WW-P South volleyball peaks in states

Pirates advance; WW-PN falls in first state game

By: Justin Feil
   The West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls’ volleyball team didn’t open the Group III state tournament like one of the lower seeds.
   The 18th-seeded Pirates put away No. 15 Cherry Hill West, 25-19, 25-22, Tuesday to advance to Thursday’s scheduled game against No. 2 Old Tappan.
   "It seems like as the season progresses, we’ve gotten better and better," said Crystal Chang, who led the Pirates with eight kills. "We’re peaking now. It was harder in the beginning because we didn’t come together as much as a team. We were so enthusiastic and energetic on the court (Tuesday). It’s hard for any team to combat that.
   "We went into it feeling we could win, that we stood a chance. We knew everyone had to be on, and we were. In games before, we’d go in and try to do it and something wouldn’t be working. Then it wouldn’t quite work out the way we wanted it to. Today it did. Everything came together."
   Chang was excited to extend her senior season beyond Tuesday. She saw a rise in focus level as the state tournament, and the inevitable end of her scholastic career, approached.
   "You can feel the improvement, even during practice," Chang said. "You can feel when everyone starts wanting it so much. Everyone starts putting in all the extra effort. The effort you put in, you see it when you get out there. You want to do so much. Now it’s so close to the end, we realize we have to do them now or we’re not going to have the chance."
   For West Windsor-Plainsboro North, the season ended Tuesday. The 19th-seeded Knights lost their first-ever state tournament game at No. 14 Roxbury in two games. WW-P North was able to rally from a 22-16 deficit in the first game to tie it, 23-23, before losing in two games.
   "They got a taste of success and taste of playing in the offseason," said North head coach Frank Motondo, whose team went 11-12 this year. "And after, two sophomores who are going to be major contributors next year, they asked me as soon as they got on the bus when club starts. That’s a step in the right direction."
   Motondo considered the entire season a step in the right direction. The Knights won a program-high 11 matches in addition to reaching the states. Toughest for him will be parting ways with some of the players who brought the Knights to a new level.
   "The only drawback is I lose six seniors," he said. "That’s the biggest thing I look at when I’m looking to the future."
   And for those returning, Motondo is hoping that a taste of success will spur more of the team to compete year-round for their club team. The state tournament game was just a start.
   "I told them, soak in everything about today, what it feels like to compete in a state match and everything," Motondo said.
   Chang is also talking about taking in everything she can, and more importantly, passing on all she can to the Pirates’ future team leaders.
   "When you get to be a senior, you start realizing there are so many other goals to keep in mind," she said. "It’s not just playing well and being a team. Individually, it’s almost too late to make connections with team members you never made connections with before. You try to be an example for future seniors and future players. You want them to learn to love the game as much as you do."
   Chang fell fast for the game that she says was the first sport she could do really well. She’s developed into a team leader as one of the outside hitters with fellow co-captain Lauren Morfe, who had seven kills in Tuesday’s win.
   "They’re stepping it up," said Pirates head coach Michael Adams, whose team would play the Paramus-Moorestown winner Tuesday with a win Thursday. "That’s what tournament time is for. If you’re going to start playing your game, this is the time to do it. They had some girls who could serve tough. I was impressed how our girls stepped up to it and how they passed overall."
   The Pirates didn’t play Tuesday like a team that had reached the state tournament on the final day of the cutoff for being .500. They played the way they thought was possible at the beginning of the year.
   "The seeding came before a lot of things," Chang said. "We didn’t come together as a team much before this. We all like each other on and off the court. But it only came together recently. The seeding is correct by our record. It doesn’t take into account what we could do."
   Tuesday’s win showed just how good they could be. Adams pointed out that the Pirates’ consistency made a big difference. Just at the right time.
   "Every year, every team is different," Chang said. "For us, we weren’t the team we wanted to be at the beginning of the season. We haven’t realized it until now."