By: Ken Weingartner
After pushing state power East Brunswick to the limit, the South Brunswick High School boys volleyball team proved it was for real Tuesday by beating J.P. Stevens.
The Vikings (1-1) got their first-ever win over Stevens 25-12, 21-25, 25-21 as Greg Kilbride registered 12 kills and Dan Latinsky had seven kills and 12 blocks. Steve Smoke added five kills and six blocks. The Hawks finished among the top 16 teams in the state last season.
"I’m trying to smash the perception that we’re a developing program," said South Brunswick coach Steve Dentler, whose program is in its fourth season. "I’d like to see us as a developed program."
South Brunswick’s win followed a three-game setback against the Bears, who reached the state tourney semifinals last season and are perennial contenders for the title. The Vikings fell 25-23, 23-25, 25-14.
"It’s unfortunate we don’t charge admission, I think that match was definitely worth it," Dentler said with a laugh. "I don’t know if we’ve had had a match that looked like it was worth paying for. That was worth it. It was a lot of fun."
The Vikings were tied with EB at 23-23 in the first game before dropping the next two points. South Brunswick rallied to take the second game, but fell behind 5-0 in the third and was unable to recover.
"Everyone was excited when we won the second game, maybe overly excited," Dentler said. "It was the most significant game the program had won, but it wasn’t the match. For the briefest amount of time, they forgot the match wasn’t over. It was a natural letdown for us."
Kilbride had 11 kills and two blocks against the Bears. Smoke added five kills and three blocks for the Vikings while Travis Wardlow had 19 assists.
"Our offense against East Brunswick was really predictable, and they couldn’t stop us," Dentler said. "They were sitting on [Kilbride] and couldn’t stop him. They didn’t block anything. It was pretty impressive. I think we had them scared for quite a while.
"We played good, but we didn’t play perfect. That’s even more encouraging; that we’re playing against East Brunswick and we’re not playing our best game and we’re still causing problems."
South Brunswick was scheduled to play Hillsborough last night, and has Piscataway tonight and Plainfield tomorrow.
"I think these first two matches gave my guys a tremendous amount of confidence," Dentler said. "I think they’re starting to believe they’ve turned the corner on good. Until they start believing they can win, it’s really challenging. It was good to let my guys feel like they belong with the best teams in the state. I’d like to think we’re there."

