, which is a surprise when you look at the lineups. They came out today and made the right plays and played the right people at the right times. They deserved it.''
While East Brunswick moves into the the state final against North winner St. Peters Prep on Friday, Southern finished with a state record 40 victories while playing a tough schedule that included multiple matches against most of the other top teams in the state.
"Winning 40 in a row against the competition we faced, it's probably the greatest run in the history of the state,'' Maxwell said.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - East Brunswick and Southern were going point-for-point, hit-for-hit, block-for-block, dig-for-dig and even error-for-error in the second game of the NJSIAA South/Central championship match. Finally, the Bears' Eric Corpus came up with the big play to top all the other big plays and finish off his team's 25-19, 31-29 victory.
When Southern middle Bryan Batiste tried to tip past a double block by East Brunswick middle Alex Rigley and Corpus, a play that probably works 90 percent of the time, Corpus didn't let it happen, pushing the ball back across the net and to the floor for the winning point.
"I think adrenalin just got me up a couple extra inches, and I just hung there as long as I could and got it down,'' Corpus said. "They had game point against us a couple times, but we were still really confident. I don't think the idea of losing ever crossed our minds.''
The victory over Southern, which was 40-0 and had beaten the Bears twice this year, erased all memories of those losses, and also enabled East Brunswick to get past the point their season had ended each of the previous two years - one match before the state final.
''I just kept saying to myself, 'I'm not losing three years in a row in the state semifinals,'' said senior Travis Heilman.
"The past two years, all I've wanted was to get the chance to play in the state final,'' Corpus said. "The last three days, that's all I had in my mind.''
East Brunswick had to battle back from a 22-19 deficit in the second game. Two straight Southern errors and then a kill by Corpus tied the score, and after a Southern timeout, Corpus put the Bears (29-2) ahead with a kill on an overpass. Southern had two game-point chances at the end of the game, while East Brunswick had four chances before Corpus made the game-ending play.
"I was starting to think it might never end,'' Corpus said. "It didn't seem like either team could make a play to win.''
"It was a great game, Southern played great, they really battled us,'' Heilman said. "It was real tense at the end.''
"Momentum kept swinging back and forth in the second game,'' said East Brunswick setter Kyle Barry. "But we stayed focused throughout the match, and then Eric came up with that big block.''
"We were one play away from being in a third game,'' Southern coach Eric Maxwell said. "That game was made up of a lot of little plays, if just one of them had come out a little different, we'd still be playing out there (in a third game).''
East Brunswick had come out strong in the first game, with junior Christian Portera providing a big spark. He hadn't played left side in the Bears' two losses to Southern, but played that spot in the front row and had some important blocks and big kills.
"Christian really stepped up and made a big difference,'' Heilman said. "Especially blocking.''
Player-for-player, the Bears are smaller than Southern, but they out-blocked their opponents in the match.
Instead of basic 1-balls in the middle, Rigley and John McLaughlin ran more back slides and 1-aways.
"We tried to move the ball around more, especially with our middles so they couldn't block us as easily,'' Barry said.
"Blocking was a big part of it,'' said Southern's Jeff Elsasser. "They definitely out-blocked us, which is a surprise when you look at the lineups. They came out today and made the right plays and played the right people at the right times. They deserved it.''
While East Brunswick moves into the the state final against North winner St. Peters Prep on Friday, Southern finished with a state record 40 victories while playing a tough schedule that included multiple matches against most of the other top teams in the state.
"Winning 40 in a row against the competition we faced, it's probably the greatest run in the history of the state,'' Maxwell said.
St. Peters wins North
By Fred Siegle
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - St. Peters' seniors crammed most of their final-year highlights into one day.
The Marauders won the NJSIAA North section championship, beating Hudson County rival Bayonne 25-17, 25-20 in a match that started at 5 p.m. Wednesday at South Brunswick High School. Then the seniors rushed back to their school in Jersey City for their high school graduation at 8 p.m.
"That's a pretty nice cap to our senior year, doing all this in one day is great,'' said senior Matt Whitford, who finished with 7 kills, 3 blocks and an ace.
It was aggressive serving that helped St. Peters get an edge over the Bees to even their record at 2-2 in matches against Bayonne. The Marauders advance to the state championship match against East Brunswick on Friday at South Brunswick.
While Whitford had just the one ace, his jump serve kept Bayonne's offense at bay. He had a streak of four service points in the first game, and also served two points in the second. And it was a nice counterpoint to the rest of the Marauders' float serves.
"We knew we had to step up our serving to beat them,'' Whitford said. "We've been working on it for the past couple weeks.''
"We had our floats working well,'' said setter Gil Estupinan, who had 2 kills, 15 assists and an ace. "And Matt was on with his jump serve.''
The Marauders also changed up their offense and blocking schemes from their previous meeting with Bayonne, a loss in the county final. Outside hitter Jerry Santer led the team with 8 kills, while middles Nick DeBenedictis and Miles McCann each had 4 kills each. But those were mostly on 1 balls, rather than the back slides they had run effectively in the past.
"We watched tape of the previous games, and saw that 75 percent of the time, their middles stayed with our middles,'' Estupinan said. "So we tried to set away from that so they'd only have one blocker.''
Bayonne meanwhile, had probably its worst offensive day. Middle Danny Kochanski had 6 kills and a block, while Justin Beaumont had 4 kills and 7 digs. Coco Ostorga had 2 kills and four digs, Pat Rujznica had 2 kills, 3 digs and 2 blocks, and Krzyzstof Bogdan had 4 kills, 2 digs and 1 block.
The Bees, who finish with a 30-5 record, had a particularly rough first game, with 10 hitting errors.
"Everything we did, Prep had an answer for it,'' Bees' coach Pat Longo said. "We're disappointed, but we also had a fabulous year, I'm very proud of these kids. Nobody thought we'd be here. We had a great run.''
After the flurry of errors in the first game, Bayonne settled down a bit in the second and trailed 21-20 before the Marauders finished with a flurry. DeBenedictis had a kill, Peter Jimenez had an ace, Whitford had a kill after a dig by Jimenez, and DeBenedictis closed out the win with a block in the middle.
Prep now gets set to face East Brunswick, which handed Southern Regional its first loss of the season in the South/Central final that followed their victory, which the St. Peters' seniors weren't able to watch because they were on their way to graduation.
"We just have to get ready for Southern or East Brunswick now,'' Estupinan said before leaving.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - St. Peters' seniors crammed most of their final-year highlights into one day.
The Marauders won the NJSIAA North section championship, beating Hudson County rival Bayonne 25-17, 25-20 in a match that started at 5 p.m. Wednesday at South Brunswick High School. Then the seniors rushed back to their school in Jersey City for their high school graduation at 8 p.m.
"That's a pretty nice cap to our senior year, doing all this in one day is great,'' said senior Matt Whitford, who finished with 7 kills, 3 blocks and an ace.
It was aggressive serving that helped St. Peters get an edge over the Bees to even their record at 2-2 in matches against Bayonne. The Marauders advance to the state championship match against East Brunswick on Friday at South Brunswick.
While Whitford had just the one ace, his jump serve kept Bayonne's offense at bay. He had a streak of four service points in the first game, and also served two points in the second. And it was a nice counterpoint to the rest of the Marauders' float serves.
"We knew we had to step up our serving to beat them,'' Whitford said. "We've been working on it for the past couple weeks.''
"We had our floats working well,'' said setter Gil Estupinan, who had 2 kills, 15 assists and an ace. "And Matt was on with his jump serve.''
The Marauders also changed up their offense and blocking schemes from their previous meeting with Bayonne, a loss in the county final. Outside hitter Jerry Santer led the team with 8 kills, while middles Nick DeBenedictis and Miles McCann each had 4 kills each. But those were mostly on 1 balls, rather than the back slides they had run effectively in the past.
"We watched tape of the previous games, and saw that 75 percent of the time, their middles stayed with our middles,'' Estupinan said. "So we tried to set away from that so they'd only have one blocker.''
Bayonne meanwhile, had probably its worst offensive day. Middle Danny Kochanski had 6 kills and a block, while Justin Beaumont had 4 kills and 7 digs. Coco Ostorga had 2 kills and four digs, Pat Rujznica had 2 kills, 3 digs and 2 blocks, and Krzyzstof Bogdan had 4 kills, 2 digs and 1 block.
The Bees, who finish with a 30-5 record, had a particularly rough first game, with 10 hitting errors.
"Everything we did, Prep had an answer for it,'' Bees' coach Pat Longo said. "We're disappointed, but we also had a fabulous year, I'm very proud of these kids. Nobody thought we'd be here. We had a great run.''
After the flurry of errors in the first game, Bayonne settled down a bit in the second and trailed 21-20 before the Marauders finished with a flurry. DeBenedictis had a kill, Peter Jimenez had an ace, Whitford had a kill after a dig by Jimenez, and DeBenedictis closed out the win with a block in the middle.
Prep now gets set to face East Brunswick, which handed Southern Regional its first loss of the season in the South/Central final that followed their victory, which the St. Peters' seniors weren't able to watch because they were on their way to graduation.
"We just have to get ready for Southern or East Brunswick now,'' Estupinan said before leaving.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Bayonne reaches north final, to face St. Peters; Southern, EB advance
By Fred Siegle
BAYONNE - Loser goes home, the season's over. Winner plays for a state section title.
The pressure and intensity, with the crowd chanting throughout three close games, was incredible for the entire match on Friday as No. 2 seed Bayonne beat No. 3 Fair Lawn 22-25, 26-24, 25-23 to advance to the NJSIAA North section championship match.
"Seriously, I was in some kind of zone,'' said Bayonne senior Justin Beaumont. "It felt like we were trapped in a bubble. Everything was moving 100 miles an hour. Whenever I was able to catch my breath, they served the ball again.''
The victory means the cowbell(s) will be heard in South Brunswick High School, the site of the two section title games on Wednesday. The Bayonne fans will be bringing their unique cheering tool, the cowbells used by fans Rob Barowski and Mike Cerretta to lead rhythmic clapping, with them. The Bees will play No. 1 seed St. Peters, which beat No. 5 Livingston in the other semifinal, in the section championship match.
"I'm speechless,'' said junior right side Coco Ostorga. "We've never been this far into the tournament before.''
Bayonne beat Fair Lawn for the second time this year to earn the chance to play St. Peters for the fourth time. They have a 2-1 edge so far against the Marauders, their Hudson County rivals, but they were just points away from elimination in both the second and third games against Fair Lawn, with the Cutters holding leads late in both games.
"I think we weren't focused at all in the first game,'' said Ostorga, who finished with 9 kills, 3 digs and 4 blocks. "We might have been too pumped up.''
Fair Lawn led 18-14 in the third game when a disputed touch call - the Bayonne linesman was the only one who saw the touch - seemed to spark the Bees. Danny Kochanski (7 kills, 2 blocks) got credit for the kill, then Ostorga had a solo block and then teamed with Kochanski for a block to make it 18-17. An error by Fair Lawn tied the game, but Artem Makarenko (13 kills) put the Cutters back on top.
Bayonne won a long rally on the next point, but setter Mark Gacki had a back-row attack in the middle of the rally and the referees made the call at the end of the point, giving Fair Lawn a 20-18 lead. Krystof Bogdan (5 kills, 11 digs, 1 block) had a kill and Ostorga got another block to tie the game again before Makarenko answered with another kill.
Ostorga and Makarenko traded kills to make it 22-21 Fair Lawn, but two errors by Fair Lawn gave Bayonne a 23-22 lead, its first edge since 12-11. A service error tied the game again, but Justin Beaumont (11 kills, 13 digs, 3 blocks) converted a dig with a kill to put Bayonne up 24-23, and Gacki set Kochanski for a 1-ball in the middle off a free-ball pass to end the match.
"Coco's blocks were a key for our momentum,'' coach Pat Longo said. "We built off of them.''
"I was mad at myself, I had to do something,'' Ostorga said. "I didn't perform well in the first two games. I had to make up for it.''
Bayonne also came back in the second game after trailing 23-20. Ostorga had a kill, then two Fair Lawn errors made it 23-23. But Jamie Oliver had one of his 10 kills to give Fair Lawn a 24-23 lead, putting the Bees on the brink. But Beaumont had a kill on a 10-ball to tie it before 2 errors by Fair Lawn finished the game.
The Bees (28-4) have reached the state final with only 3 seniors - Beaumont, Gacki and libero James Capello - who play. Ostorga, Kochanski and Bogdan are juniors, and middle Pat Rujznica (2 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) is a sophomore.
"We're a young team, our lack of experience caught up with us in the first game,'' Beaumont said. "I thought that might happen to us at some point during the season. Today, it wasn't fatal.''
"We were inconsistent in the first game,'' Gacki said. "Our passing was off a little. But we came back strong, we were able to make an offense out of it (the inconsistent passing).''
As the only senior who hits, Beaumont wanted the responsibility in the key moments.
"I wanted the ball (to get set) every time at the end of the games,'' Beaumont said. "In the third game, points 0 to 25, I wanted the ball every time.''
Fair Lawn (23-8) played without junior right side Matt Agnew, who injured his ankle in the team's win over Passaic Valley on Wednesday. Because of that, Makarenko and Oliver had to shoulder more of the load. "We became a 2-pronged offense, pretty much with just the two outsides,'' coach Pete Zisa said. "Those guys were constantly going against double blocks and getting the job done.''
Zisa said there shouldn't have been student linesmen in the state semifinals, and that NJSIAA rules say there should have been four officials - first and second referees and two linesmen.
"That call changed the momentum,'' he said. "In a game this important, that shouldn't happen.''
Southern Regional, now 40-0, will play East Brunswick (25-2) in the South/Central section championship match on Wednesday at South Brunswick. Southern beat Old Bridge in the semis on Friday, while the Bears beat St. Joseph. The two section winners will play for the overall state title on Friday at South Brunswick.
BAYONNE - Loser goes home, the season's over. Winner plays for a state section title.
The pressure and intensity, with the crowd chanting throughout three close games, was incredible for the entire match on Friday as No. 2 seed Bayonne beat No. 3 Fair Lawn 22-25, 26-24, 25-23 to advance to the NJSIAA North section championship match.
"Seriously, I was in some kind of zone,'' said Bayonne senior Justin Beaumont. "It felt like we were trapped in a bubble. Everything was moving 100 miles an hour. Whenever I was able to catch my breath, they served the ball again.''
The victory means the cowbell(s) will be heard in South Brunswick High School, the site of the two section title games on Wednesday. The Bayonne fans will be bringing their unique cheering tool, the cowbells used by fans Rob Barowski and Mike Cerretta to lead rhythmic clapping, with them. The Bees will play No. 1 seed St. Peters, which beat No. 5 Livingston in the other semifinal, in the section championship match.
"I'm speechless,'' said junior right side Coco Ostorga. "We've never been this far into the tournament before.''
Bayonne beat Fair Lawn for the second time this year to earn the chance to play St. Peters for the fourth time. They have a 2-1 edge so far against the Marauders, their Hudson County rivals, but they were just points away from elimination in both the second and third games against Fair Lawn, with the Cutters holding leads late in both games.
"I think we weren't focused at all in the first game,'' said Ostorga, who finished with 9 kills, 3 digs and 4 blocks. "We might have been too pumped up.''
Fair Lawn led 18-14 in the third game when a disputed touch call - the Bayonne linesman was the only one who saw the touch - seemed to spark the Bees. Danny Kochanski (7 kills, 2 blocks) got credit for the kill, then Ostorga had a solo block and then teamed with Kochanski for a block to make it 18-17. An error by Fair Lawn tied the game, but Artem Makarenko (13 kills) put the Cutters back on top.
Bayonne won a long rally on the next point, but setter Mark Gacki had a back-row attack in the middle of the rally and the referees made the call at the end of the point, giving Fair Lawn a 20-18 lead. Krystof Bogdan (5 kills, 11 digs, 1 block) had a kill and Ostorga got another block to tie the game again before Makarenko answered with another kill.
Ostorga and Makarenko traded kills to make it 22-21 Fair Lawn, but two errors by Fair Lawn gave Bayonne a 23-22 lead, its first edge since 12-11. A service error tied the game again, but Justin Beaumont (11 kills, 13 digs, 3 blocks) converted a dig with a kill to put Bayonne up 24-23, and Gacki set Kochanski for a 1-ball in the middle off a free-ball pass to end the match.
"Coco's blocks were a key for our momentum,'' coach Pat Longo said. "We built off of them.''
"I was mad at myself, I had to do something,'' Ostorga said. "I didn't perform well in the first two games. I had to make up for it.''
Bayonne also came back in the second game after trailing 23-20. Ostorga had a kill, then two Fair Lawn errors made it 23-23. But Jamie Oliver had one of his 10 kills to give Fair Lawn a 24-23 lead, putting the Bees on the brink. But Beaumont had a kill on a 10-ball to tie it before 2 errors by Fair Lawn finished the game.
The Bees (28-4) have reached the state final with only 3 seniors - Beaumont, Gacki and libero James Capello - who play. Ostorga, Kochanski and Bogdan are juniors, and middle Pat Rujznica (2 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) is a sophomore.
"We're a young team, our lack of experience caught up with us in the first game,'' Beaumont said. "I thought that might happen to us at some point during the season. Today, it wasn't fatal.''
"We were inconsistent in the first game,'' Gacki said. "Our passing was off a little. But we came back strong, we were able to make an offense out of it (the inconsistent passing).''
As the only senior who hits, Beaumont wanted the responsibility in the key moments.
"I wanted the ball (to get set) every time at the end of the games,'' Beaumont said. "In the third game, points 0 to 25, I wanted the ball every time.''
Fair Lawn (23-8) played without junior right side Matt Agnew, who injured his ankle in the team's win over Passaic Valley on Wednesday. Because of that, Makarenko and Oliver had to shoulder more of the load. "We became a 2-pronged offense, pretty much with just the two outsides,'' coach Pete Zisa said. "Those guys were constantly going against double blocks and getting the job done.''
Zisa said there shouldn't have been student linesmen in the state semifinals, and that NJSIAA rules say there should have been four officials - first and second referees and two linesmen.
"That call changed the momentum,'' he said. "In a game this important, that shouldn't happen.''
Southern Regional, now 40-0, will play East Brunswick (25-2) in the South/Central section championship match on Wednesday at South Brunswick. Southern beat Old Bridge in the semis on Friday, while the Bears beat St. Joseph. The two section winners will play for the overall state title on Friday at South Brunswick.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Fair Lawn advances in playoffs
By Fred Siegle
FAIR LAWN - It took Fair Lawn's volleyball team a little time to find its rhythm. But once they did, the Cutters
looked like a team that could definitely be playing for the NJSIAA North section championship.
Senior Artem Makarenko had 11 kills to lead the third-seeded Cutters (23-7) to a 25-21, 25-11 victory over No. 11 Passaic Valley in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Fair Lawn plays at No. 2 Bayonne in the section semifinals on Friday.
"That second game was probably one of the best games we've played this year,'' Makarenko said. "We only made a few errors.''
"We always start out a little slow,'' said setter Jon Bashan, who had 23 assists. "It takes us a little time to get in the swing. But once we get going, we're able to play with a lot of emotion and that helps carry us.''
Fair Lawn led for most of the first game, but it was pretty much back-and-forth. The Cutters had a 19-15 lead, but two straight kills by Mike Hrehovcik made it 19-17 before a service error gave Fair Lawn its 20th point. The Cutters went up 21-17 on a kill by Makarenko, but a kill by Hrehovcik, a Fair Lawn error, and an ace by Matt Billig cut the score to 21-20. But, after a time out, Makarenko had another kill and the Cutters finished out the game. Jamie Oliver had 2 of his 5 kills during that stretch.
Fair Lawn took a 6-2 lead in the second game, stretched it to 14-4 after three straight aces by Ryan Kolenovic, and cruised from there.
"In the second game, our passing dropped off,'' said co-coach Tom Deeney.
Hrehovcik and Colin McNeill each had 7 kills to lead Passaic Valley (14-12), which had upset No. 6 seed Garfield in the previous round. The Hornets played the end of the first game and the whole second game without senior left side Joe Altomonte, who had tried to play on an injured ankle.
"When Joe went out, I think it took something out of us,'' Deeney said. "The other guys got a little nervous.''
The Cutters will be trying to avenge a regular-season loss to Bayonne, which beat No. 7 Vernon on Wednesday. But they'll probably be playing without right side Matt Agnew, who suffered an injury, probably to a ligament, late in the second game when he landed on McNeill's foot on a play at the net.
"As much as it sucks that Agnew's hurt, we're not a one-man team,'' Makarenko said. "We have other players who can come in and hit and block.''
Makarenko and Bashan said their team will try to put on a better performance than the first meeting with Bayonne.
"I feel like they didn't see us at our best when they came here to play us,'' Bashan said. "Now we have to go there and beat them. We have to play clean volleyball, we lost the first time because of errors, I think we had 37, and out of 50 points, that's a lot.''
''Whoever comes out and plays the best defense is going to win that,'' Makarenko said. "I feel like our defense is going to win it.''
Note: The first official in the match was Tom San Giacomo, who coaches the Fair Lawn players on their club team. It's possible Passaic Valley officials will question the situation with the NJSIAA.
FAIR LAWN - It took Fair Lawn's volleyball team a little time to find its rhythm. But once they did, the Cutters
looked like a team that could definitely be playing for the NJSIAA North section championship.
Senior Artem Makarenko had 11 kills to lead the third-seeded Cutters (23-7) to a 25-21, 25-11 victory over No. 11 Passaic Valley in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Fair Lawn plays at No. 2 Bayonne in the section semifinals on Friday.
"That second game was probably one of the best games we've played this year,'' Makarenko said. "We only made a few errors.''
"We always start out a little slow,'' said setter Jon Bashan, who had 23 assists. "It takes us a little time to get in the swing. But once we get going, we're able to play with a lot of emotion and that helps carry us.''
Fair Lawn led for most of the first game, but it was pretty much back-and-forth. The Cutters had a 19-15 lead, but two straight kills by Mike Hrehovcik made it 19-17 before a service error gave Fair Lawn its 20th point. The Cutters went up 21-17 on a kill by Makarenko, but a kill by Hrehovcik, a Fair Lawn error, and an ace by Matt Billig cut the score to 21-20. But, after a time out, Makarenko had another kill and the Cutters finished out the game. Jamie Oliver had 2 of his 5 kills during that stretch.
Fair Lawn took a 6-2 lead in the second game, stretched it to 14-4 after three straight aces by Ryan Kolenovic, and cruised from there.
"In the second game, our passing dropped off,'' said co-coach Tom Deeney.
Hrehovcik and Colin McNeill each had 7 kills to lead Passaic Valley (14-12), which had upset No. 6 seed Garfield in the previous round. The Hornets played the end of the first game and the whole second game without senior left side Joe Altomonte, who had tried to play on an injured ankle.
"When Joe went out, I think it took something out of us,'' Deeney said. "The other guys got a little nervous.''
The Cutters will be trying to avenge a regular-season loss to Bayonne, which beat No. 7 Vernon on Wednesday. But they'll probably be playing without right side Matt Agnew, who suffered an injury, probably to a ligament, late in the second game when he landed on McNeill's foot on a play at the net.
"As much as it sucks that Agnew's hurt, we're not a one-man team,'' Makarenko said. "We have other players who can come in and hit and block.''
Makarenko and Bashan said their team will try to put on a better performance than the first meeting with Bayonne.
"I feel like they didn't see us at our best when they came here to play us,'' Bashan said. "Now we have to go there and beat them. We have to play clean volleyball, we lost the first time because of errors, I think we had 37, and out of 50 points, that's a lot.''
''Whoever comes out and plays the best defense is going to win that,'' Makarenko said. "I feel like our defense is going to win it.''
Note: The first official in the match was Tom San Giacomo, who coaches the Fair Lawn players on their club team. It's possible Passaic Valley officials will question the situation with the NJSIAA.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Bayonne repeats in Hudson County
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.''
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.''