By: Lance Manion
South Brunswick girls volleyball coach Shaun Ruyman knows his team is far from perfect.
Yet, that’s exactly what the Vikings are eight games into the season.
"Every single game, it seems there are lulls or points where the girls are not playing up to the best of their abilities," the Vikings’ first-year varsity coach said. "That’s when you have to get it into their heads that they’re beatable."
Apparently, the Vikings 8-0 after wins over North Brunswick, Bishop Ahr and Old Bridge in Greater Middlesex Conference action last week have received the message loud and clear. Three times this season they’ve had to go three sets and three times this season they’ve come away victorious.
Take the 2-1 win over Bishop Ahr for example. The Vikings’ 25-11 setback in game one represented their widest margin of defeat all season, yet the senior-laden team bounced back to take the next two sets, 25-10 and 25-23.
Not exactly a perfect performance, but a perfect outcome nonetheless.
"The first time you come back, it’s a fluke," Ruyman said of the Vikings’ ability to rally from early-game deficits this season. "If it happens twice, it’s luck, but when it happens three times you’re starting to see a team that’s in a comfortable place (being able to rally). If anything, I think this is a team that’s shown great resiliency."
"The Vikings have shown the ability to dominate, too, sweeping both North Brunswick (25-13, 25-12) and Old Bridge (25-14, 25-15). Jordan Confessore led the way in the North Brunswick win, tallying five kills, four assists and two digs, while Jess Belsky contributed three aces, seven digs and nine service points.
Kacy Kelly and Nikki Weiss were standouts in the Old Bridge victory, with Kelly totaling five kills, two digs and two blocks and Weiss adding two kills, four blocks and four service points.
"The thing that’s most impressive is how well we’re hitting the ball lately," Ruyman said. "We’ve become a high-killing team with a lot of assists and our setters have really gotten involved. (Against Old Bridge) our passing was very consistent, which was a nice thing to see."
The Vikings are perfect midway through Ruyman’s first campaign, yet the coach realizes just how close his team was from falling to the loss column.
"If April Thomas doesn’t rattle off a bunch of service points in a row against Bishop Ahr," Ruyman said, "who knows? Her serving was the difference in that match."
Thomas finished with eight service points and two aces, while Confessore’s team-high 11 kills contributed to the victory.
"We didn’t play our best match (against Bishop Ahr)," Ruyman said, "but I think we came out of that match being able to identify that if we serve well, we will be a tough team to beat. It was a good lesson to learn because I think we figured out that we can’t just walk on the court and expect to win every time."
Even if winning is all the Vikings have done this season.

