Wednesday,
October 29, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Junior Maria put down the 1,000th kill over her career in Paramus' sweep of Bogota in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals. |
OLD TAPPAN – There was a side story that was easy to follow during the first match of Tuesday night's Bergen County Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal doubleheader. Every time Paramus' Maria Bellinger swung and found a hole in the Bogota defense, a balloon would rise up in the stands where the Spartans' supporters were sitting. It was inconspicuous enough the first couple of times, but by the time Bellinger got her ninth kill early in the second set the balloons provided a colorful backdrop for 1,000th kill of her career, an impressive number in itself but even more so considering Bellinger is not even all the way through her junior year.
“The 1,000 kills wasn't really weighing on my mind it was more about advancing in the counties,” said Bellinger, who has already committed to play at the University of Delaware. “But every time I got a kill the girls in the stands would put up a balloon so I knew I was getting close.”
Bellinger is the daughter of Paramus head coach Maria Elena Bellinger, who got to enjoy the night as the mother of a player who reached a lofty career milestone, but also a coach who saw her team advance to the Bergen County Final 4 with a 25-14, 25-19 sweep a Bogota that came in with just two losses and is always a tough out.
“To do it in three years is quite an accomplishment, but I could do without the digs of when did I get my 1,000th or when did I win Athlete of the Week. The answer is I never got a 1,000 and I was never Athlete of the Week, so I know how difficult it is to do and I am so proud of her,” said the head coach. “But I will say that when I played it was side-out scoring and games to 15.”
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Paramus' Joanna Su served 11 straight points during the key first set run. |
The younger Bellinger's milestone was the highlight, but it was the serves of senior libero Joanna Su that turned the tide in the Spartans' favor. Bogota was within two points after Natalie Torres stuffed an overpass, but the Bucs hit one out to fall behind by three and then Su went behind the service line and reeled off 11 straight points to break the match open. When Su hit her first serve in the run her team was up 10-7. When it was over the Spartans led 21-7 and even a Bogota timeout midway through couldn't stop the momentum.
“I just think that they were the better team. We didn't play our best and [Paramus] had a lot to do with that. I really think some of my kids were overwhelmed by the situation to be honest with you,” said Bogota head coach Brad DiRupo. “When you have that great hitter like [Bellinger] you always have an advantage, but we have prided ourselves against players like that on getting in her face or digging the ball and tonight we did neither of the two.”
Kelliann Brown led Bogota with 7 kills and Samantha Gioiosa added 5. Junior setter Amanda Manzo handed out 11 assists for the Bucs, who fell to 20-3 on the season.
Maria Bellinger finished with 17 kills, three even from the back row and also provided solid defense with 8 digs. Paramus setter Taylor Kellenberger handed out 27 assists and the Spartans got contributions from all over the court. Junior Rianna McNamee (4 kills, 3 blocks) provided a strong presence in the middle of the net, senior Tori Ondo had 4 kills and 6 digs, Ashley Dunn added 3 kills and Su finished with 12 service points and 4 digs.
Fourth-seeded Paramus (21-3) , which will need a similar effort and probably more if it wants to get past its next county opponent, top-seeded IHA, the defending champion that has won this tournament eight times in the last 10 years.
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Junior setter Caitlin Floyd played a role in more than half of IHA's total points with 23 assists and 3 kills. |
The Blue Eagles made short work of No. 8 River Dell in Tuesday's nightcap by racing out to a 13-2 first set lead before going on to a 25-10, 25-11 victory. In years past with players like Ariel Scott and 2014 graduate Nia Reed, IHA could just pound opponents into submission, this year their most dominant player is junior setter Caitlin Floyd, who puts passes on the tape with deception from any angle.
Floyd, along with senior holdovers Maeve Kenny and Kristin Kirwan, are surrounded by youth with four freshman seeing action for the Eagles on Tuesday night. And everybody contributed on Tuesday inside a balanced attack. Junior Annabel Reyes led the way with 8 kills, Kirwan had 7, sophomore Gianna D'Onofrio and junior Casey King each had 5 with Floyd playing a hand in more than half of the Eagles total scoring with 23 assists and 3 kills of her own.
Bitten by the injury bug for stretches of this season, the Eagles are almost fully healthy and are again the favorites as they improved to 30-1.
“We like that we can use a number of different players and still be efficient in our attack,” said Maria Nolan, whose team knocked off Paramus in a two-game sweep in the regular season. “We have Paramus again [in the semifinals] and we played well the last time we played them, but they have the revenge factor working for them this time and we'll come back at them with the best we can on that night.”
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