Thursday, September 22, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Becton celebrated the the biggest win in the history of its volleyball program, its first ever against Secaucus.

EAST RUTHERFORD – "In this world nothing can said to be certain, except death and taxes."

It's a famous quote that Benjamin Franklin uttered nearly 300 years ago. But had he been alive today and was into the high school sports landscape in North Jersey, he might have thrown in Secaucus' girls volleyball team sweeping Becton Regional twice a year. Ever since Becton started a volleyball program over three decades ago, that is exactly what has happened ever single time the two teams met, including a 25-14, 25-9 drubbing in their only meeting last year.

When the teams met on Wednesday, there was a different air in Becton's home gymnasium with both teams coming in undefeated. After years of being kicked around by the alpha dog of the league, Becton seniors Zaneta Balbuza and Reba Balaskovits had finally had enough and took it upon themselves to change the fortunes of the program.

Balbuza was fantastic throughout and Balaskovits came up with several big kills in the third game as Becton not only took a game off of Secaucus, it scored the biggest win in the history of its volleyball program with a 25-17, 11-25, 25-18 triumph at Becton Regional High School.

"We've been preparing for this match for weeks and we know Secaucus has always been the standard in our league. To beat them for the first time ever is an amazing feeling," said Balbuza. "We never beat them before and we never even took them to a third game, so there was no pressure on us. Volleyball is a fun sport and we focused on having fun and playing relaxed."

Julia McClure working the net for Secaucus.

For the Wildcats to believe that they could win, it was imperative that they get off to a good start. That is exactly what they did by matching the Patriots point for until Balbuza took control. She had three kills and a block in a 11-4 run to give the Wildcats a one-game lead and their first win of a game ever against Secaucus. However, it seemed it was only going to be a blip on the usual dominance for the Patriots. Seven different players put down kills and Andrea Lennon put down back-to-back aces as Secaucus easily forced a third game.

"We didn't get any offense going in the second game, so I knew I had to step up and do a better job in the third game than I did in the second," said Becton sophomore setter Kristen Reichert. "We didn't have anything to lose and we wanted this one so bad. I think we just had to play with confidence in the third game like how we played in the first."

Secaucus had won its previous two matches (Queen of Peace and Hawthorne) in three games and was poised to do it again. Only this time, the Becton players were not intimidated and went back on the offensive. Kills by Balbuza and Balaskovits followed by a block from Devyn Branick gave the Wildcats a 6-4 lead that they never relinquished. The lead was still two, 14-12, when the Wildcats pulled away.

"We had our chances, we just never got into a flow," said Secaucus head coach Sheila Rivera. "I don't think we communicated well and gave away a lot of points. While they weren't in a row, they all add up in the end. The difference in the third game was that Becton kept playing to win and we looked like we were playing not to lose. You don't want to have a match like this against a hungry team, but you would rather have it early in the season where you have time to learn from it."

Balaskovits put down consecutive kills and Bulbuza had another big block. When the ball fell to the floor on the final point, the Wildcats collectively had more of a bewildered look on their faces than anything else before erupting in jubilation. After being beaten soundly by one single team for so long, to finally come out on top can bring out a whole wave of emotions.

Sophomore setter Kristen Reichert got Becton's offense in the third game.

"I was just in shock at first and then we all went crazy," said Balaskovits. "It was an amazing feeling and it's as happy as I've ever been playing volleyball. Honestly, I still can't believe we did it."

The athletic Balbuza was all over the court and had her hand in nearly every point at the net. She finished with match-highs of 14 kills, six digs, (one short of her career-high) and four blocks for Becton, which moved to 5-0 for the first time in school history. Reichert had a career-best 19 assists and Balaskovits chipped in with seven kills, most of which came at crucial times in the match.

Lennon led all players with 16 digs to lead Secaucus (5-1). Danielle Roesing also had a solid overall performance with seven kills, five digs, and five assists.

The win over Secaucus also produced another first for Becton volleyball. It is now in sole possession of first place in the Meadowlands A Division, marking the first time the Wildcats have ever been in first place in either this league or their former home in the BCSL-Olympic Division. As good as times are right now for the Wildcats, they hope that the best is still yet to come.

"Now that we know what we can do when we play together as a team, we want even more," added Balaskovits. "To lose four seniors from last year's team and to be (5-0) now is unreal. This team wants to leave a legacy at the school and finally getting a win over a team like Secaucus is a good start. We've worked really hard to get to where we are and now we want to keep going."

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