Tuesday, October 29, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Nicole Pittar celebrating a big point during Union City's two-game sweep of McNair Academic on Monday in the semifinals of the Hudson County volleyball tournament on Monday afternoon.

UNION CITY – When Mike Cerreta took over the head coaching duties of the Union City girls volleyball team going into the 2012 season, his overall goal was to rebuild the once-proud program into a county powerhouse. So when he set goals of winning 20 matches and getting to the Hudson County final heading into the 2013 season, his players could have rolled their eyes with the thought of expectations a bit beyond their reach. Much to Cerreta’s delight, everyone on the team bought into to what he was saying. On Monday, his players saw validation that hard work and believing in a system really does pay off in the end.

Nicole Pittar did a little bit of everything both inside the court and from beyond the service line. It was her serve that proved to be the biggest weapon though, coming up with crucial aces during important moments as second-seeded Union City won its 20th match of the season and advanced to the Hudson County final with a 25-19, 25-17 semifinal win over No. 3 seed McNair Academic at Union City High School.

“We had a hard time receiving their serve early and we had to get it together,” said Cerreta. “We got this far by being scrappy and fighting for every point. It starts with making one pass, winning one point, and building up momentum from there.”

Both teams had several service errors early in the first game before McNair’s Georgina Rayo got hot from behind the service line. She had four aces as the Cougars ripped off seven straight points to nab a 12-6 lead when Cerreta called timeout to stop the bleeding.

Sarah Kruetz chipped in with five kills and five digs for McNair, which is now 19-5 on the season.

That appeared to do the trick as Union City went on a run of its own to regain control. Nicole Pittar had consecutive aces to put the Soaring Eagles back in front and fed her sister, Ayleen, twice for kills during a 10-1 run. McNair’s Jalia Carter answered with back-to-back aces to cut the lead to 21-19. But a pair of miscommunications on the next two points allowed Union City to survive the scare and take a one-game lead.

The Soaring Eagles carried that momentum into the second game with Nicole Pittar once again being the sparkplug. She dished out three assists and served two more aces to open up an 8-2 lead. McNair showed plenty of fight throughout and twice cut the lead to a single point on aces by Carter and Rayo.

Union City had no intention of letting the momentum slip away. Nicole Pittar added another ace and a kill while setting up Ayleen for another to help the Soaring Eagles secure the sweep and advance to the Hudson County final.

“I saw I was having success serving to one spot, so I kept trying to go to that spot,” said Nicole Pittar. “I knew winning today was really important to us. We got off to a bad start, but we stuck together and we fought through it.”

Nicole Pittar did it all with 14 assists, six aces, five kills, and four digs for Union City (20-6). Ayleen Pittar led all players with 12 kills, while Camila Davila added 10 digs.

Rayo and Carter combined for nine aces to lead the way for McNair Academic (19-5). Monica Nadolna had six assists and six digs, while Sarah Kruetz chipped in with five kills and five digs.

Ayleen Pittar and Union City will face Secaucus for the county title.

Union City will face off against top-seeded and three-time defending champion Secaucus for the Hudson County championship on Wednesday. That match will take place at New Jersey City University in Jersey City with an 8 P.M. start.

With a 20-win season under their belt and a berth in the county final, the Soaring Eagles can truly embrace their underdog status and go into the county final with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“It wasn’t the prettiest match, but we got the job done and that’s what counts,” said Cerreta. “I told these girls two years ago and again before this season that if we bust our butts every day that we will start to see results. Now it’s down to one match and it’s where we want to be. I’m really proud of what we accomplished so far this season, but we’re not happy now with just getting this far. To top this season off with a county title would make it that much better.”

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