Monday, November 8, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Georgette Smith had 7 of her 10 kills in the second set as Paramus Catholic swept Mother Seton in the Non-Public quarterfinals.

PARAMUS – What can be a strength can also be a curse in state tournament play. Paramus Catholic has had a pretty good game plan coming into each one of its matches this season, mainly because the familiarity between PC and its opponents. However, Monday presented a more unique challenge as the Paladins faced off against Mother Seton, a team they had never played before in school history. Not only were the Paladins playing an unrecognizable foe, they were doing so for the right to keep their season alive.

Much like a boxing match, the teams felt out their way early until late in the first game. Paramus Catholic setter Kallie Francis provided the body blow to set up Georgette Smith for the knockout punch.

Francis’ tip kill ended a hard-fought first game. Smith then got hot, putting down four kills in a 9-0 spurt that carried fourth-seeded Paramus Catholic to a 25-22, 25-9 win in the Non-Public quarterfinals over fifth-seeded Mother Seton before a packed house at Paramus Catholic High School.

“We didn’t know what to expect from them and it took us awhile to get going,” said Paramus Catholic’s do-everything senior Ashley Bowman. “All we really knew about them was their record. We were all a little nervous early, but we settled down. We had to take it one point at a time and just stay in the first game until we started to click.”

Mother Seton's Noelle Maertz finished with a match-high 16 assists to go with 5 digs, 2 aces and 2 kills.

Mother Seton (Clark, Union County) came into the quarterfinals having won 21 of its 23 matches this season. The Setters showed early that they were not going to be pushed around at the net as they led for a good portion of the first game, with the biggest lead being 11-8 on a jump-serve ace from Noelle Maertz.

Playing in front a completely packed home gym for the time in their careers, the Paladins were tight early on before starting to swing away and feeding off of the crowd, instead of being swallowed up by it.

“Seeing all the people in the stands today was amazing,” added Bowman. “But I think it might have taken us awhile to get adjusted to that because we haven’t had that in my four years here anyway. We just had to play the way we know how and become more aggressive at the net.”

PC was holding on desperately to a one-point lead late when Francis set up Smith for a kill, then dropped a tip just over an outstretched blocker to end the first game and give the Paladins all the momentum heading into the second set.

“We were so pumped at the end of that first game that we knew we were going to take the second one,” said PC's Georgette Smith. “They were a hard team to feel out and we had to hang in there until we figured it out. I didn’t think I had a good first game, so I had to step it up in the second.”

Ashley Bowman got PC off and running in a 14-2 run to open the second set.

Bowman got the team off and running with a kill on the first point and an ace to make it 4-0. The lead was three points when Smith simply took over at the net and the Paladins followed her lead. She started off the huge run with consecutive kills and added another to cap the 9-0 spurt to make it 14-2.

“Losing that first game carried over into the second and it took too much out of us mentally and physically,” said Mother Seton head coach Rob Moran. “ We needed to control their serves and we didn’t. That allowed them to get into an offense easier and (Smith) really hurt us in the second game.”

Smith led all players with 10 kills, seven of them coming in game No. 2 for Paramus Catholic (12-7). Kallie Francis had 15 assists, four aces, and three digs. Smith finished with a match-high 10 kills and Catherine Kilduff had 10 digs. Maertz had a match-high 16 assists to go with five digs, two aces, and two kills for Mother Seton (21-3).

The Paladins advance to the Non-Public semifinals where they get another shot at this year’s Bergen County champion, IHA. That match will be played tomorrow at Bloomfield High School.

PC was swept by the Blue Eagles in both of their regular-season meetings, but they were competitive in each of the four games played. Having already won a match in the Bergen County Tournament and now another two in the state tournament, the Paladins goals have been far exceeded under first-year head coach Jaime Marzocchi.

“This season has been better than I think any of us here could have expected,” said Marzocchi, a former all-stater at Northern Valley/Old Tappan and the youngest head coach in Bergen County. “We have focused so much lately on our mental focus and that showed today when we needed it. Anything can happen in a match, so you have to be poised and prepared for any situation. This has been a great season and the school has rallied behind us like you saw today. We’re really enjoying this and we’re going to try and keep it going as long as we can.”

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