Saturday, October 20, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

RUTHERFORD – In recent years, Rutherford has grown by leaps and bounds in establishing itself as one of the elite girls volleyball programs in Bergen County. With virtually its entire team returning this year, head coach Helen Antzoulides was face with a tough decision.

Should she stick with a two-setter rotation as she did a year ago with success, or go with her gut and choose between one of two talented players to run the offense? She decided to go with the one setter and the move has paid off with a league title and an undefeated start to the season.

Caitlin Whitman has run the offense from the setter’s spot and that is a nice job to have when you have Angelika Kopacz as a teammate. Whitman had 15 assists, 10 of them to Kopacz, as Rutherford clinched the BCSL-American Division title and improved to 19-0 with a 25, 12, 25-14 win over Tenafly.

“This is a big win because we played well against a pretty good team,” said Kopacz. “The counties are here and the states are coming up soon. We still want to improve, but we’re getting closer to where we think we should be as a team. Everyone knows their role this year and we’ve adjusted to it pretty well.”

Rutherford held a slim lead before breaking it open early in game No. 1. Kopacz and Deborah Hong each had two kills in an 11-1 run to give the Bulldogs an 18-6 lead. The second game was more of the same as Rutherford was on a roll and there was little Tenafly could do to stop it.

The key was passing and that fell on the shoulders of Jackie Kressaty. The senior has made the transition seamlessly from splitting time as the setter last year to doing a little bit of everything this season. Whether it is hitting from the back row or playing solid defense, she gives the Bulldogs more diversity offensively.

The Bulldogs passed and received serve well throughout, which helped then go on several mini-runs. Back-to-back kills by Kopacz early in the game gave them the lead for good and they never looked back.

“We tried our best, Rutherford was just on its game today,” said Tenafly head coach Jeff Koehler. “They are so powerful and then can beat you from just about anywhere on the court. I thought we played defensively, we just had a tough time running our offense. With a team like Rutherford, when they are on, there isn’t much you can do to stop them.”

Kopacz had a double-double with 11 digs and 10 kills for Rutherford (19-0). Whitman added 15 assists, nine service points, four digs, three kills, and two aces.

Gianna Quattrini notched a career-high five blocks for Tenafly (15-3). Christina Ma and Michelle Koles each had eight digs. Jules Barrett led the team in kills with five.

“We went to one setter and so far it has worked,” said Antzoulides. “Caitlin (Whitman) has done a nice job and Jackie (Kressaty) does a little bit of everything for us. I think we can still get a lot better and we’ll need to if we’re going to do well in counties and states. But to be in control of a match against Tenafly, which is a solid team, is a good sign at this point in the season.”

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