Saturday,
May 3, 2008
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
GARFIELD – When
Passaic Valley’s volleyball players walked into the gymnasium
at Garfield High School on Friday, they were all smiles. The memories
of a tough season thus far were gone. Instead, the thoughts of
were last year’s win over the Boilermakers in the second
round of the state tournament, marking the biggest win in the
program’s brief history.
If Passaic Valley is
to qualify for the state tournament this season and repeat their
run of last year, they had to once again get past the pesky Boilermakers.
Behind the senior duo of Colin McNeil and Allan Bronkowski, who
were integral parts of last year’s upset over Garfield,
they did that.
McNeil had seven kills in the second game, six of them coming
off of sets from Bronkowski, as Passaic Valley took a big step
toward getting back to the state tournament with a 25-16, 25-23
victory.
“We knew coming
in that we needed to win this one,” said Passaic Valley
co-head coach Tom Deeney. “Hopefully, we can start piling
up some wins and try to get as high of a seed in the states as
possible. But you have to get there first and this was a big step
in the right direction.”
In last year’s
state match, the Hornets started slow and took some time to get
going before winning a three-game thriller. Such was not the case
yesterday as they opened up with a 14-7 run. The Boilermakers
trimmed the lead to five, but the Hornets answered right back.
Kills by McNeil and Nick Hrehovcik turned the momentum back in
PV’s favor as they grabbed game No. 1.
“It was important
for us to get off to a good start,” added Passaic Valley
co-head coach Bill Robertazzi. “We are coming off some high
emotion losses to Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley. With our record
and the state cutoff coming up, we could not afford to come out
flat. I think being in this gym definitely gave us a little lift
that we needed.”
Although the first
game had a lackluster finish, the second game was played with
both teams playing at a high level. Passaic Valley held the largest
lead of the game, 13-10, before Garfield’s Eddie Ogletree
got on track. Three straight thunderous kills by the 6-4 senior
tied the match. Garfield took a 19-17 lead and was poised to force
a third and deciding game, but the Hornets had other ideas.
With strong defense
on the back line, the Hornets prolonged several points that they
eventually won. The second game was tied at 23 when Bronkowski
went to his No. 1 option at the net and McNeil delivered. He put
down a kill to give PV a game-point and an attack error followed,
which closed out the match.
“I was happy
with the way we played in the second game, we just came up short
on the big points,” said Garfield head coach Tom Giuffre.
Bronkowski had 21 assists
and McNeil had 13 kills, both match-highs for Passaic Valley (8-6).
With the win, the Hornets need to win just two of their five matches
before the state tournament cutoff on May 12th to qualify.
On the flip side, Garfield
dropped to 6-10 with the loss and now needs to win five of its
next six matches to make the states. Ogletree led the Boilermakers
with 11 kills and three blocks.
“Now our backs
are against the wall and we have to play with some urgency,”
added Giuffre. “We don’t have any room for error and
we have to be the aggressors in every match from here on out.”
Passaic Valley came
into this season with high expectations and lofty goals. Although
the season has not been as successful as they anticipated, the
Hornets feel the lessons they have learned along the way will
make them stronger come state tournament time.
“We remember
last year’s match against Garfield well and we were comfortable
coming into today’s match,” said Passaic Valley’s
Allan Bronkowski. “We set a goal before the season to get
a high seed in the state tournament. We are (8-6) as of now and
we can still get that high seed if we get on a roll. Hopefully,
this will be the win that gets us going and carries us all the
way into the states.”
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