Wednesday, April 20, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Wallington's James Pusz helped control the net during the Panthers' two-game sweep of Harrison.

WALLINGTON –The early portion of this volleyball season had been a pleasant one for Wallington. The Panthers had ripped off six straight victories to start the year and emerged as one of New Jersey’s biggest surprises. But all of the confidence that came with the early success could have evaporated on Monday afternoon they never led and were beaten emphatically by Fair Lawn, the state’s No. 1 ranked team.

Less than 24 hours later, Wallington got a chance to see how it would bounce back as it took on another one of the state’s biggest surprise teams this season, Harrison.

The Panthers could have either wallowed in self-pity, or put the Fair Lawn loss behind them and focus on the task at hand. They chose the latter and got back on the winning track, overcoming early deficits in both sets to score a 25-23, 25-14 triumph on Tuesday to improve to 7-1 on the season.

“After losing the way we did to Fair Lawn, we had to come out playing much better today if we wanted to have a chance,” said Wallington’s Konrad Plewa, who is headed to Seton Hall on a soccer scholarship. “During our soccer season, we came out flat early in the season against Columbia and got beat pretty bad. But we learned from that and went on to be state champions. Maybe this is the start of something similar, but we definitely needed this win.”

Harrison’s Rahim Douelfakar put down a kill to give the Blue Tide an 8-4 first-game lead,

Harrison’s Rahim Douelfakar put down a kill to give the Blue Tide an 8-4 first-game lead, but the Panthers responded with a 12-3 run capped by a kill from Plewa to take a 16-11 lead only to see Harrison score the next five points to tie the game at 16.

It was a slugfest for the remainder of the game with both teams refusing to budge. Wallington’s 6-foot-9 James Pusz had consecutive blocks to give the Panthers a 23-21 lead, but Harrison tied the score for the seventh time at 23. Service errors were a problem for the Blue Tide all match long and a huge one at 23-all was followed by a kill from Matt Tchorz as Wallington grabbed the first game.

“We gave away too many free points and you can’t do that against a team like Wallington,” said Harrison head coach Nick Landy. “You can’t play these games with a shovel and keep expecting to dig out of holes that you make for yourself. We knew this match wasn’t going to be easy and it’s a big rivalry for us. This season has been great so far, but with that comes expectations. We have to handle that a bit better and we have to minimize those mistakes or your opponent will make you pay for them.”

Harrison started off the second game on fire from behind the service line with three consecutive aces from Chris Osiecki and two more from Matt Muchowski to take an 8-2 lead. But that lead quickly evaporated and the Panthers gained strength as the Blue Tide began to unravel.

Wallington charged all the way back to take the lead at 16-13 when a crucial point occurred. One of the Harrison players caught a potential kill thinking it had gone outside the antenna for a Harrison point. But the whistle never blew and, after some deliberation, the point was given to the Panthers. They went on to win the next seven points and pull away for a much-needed sweep.

Adrian Crotkowski and Wallington improved to 7-1.

“We were off yesterday [against Fair Lawn] and we had to come back strong,” said Wallington senior James Pusz, who will be an offensive tackle next year for the University of New Haven. “It took us awhile to come back from how we lost yesterday. We were on fire at the end of that second game. It felt good to get back to the way we’ve been playing all year.”

The unsung hero for Wallington was setter Hubert Dul, who had 22 assists. Pusz finished with nine kills and three blocks, while Plewa added eight kills, six digs, and three aces.

Setter Victor Narvaez led Harrison (8-2) in both assists and digs with 14 and 6, respectively. Osiecki had seven kills, four digs, and three aces.

Now that the Panthers have righted the ship and put the Fair Lawn loss behind them, they can use it as motivation to start another winning streak with a senior-dominated squad that wants to go out on top.

“This team is very even-keeled and we preached that today was a new day,” said Wallington head coach Yvette Lozanski. “I think we came into the Fair Lawn with our tail between our legs, we played tentatively and it showed. We had to be more aggressive today, we were and that showed as well. It’s all a mental game and we had to bounce back from getting beaten like we did. Plain and simple, we came more ready to play today and we feel like we’re back on track now.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.