Sunday, November 13, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Haley Hirsch had 9 kills and 8 digs for Demarest, which swept West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the Group 3 state final on Saturday at William Patterson University.

WAYNE – There was a time not too long ago that three words “Northern Valley/Demarest” were synonymous with state volleyball championships. That is what Heather Park and Haley Hirsch remembered watching the Norsewomen’s dominance earlier in the decade under head coach Beth Powell when they won five Group titles in six years en route to a pair of Tournament of Champions titles.

While the program has remained one of the best in the state since that time, the reality is that Demarest has not been back to a Group state final match since 2006. So when it walked into the gymnasium on Saturday for the Group 3 final, it was just like old times for Powell. Not only because the surroundings were familiar, but also because she had the belief that her team had the will to come away with the hardware.

West Windsor-Plainsboro South was making its second straight trip to the Group 3 final, but it was the Norsewomen who played with a chip on their shoulder. Park, Demarest's senior libero, was outstanding defensively and Hirsch, the junior outside hitter, came up big as Demarest won its first state title in five years with a 25-17, 25-19 sweep over the Pirates at William Paterson University.

In addition to her great defense, Melissa Pesce led Demarest with 19 assists.

“We wanted this one so bad and it’s a great feeling to be state champs,” said Hirsch. “There were some tense moments in both games, but we were able to stay calm and focus on the next point. That’s how we’ve been all year. We believe in each other that we’ll win the next point and get our way out of trouble when we have to.”

Demarest’s calling card throughout their run in the 2000s was receiving serve well, passing effectively and frustrating the opposition. It was a similar feeling against West Windsor-Plainsboro South as Park came up with one dig after another keep points alive during a crucial run where she had five of her match-high 19 digs. All five of those digs led to points during a 10-0 run that put Demarest ahead 17-6.

Behind Nikki Senopoulos, who just signed last week to play at Division 1 Georgia State University next year, West Windsor-Plainsboro South battled back to get within 22-16. The Norsewomen got a kill from Kat Hirsch to close the door on any hopes of a comeback.

Senopoulos’ kill gave the Pirates a 4-1 lead in the second game, but the Norsewomen responded. The Hirsch sisters, Carmela O’Hanlon, and Alex Kaechele all had kills in an 11-3 run for a 12-7 advantage. The Pirates had one last run left in them with another kill from Senopoulous and an ace from Cat Smart in a 6-0 spurt to take a 13-12 lead.

It did not last for long though. With a tricky wind current in the William Paterson gymnasium, Park’s floating serve proved to be a problem for the Pirates all match. She had a pair of aces and Brooke Runge added another as the Norsewomen scored five straight points to regain the lead for good en route to the program’s seventh state title.

Heather Park led Demarest in digs and was also big from behind the service line.

“We didn’t want to give them any momentum and we had to pick up our game as a team,” said Park. “We have had a tendency to let our guard down a little in the second game this year. It almost happened again today, but we had a little edge on the side of the court we were on. On serves, the ball would sail a little further than normal and that helped us a lot to get some quick points.”

Setter Melissa Pesce led all players with 19 assists for Northern Valley/Demarest (23-3). Haley Hirsch added nine kills and eight digs, while Runge added eight digs and four assists. Senopoulous with nine digs and seven kills for West Windsor-Plainsboro South (16-4). Sasha Malinina had 14 assists and Brianne Sabino had 11 digs.

Demarest moves onto the Tournament of Champions semifinals next week. As the No. 3 seed, it will face off against Bergen County foe and No. 2 seed Bogota for a berth in the T of C final. That semifinal match will also be played at William Paterson University with a 3:30 P.M. start.

The Norsewomen hope to do what they have all season, which is to scratch and claw their way through a tough match before coming up with a way to pull it out in the end.

“Our team just finds a way to win the big points and get the job done when our backs are against the wall,” said Powell. “There were two troublesome rotations for us, but we battled through it until we could get the rotation we wanted both up front and in the back. It’s awesome to see kids working hard for a common goal, watching them grow, and then seeing them reach that goal. For that I couldn’t more proud of my kids to see that hard work day in and day out paying off.”

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