Sunday, November 16, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

WAYNE – Immaculate Heart Academy’s Ariel Scott has emerged this season as the New Jersey’s most dominant player at the net. The 6-3 junior middle blocker is virtually unstoppable when on her game. After an upset loss to Northern Valley/Old Tappan in the Bergen County final, Scott and her teammates are on a mission. So as the finishing touches were put on a blowout win over Union Catholic in the Non-Public final there was little celebration because Scott and her teammates have a bigger prize in mind, defending their Tournament of Champions title.

Scott had 14 kills, five blocks, and two aces with top-seeded IHA leading wire-to-wire in a 25-8 25-16 romp over Union Catholic, the No. 2 seed, to assert the Blue Eagles as the team to beat once again in this week’s Tournament of Champions.

“Losing to Old Tappan taught us a lesson, and it’s helped us grow as a team,” said Scott. “Last year we got beat in the county final and then came back to win the T of C. We know we can do the same this year. It’s not going to be easy, but winning today was the first step we had to take.”

Scott set the tone emphatically with three consecutive blocks early in the first game. She nearly doubled Union Catholic’s output in the first game by herself. Her nine kills, four blocks, and two aces accounted for 15 points to the Vikings’ eight.

“There is no way around it, she dominated at the net,” said Union Catholic head coach Nancy Maggio. “We had a successful season and getting here is a big deal for us. But we ran into a great team today that played very, very well.”

The Blue Eagles continued their torrid play in the second game with a 10-3 run to open the game. Katie Havlicek and Scott each had two kills during the run and the Vikings never got close than six points as IHA won its second straight Non-Public title.

“It’s a pretty good feeling to play the way we did today,” said IHA’s co-head coach Maria Nolan. “Ever since losing to Old Tappan, we made it a point to be more aggressive. We’ve been focusing on getting better one day at a time and we were as focused today as I’ve seen us all season.”

Stephanie Cruz had 12 service points and eight digs for IHA (26-1). Setter Kristin Flatekval had 19 assists and Havilcek finished with six kills and six digs. The Blue Eagles received the top seed and will continue their defense of the Tournament of Champions crown on Saturday in the semifinal round.

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