Friday, April 10 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

GARFIELD -- With a three-game win on Wednesday over one of the state's top teams, Bayonne, Garfield scored one of the biggest wins in the program's history. But with that win comes higher expectations for a team already poised to have a good season. The Boilermakers have been on the cusp of being among the elite in North Jersey for some time now. With Wednesday's win, they have immediately thrust themselves onto that short list of teams. What separates a good team from a championship contender is whether they can rise to the occasion and play every match like it is a big one. Their first chance to find out how they have accepted their new role of being the hunted, not the hunter, came yesterday as they faced off against Hackensack less than 24 hours after the mentally and physically exhausting win over Bayonne.

Led by senior captain Fillipe Fraga, there was no letdown for the Boilermakers. They led wire-to-wire in a 25-11, 25-14 sweep iver Hackensack yesterday morning at Garfield High School.

"After beating Bayonne, the last thing we wanted to do was come out flat today," said Fraga, who was the starting center on Garfield's sectional finalist in basketball this past winter. "I know if we are going to go far, I have to step up and be a leader. I'm not really a vocal leader, that's just not how I am. But I try to lead by example with hard work both in practices and during matches. We try to get better every match and now we know we can compete with just about anybody."

Fraga had consecutive kills and a block early in the first game as Garfield took an early lead and used a 10-4 run to stretch it out to double-digits on their way to taking the first game.

"We are very young and inexperienced and it is going to show sometimes against the better teams," said Hackensack head coach Bob Bollerman. "We are working hard, but we only have two kids with any varsity experience at all. To be competitive with a team like Garfield, you have to get out to a quick start and get your confidence level up. We got off to a slow start and never really got in any rhythm. We know it's going to be tough to build the program back up and we'll work to do that one game at a time."

The second game was more of the same with Garfield setter John Salcedo spreading the ball around and Fraga dominating the net. He had two kills and two blocks during a 10-1 spurt to start the second game and the Boilermakers cruised to their second straight win after a loss to Wayne Hills.

"It's still early in the season, but we are starting to round into form," said Garfield head coach Tom Giuffre. "We lost one of our better players at the net (6'4" Kamil Rutkowski) at the net right before the season, and I think that threw the kids for a loop. We could either feel sorry for ourselves about it, or we could come out and play even harder to make up for it. I think beating Bayonne showed us that we're right there with the best teams around, but we can't rest on that. We have to put in the time to get better with every match."

Fraga led the way with 10 kills, four blocks, and two aces for Garfield (3-1). Salcedo led all players with 16 assists.

Seishu Miyazawa had seven assists and five digs to lead Hackensack (0-3). Emmanuel Kuni finished with four kills and a block.

The Boilermakers will look to keep their hot streak going this morning when they travel to square off against Passaic County Tech. Just as there was during basketball season, there is a buzz in the town that this is a team capable of making a run at a championship. Something Fraga is well aware of and wants to help deliver for his team.

"The intensity we showed playing against Bayonne, we have to come with every time we play," added Fraga, a 6'3" force at the net. "For years, we were hungry to beat one of the best teams in New Jersey. Now we've done that, other teams are going to come at us the same way we used to come at the better teams. We know now that we can't slip because teams are gunning for us. All this momentum we have can be taken away from us in one match. We have to be on point and play hard every game or we will be right back where we started."

TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.