Dentler hopes for South Brunswick fortune to change

By: Ken Weingartner
   China won the 2004 Olympic gold medal in women’s volleyball, but when South Brunswick High boys volleyball coach Steve Dentler turned to the Far East for inspiration, that wasn’t where he found it.
   No, Dentler discovered what he was looking for in another manner – by cracking open a fortune cookie after having dinner at a Chinese restaurant last week.
   Dentler’s fortune informed him he was bound to have good luck and overcome a major obstacle. After watching his Vikings fall to 7-8 earlier in the week with a loss to state No. 1 St. Joe’s – their seventh setback in 10 matches – it was all he needed to know.
   "The gods of fortune cookies have decided things are going to turn around for us," Dentler said, laughing. "I’m not sure if the guys bought into the concept, but I’m running with it. Sports are filled with superstitions. Baseball players jump over white lines, I’m going with the fortune cookie thing."
   South Brunswick was 1-0 with the fortune cookie thing entering Wednesday night’s match against Old Bridge. The Vikings won 25-17, 25-10 Monday over Edison, playing their best match in recent memory.
   Dan Latinsky had 15 kills and three blocks while Kevin Mariano had 21 assists to lead South Brunswick. Greg Kilbride had seven kills and six digs while Steve Smoke had three kills and six digs. Brian Roth rocketed two jump-serve aces.
   "Edison was hanging in and fighting with us the first game; they led 14-12," Dentler said. "Then we ran away from them. In the second game, it got ugly, which is fine. We needed that for our confidence."
   In truth, the Vikings’ success against Edison might have resulted from coaching, not a fortune cookie. Dentler moved several players around last week in practice and in the St. Joe’s match. He returned to South Brunswick’s regular lineup against Edison.
   "The concept was to see if we could get something to function and to focus on positional stuff that maybe had become too monotonous," Dentler said. "They were so accustomed to being in spots that maybe they lost track of what they were supposed to be doing. I put them in positions where they really had to think about what was going on.
   "Against Edison, we were right on. We were firing on all cylinders and our passing was tremendous. We showed we were capable of playing good volleyball again. Regardless of the outcome, it was nice to see us play really well again. They could feel they were really on; their confidence is coming back. I think seeing the way we played Monday was great, really great."
   SIDEOUTS: After playing Old Bridge, ranked No. 2 in the state, last night, South Brunswick plays Hillsborough Friday and West Windsor-Plainsboro North Monday. The Vikings need to win two of those three matches to qualify for the state tournament . . . Kilbride had five kills and three blocks against St. Joe’s last week while Zach Nieman had six digs . . . South Brunswick’s freshman team won an invitational tournament for ninth-graders at East Brunswick. Among the programs represented were East Brunswick, St. Joe’s, Old Bridge and Clifton, which all have varsity teams ranked in the state’s top seven. "That they won the whole thing was very cool," Dentler said. "It validates the work that [coach] Shaun Ruymen is doing for us there."