Friday, May 20, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Fair Lawn's Dan Nugent domminated at the net and behind the service line for Fair Lawn, which swept Wallington, 25-8, 25-10, for its third straight Bergen County Tournament championship.

FAIR LAWN – Whether it is adjusting on the fly to a wacky play, or responding when an opponent goes on a run, success in volleyball is often tied in with reaction. However, there is one aspect of the game where it is all about control. Serving is not only a dangerous offensive weapon, the great teams like Fair Lawn can use it as its best defense as well.

The Cutters learned that the hard way in the Bergen County semifinals, struggling with their serve and needing a tough three games to overcome upset-minded Don Bosco Prep. But this experienced squad showed that it was a lesson learned when they faced off on Thursday against Wallington in the Bergen County final.

Fair Lawn had its best serving match of the season as Dan Nugent’s jump serve allowed the Cutters to go on an early run and never look back. The 9-1 run put top-seeded Fair Lawn ahead 12-4 in the first game and it never trailed in cruising to the first of many goals this season. Fair Lawn swept its way to a third straight Bergen County title with a 25-8, 25-10 victory over second-seeded Wallington at Fair Lawn High School.

“I thought we did an excellent job of serving today and that got us off to a good start,” said Fair Lawn head coach Pete Zisa. “We know Wallington has a few kids that can hit the ball well at the net. The best way to neutralize that is with a good serve. Then they can’t get into an offense as easily and in turn, it allows us to get into our offense a bit easier. It simply makes it easier to get into our comfort zone when we’re serving well, like we did today.”

James Pusz (right) and Wallington fell to 17-5 on the season.

With the score tied at 3, the 6-foot-5 Nugent went back to serve and single-handedly picked his team up to another level. His heavy top-spinned jump serve was just too much for the Panthers to handle. He had a pair of aces and a pair of kills during the crucial run as Fair Lawn seized control of the match.

“I was just trying to hit certain spots on the court and the ball was going here I wanted it to go,” said Nugent, who is all but a lock to be named first-team all-state this season. “I think in general everything fell into place for us. That starts with serving and receiving serve well, both of which we did a real nice job on.”

Libero Oren Zyndorf served out the final nine points of the first game before the Cutters quickly took over again in the second. Setter Brian Toron also gave the Panthers fits from behind the service line. The flat-knuckling serve from the lefty resulted in two aces during a 6-0 burst for a 9-2 lead.

Wallington (17-5) trimmed it to 10-5 on a kill by Konrad Plewa, but never got any closer. The Cutters on this day were simply too sharp, too strong, and just too good.

“This is the time of year when you want it to all come together,” added Nugent. “So it was great to see us firing on all cylinders like we were today.”

Nugent led all players with 12 kills, to go with six digs and two aces for Fair Lawn (31-2). Zyndorf also recorded match-highs with 13 service points and nine digs. Toron ran the offensive efficiently with 22 assists.

Brian Toron and Fair Lawn will look to wrap up a league title against Wayne Valley on Friday.

At the end of the match, there was very little celebration. That is because Fair Lawn feels this is just the initial hurdle in what it hopes will be the greatest season in school history. A win today over Passaic County champion Wayne Valley would give them a Big North Conference Independence Division league title before moving onto the North 1 state sectional tournament next week, where they are the defending champion and the top seed.

But looking even further down the line with a defense of the state sectional title would be a shot at redemption in the Tournament of Champions. The Cutters bowed out in the semifinals last year and want to leave this year’s T of C with nothing short of a trophy.

“We know the goals that are ahead of us and we’re really starting to play our best at the right time,” said Toron. “It all starts with serving because that is the one thing you can control in a match is how you serve. Sometimes we have or two players serving well, but today it felt like everyone was on. If we’re going to reach the goals we set before the year started, then we’re going to have to keep serving like this. It’s nice to win the county title again, but there is still a lot of work left to do.”

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