Friday, October 14, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Kallie Francis had a career-high 34 assists for Paramus Catholic, which knocked off Ramapo in three games on Thursday afternoon.

PARAMUS – Once upon a time Paramus Catholic was the gold standard of girls’ volleyball in Bergen County. But over the past 15 years or so other teams like Northern Valley/Demarest, IHA, Northern Valley/Old Tappan, and Ramapo have emerged as the powerhouses in the county while PC made a swift fall first back to the middle of the pack, and then to a team that rarely made county or state tournaments. With 10 seniors returning this season what this team needed was a breath of fresh air, which is exactly what it got in first-year head coach Jaime Marzocchi.

After a 0-3 start this season, it would have been easy to chalk it up to another rough start to the season with no hope of recovery. But Marzocchi knew her squad was talented enough and had the heart to still have a memorable season. After winning the Clifton Tournament, the pendulum started to swing in a positive direction. But with the Bergen County Tournament starting this weekend, the Paladins were still looking for a signature win to make their case that they are back among the elite teams in the county. On Thursday, they got it.

After blowing five consecutive game points in the second game against Ramapo to force a third game, the Paladins never lost faith and their confidence never wavered. Ashley Bowman and Georgette Smith dominated the net in the third as Paramus Catholic avenged an early-season loss and pulled a huge upset with a 25-21, 24-26, 25-9 triumph over Ramapo in Paramus.

Kasey Woetzel finished with 10 blocks and three kills for Ramapo.

“Just watching us grow as a team has been an incredible feeling, it’s magnetizing,” said PC’s Ashley Bowman. “We couldn’t believe we lost the second game, but we just knew to get it out of our mind and focus on the third game. I’ve never been on a team with this kind of work ethic and so prepared for any situation. We worked so hard to get here and just thinking about winning this match gives me goose bumps.”

Bowman got things going in the right direction for the Paladins with two kills and a block as they grabbed an early lead before Smith padded it. On three consecutive points, she put down two kills and had a block to make it an eight-point lead at 12-4. Ramapo whittled the lead down to two on three different occasions, but never got any closer as PC took Game 1.

The second game was similar in that the Paladins opened up an early lead and slowly stretched it out. Smith, who was a non-factor in the teams’ first meeting, caught fire at the right time. She had four kills in a 7-2 spurt to make it 22-14. A kill by defensive specialist Catherine Kilduff put the Paladins one point from victory, 24-19, but it quickly unraveled from there.

Ashley Bowman had a career-high 17 kills for Paramus Catholic.

Ramapo’s Kasey Woetzel is one of Bergen County’s best middle blockers and she took over down the stretch. She had consecutive kills, then a block to tie it at 24. After an ace by Ramapo's Courtney Dolan, Woetzel put down another kill as the Green Raiders stole the game and squared the match at one game a piece. Against one of the state’s top teams and having squandered a huge opportunity, the Paladins could have easily folded their tent. But with 10 seniors kn owing that this season is their last shot at being a successful side, giving up was simply not an option.

“Volleyball is all about momentum and at that point we definitely lost it,” said Marzocchi, an Old Tappan graduate who went on to have a successful career at Division 3 Salisbury University. “I just told them to focus on the third game because there was nothing we could do about the second game. We were playing with so much confidence that we just had to get a win a few points early to get that momentum back. This team has an all-or-nothing attitude and we had nothing to lose, which definitely helped us bounce back quickly.”

After a closing the second game on a 7-0 run to even the match, the Green Raiders were riding high and seemed poised to take their game to another level. But with PC setter Kallie Francis flawlessly directing the offense, the Paladins never allowed them to settle in.

Ramapo libero Sammy Szura finished with 14 digs.

Bowman put down a kill on the first point and PC never trailed from there. The lead was 6-3 when one of several miscommunications by Ramapo on the day allowed the Paladins to embark on a run. Bowman followed with a kill and Smith had back-to-back kills to for a commanding 12-3 lead en route to cruising to the biggest victory the program has had in nearly a decade.

“We had a chance after Game 2 to put our stamp on the game, but we didn’t take advantage of it,” said Ramapo head coach Dave Van Hook. “I thought we came out flat and PC clearly did not. We didn’t receive serve or pass well the entire match. When you don’t pass well, you can’t set your hitters and get into an offense. Give PC all the credit though, they passed exceptionally well and we didn’t have an answer for their middles (Bowman and Smith) at all. We had a chance, but they put us in a hole and never gave us a chance to get going.”

Francis had a career-high 34 assists along with two kills and two aces for Paramus Catholic (7-4). Bowman and Smith each had season-highs of 17 kills and two blocks. Sammy Szura had 14 digs and Woetzel added 10 kills and three blocks for Ramapo (9-2).

PC's Georgette Smith (31) finished with 17 kills.

The win was not a landmark one in the annals of Paramus Catholic’s storied history, but it was the biggest one the program has had in recent memory and is a nice springboard into this weekend’s county tournament where they will travel to face Rutherford.

“This win was exactly what we needed going into the county tournament,” said Francis. “Even when we lost the second game, we were so calm. We just had to start the third game like we started the first. This match was so important and to beat a team like Ramapo is huge. We have ten seniors and for most of us, it’s the last time we will ever play volleyball again. After so many losing seasons, it’s nice to have this feeling that we can play with anyone. Today was just awesome and this whole season has been so much fun, I don’t want it to end.”

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