Friday,
October 2, 2009
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com
Staff Writer
CRESSKILL
– There was a buzz in the air at Cresskill High School on
Thursday as Bogota and Cresskill pitted their undefeated records
against one another, but the energy in the gymnasium was quickly
sucked out when Bogota started strong and breezed to a victory
in Game 1. The surprising Cresskill comeback in Game 2 did two
things; it put the Bogota players on their heels, and forced a
third and deciding game with not only the match, but also the
outright lead in the BCSL-Olympic Division on the line.
Just as they did in
the first game, the Lady Bucs got off to a hot start and never
looked back. They opened the third game on a 10-3 run and pulled
away late for a 25-9, 25-27, 25-16 victory.
Bogota came in fired
up and took the crowd right out it early by ripping off the first
six points of the match. The Lady Bucs were clicking on all cylinders
and they dismantled Cresskill in taking the first game without
so much as breaking a sweat.
“I think we were
playing at such a high level in the first game, it was tough to
carry that over,” said Bogota head coach Brad DiRupo. “In
the second game, Cresskill simply played better. We knew they
were going to make a run and they came up big, especially during
the big points.”
But
that intensity showed by the Lady Bucs in the first game turned
into a bit of complacency in the second game. An ace by Jaclyn
Del Cid gave Bogota a 12-8 lead, but several attack errors and
two points given away on miscommunications between players opened
the door for a comeback by the Cougars.
They answered with
a 12-4 run to grab a 20-16 lead. Bogota responded with a kill
by Taylor Woegens and an ace from Stephanie Sura to tie the game
at 24. With the score tied at 25, Cresskill got consecutive kills
from Alexandra Phoenix and Kelly Sprengel to even the match.
“Losing the second
game was a wakeup call and I guess we needed it,” said Bogota’s
Taylor Woegens. “I don’t think we played up to our
expectations in the second game, so we made sure we started strong
in the third game.”
The
Bucs bounced back in Game 3 and never trailed. Marta Topor had
back-to-back kills in the midst of a 10-3 run to open the rubber
game.
“I was happy
with the way we fought, but I think we held back a little in the
third game and it put us in a hole,” said Cresskill co-head
coach Catherine Durakis, a former all-stater at Cresskill before
starring at Hofstra University.
Sprengel answered with
consecutive aces to trim the lead to 11-7, but Cresskill (9-1)
never got any closer. Woegens added three more kills and the Lady
Bucs kept their unbeaten record intact with the win.
“Bogota
is great competition and we can learn from them and this match.
When they make a mistake, they shake it right off and go onto
the next point," said Durakis. "We dwell on our mistakes
a little too long, but we’re still learning as we go. This
is a match we will definitely learn from and it will make us better
down the road.”
Bogota
improved to 11-0 and will make its case for a high seed in the
upcoming Bergen County Tournament on Satuday. They will face several
of North Jersey’s best teams in the Northern Valley Tournament,
including perennial powers and hosts of the tournament, Northern
Valley/Old Tappan and Northern Valley/Demarest.
The win also kept a
streak intact that dates back to 2003. That is the last time Bogota,
which has just one senior starter, lost a match against BCSL-Olympic
competition. It is a stat that is not lost on the players who
want to keep that streak alive.
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