Wednesday, October 28, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Ariel Scott knocked down 19 kills, t as top-seeded IHA knocked off Paramus, 25-20, 25-21, in the Bergen County quarterfinals.

OLD TAPPAN – There are going to be times in a match against Immaculate Heart Academy when the opponent will be helpless to stop what the Blue Eagles throw at it. More specifically, an opponent is going to have to realize that when the set is right, there is nothing that it can do to stop Ariel Scott, the state’s top hitter who will play next season at Penn State, the No.1 collegiate program in the nation. If the ball is sufficiently placed high enough to where only she can get it, Scott is going to hammer it by or through even the best of high school defenders.

It gives IHA an undeniable advantage, but it is the other points in the match, the times when Scott is in the back row or when the Eagles’ passing is not as crisp, that the opponent needs to control in order hang around against the defending Tournament of Champions champion.

The opponent on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament was ninth-seeded Paramus and Spartans head coach Maria Elena-Bellinger knew what her team had to do to stay close enough to make an upset a real possibility.

Junior outside hitter Stephanie Peros led Paramus with 5 kills.

“We can’t overcome the height advantage that Ariel has if we are not playing a clean game. We can’t do both,” said Bellinger. “I think we could overcome Ariel if we didn’t make mistakes in other areas.”

Paramus played well enough to be within three points late in Game 1 and within two points late in Game 2, but Scott got hers enough times to lead IHA to a 25-20, 25-21 sweep and into the county semifinals where it will take on fifth-seeded Pascack Hills in the Final 4 on Friday.

“Paramus is always good late in games, they always come back strong,” said Scott. “They never give up and they push points at the end, so, just because we were winning, we had to make sure not to let up.”

With Game 1 tied at 6, IHA made its first bid to pull away as it scored 10 of the next 11 points. Scott’s power tip gave the Eagles a 16-7 lead and IHA was still ahead by nine points at 20-11 when Scott banged one off the block. But Paramus responded with a four-point run and Stephanie Peros’ kill from the outside off a set by Alaina Clark had the Spartans back within 20-15. They drew even closer at 23-20 on a block by Alicia DeVaney and a receive error that forced an IHA timeout.

Petra Parros (9 kills) gave IHA a reliable second offensive option.

“Everybody probably thinks we said ‘Set Ariel’ in the huddle, but we never did. We never mentioned it,” said IHA co-head coach Maria Nolan.

“I don’t really think we ever say, ‘Set Ariel.’ Our setter [Kristen Flatekval] knows,” said IHA’s other co-head coach, Mike DeCasto, expanding the point. “One of the things we stressed in the timeouts was to be aggressive.”

Whatever the exact conversation, ‘Be aggressive’ might as well have been a buzz word for ‘Set Ariel’ as that is what Flatekval did. Flatekval took a pass from Michelle Cruz and put the ball high over the net on the left side where Scott got up well over the block and tried to put the ball through the floor. Her kill gave IHA a game point and a receiving error gave the Eagles the 25-20 win in Game 1.

IHA never trailed in the second set, but was never able to run away and hide either. A service winner by DeVaney had the Spartans within 16-14, but a kill by Petra Parros kicked off a 5-1 IHA run that ended with another Parros kill and a 21-15 lead.

Paramus setter Alaina Clark handed out 13 assists.

With two straight points won by Nicole DeLuise, one on a clean kill and the second that stymied a dig attempt, Paramus crept back to within 23-21 and forced one final IHA timeout.

“They battle back all the time. Little by little they just chip away until they get back in the game,” said Nolan, who saw Paramus give her team a similar challenge in a regular season match last week. “You can never count them out and that has to do with having such a strong volleyball program, they are the winningest program in the history of the state, so they expect to win and they play hard.”

Scott plays hard, too, and after the timeout the ball found its way to her two straight times and both times she hammered home winners to give IHA the final two points it needed to advance to the semifinals on Friday night.

Scott finished with 19 kills, 4 blocks and 4 digs and was backed up by Parros’ nine kills. All 28 of Flatekval’s 28 assists went to those two hitters and Cruz led the IHA (21-1) defense with 10 digs.

Paramus’ attack was a little more subtle as Peros topped the Spartans with 5 kills and DeLuise finished with 4. Clark handed out 13 assists to go with 8 digs and libero Chelsea Schillizzi had 5 digs for the Spartans, who fell to 18-5, but can now turn their attention toward making a run in the Group 3 state playoffs.

“We have a team that can take it all,” said Bellinger, who led Paramus on a surprising run through the 2005 state playoffs that ended with a Tournament of Champions title. “What I told them now was that if they could play with [IHA] like that there is no reason why we, regardless of seed, should not have our sights set on Group 3.”

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