By: Ken Weingartner
Respect, the South Brunswick High boys volleyball team learned, can be a two-edged sword.
The Vikings, who won just two matches a year ago in their inaugural season, had hoped to gain respect from coaches and players around the state. By winning 13 times this season, SB accomplished its goal. And word about the team certainly got around.
Ultimately, it might have hurt South Brunswick. The Vikings, who failed to post a win over any of the teams in the state tournament but got a higher-than-expected seed (No. 26) based on the recommendations of opposing coaches, weren’t going to sneak up on anyone.
After losing in three games to No. 7 Cherry Hill West last week, the Vikings learned that fact.
"The Cherry Hill West coach said multiple people warned him that we really weren’t a No. 26 seed," Vikings senior tri-captain Andrew Orlando said. "Because of that, they were ready for a tough match. It can work both ways.
"We kind of got a tough draw. I think Cherry Hill West is a very good team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the semifinals. I think they’re better than their seed."
South Brunswick, which finished the season 13-11, lost 25-17, 25-17 and 25-21 at Cherry Hill West. Darryl Pratt had nine kills and two blocks while Tom Lanza had 10 assists and two blocks.
"I didn’t see too many differences between the teams," Orlando said. "I saw a difference in the passing, they were more consistent than we were. They ran a very quick offense and had some very strong outside hitters. They were just smashing the ball into and around the blocks. I wouldn’t say it was an evenly matched game, but we were fairly close to their level.
"I felt we could play with them, but I knew it was going to be tough. We definitely would have to play our best game to beat them. They had a lot of hitting errors, but not a lot of other errors. They were hitting through our blocks, just out of bounds. When they had the hitting errors, it didn’t feel like we had them on the ropes; it felt liked we kind of dodged one."
Orlando said the Vikings were fairly relaxed heading into their first-ever state tourney match. In fact, Orlando nearly missed the team bus which was scheduled to leave about 30 minutes prior to the end of the school day - because he lost track of time while in class.
"Leading up to the game, I had this feeling like ‘This is it. This is what I’ve been working toward since the end of last season.’ It got me pretty motivated to play," Orlando said. "As a team, I’d say we were a little bit tight, but we were very focused."
In addition to the state tourney, South Brunswick played in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament last week. The Vikings won their opening match in four games over Piscataway as Orlando had 13 kills and three blocks. Lanza also had 13 kills, to go with 24 assists, while Pratt had 16 kills.
As their reward for gaining their first-ever tournament victory, the Vikings got to face unbeaten East Brunswick, the state’s No. 1 team. SB fell in three games.
"I don’t see how anyone is going to beat East Brunswick," Orlando said. "They just have so many weapons."
Despite the growth the Vikings enjoyed in the last year, and their limited experience from only having two seasons at the varsity level, Orlando doesn’t have any regrets about seeing his scholastic career come to an end.
"I’ve thought about what might have happened if I had played since freshman year," said Orlando, who plans to play club volleyball when he attends Rutgers next fall. "Having four years experience, I probably would have been a tremendous player, but I know I wouldn’t have been putting the work in like I did last year. You just don’t seek out opportunities when you’re young like that.
"The way it ended up, there was definitely a sense of urgency. We felt we had to make up for all those years of experience in one year. For me, personally, it’s not the end. It’s more like the end of the beginning. I’m looking to the future to see what I’ll be doing with volleyball. It was a good season, but all seasons have to come to an end. I’m satisfied with what we accomplished."
And he won’t have to tell many people about it. The word, as the Vikings discovered, is out.
