By: Rich Fisher
As good as it has become, the South Brunswick High volleyball program still has a stumbling block when it comes to the state tournament.
For the third straight season, the Vikings fell in the first round of the Central Jersey Group IV tournament, losing to Clifton, 25-21 and 29-27 on Tuesday.
South Brunswick had little time to regroup, as it met Bishop Ahr in the first round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament on Wednesday. For results of that match, log onto www.southbrunswickpost.com.
"We finally had a home game in the states," said coach Nancy McDonald, whose 15th seeded team was hosting the 18th seed. "The problem is, we don’t have any advantage playing at home."
Strange as it may sound, having a palace for a gym like they do at South Brunswick, can sometimes be a disadvantage.
"We go to these other gyms, the lighting is bad, or there are baskets hanging low, and the home team is used to that and we have to adapt to it," McDonald said. "Our gym is so nice and that’s a good thing for us, but it doesn’t give other teams a disadvantage. They don’t have to come in here and adjust to anything, and that’s a great equalizer. Maybe we should start putting obstacles out on the floor."
McDonald was quick to note that is not the reason the Vikings lost. In an all-too familiar pattern of late, SBHS fell behind in the first game and tried to battle back, only to run out of steam. In game two, the Vikes had game point twice, but could not put it away.
"We dig ourselves a little bit of a hole and have a tough time getting back," the coach said. "When we do get back, we can’t put together a run to give us confidence. The other team is battling too.
"After we come back, maybe we relax, thinking we’re going to cruise through. But the scoring is such that you have to be consistent. When we were up game point, we couldn’t get two in a row. There wasn’t any specific reason or thing, it just didn’t happen. The court was tilted the wrong way."
South Brunswick (15-4) got a strong game from Jordan Confessore, who had eight assists, six kills, seven service points and two aces. April Thomas chipped in with three kills, four assists and two digs, and Nikki Weiss had two aces, a kill and four digs.
"We played OK," McDonald said. "But this team this year, we go for some things and we have a tendency to make too many errors. They like to go for nice hard kills and put the ball down so it doesn’t get returned. We play aggressive, but we tend to miss a lot."
And the serving, which was a weapon all year, is suddenly not serving its purpose.
"We haven’t been serving the way we’re capable of," McDonald said. "We’re really not serving well lately, we’re a little off. That’s usually what carries us through."
If the Vikings win Wednesday’s GMC game, McDonald has no idea when the semifinals will be held, due to the state tournament.
"We have to fix this next year," she said. "We have to move the GMC’s up and play them a week earlier, so teams can concentrate on one tournament at a time."
KILLS: The Vikes beat Edison last Friday, 2-1, as Confessore had 13 service points, five aces, seven kills and eight assists, and Thomas had seven service points, five aces, six kills and 10 assists.

