HHS girls continue volleyball success

Team set for first state match

By: John E. Powers
   
   As it heads toward completion of its third season, the Hillsborough High School girls’ volleyball team continues to move in the right direction.
   The Raiders started the week with a 12-11 record after the second annual Somerset County Tournament was held at Hillsborough Saturday. The Raiders, the third seed, opened by beating sixth-ranked Ridge before losing to second seed and eventual champion Watchung Hills 25-22, 25-17 in the semifinals. Watchung Hills defeated top-ranked Bridgwater-Raritan 25-18, 14-25, 25-16 for the title.
   The Raiders also qualified last Wednesday for their first appearance in the state tournament.
   "We had a great first round game against Ridge, a nice way to start the day," HHS head coach Todd Sudol said. "I said to the girls that there were three good teams (in the tournament). Ourselves, Bridgewater-Raritan and Watchung Hills and that the better team would emerge. The team that picked up the little parts of their game like the little extra efforts on hitting, passing and serving would win. Whoever was most consistent would win. I’m proud of the way we played. It was another step in the right direction. We were the third seed and were very competitive."
   The Raiders were scheduled to play at Watchung Hills Tuesday before ending the regular season with a home game Friday against Voorhees. Sudol said that he expected to learn who the Raiders’ first state tournament opponent would be earlier this week. The state tournament begins Oct. 31.
   "We’re going to be going against Group 4 schools," Sudol said. "We could get somebody from the Shore area, someone from North Jersey. I doubt we’ll get somebody from our area because Watchung, Hunterdon Central and Bridgewater all have higher seeds. I hope with our seeding we’ll pull a first round home game just based on our strength of schedule. We had a lot of top 20 teams we played and lost to and played tough against everybody else. I do expect us to get out of the first round. That is our goal.
   "For us, it’s about making the tournament and winning one game," he added. "And then we’ll go from there. I think that a nice way to build for this program is to make it every year and build upon winning game by game."
   Middle hitters Lindsey Watts and Jessica Zivi combined for eight blocks and seven kills in Hillsborough’s 25-15, 25-9 victory over Hackettstown last Friday. Christina Galera added 12 assists and Patty Manhart finished with four kills and an ace. The Raiders had celebrated their first state tournament playoff berth Wednesday.
   "My first two years here we didn’t win 12 games combined, so we’re well ahead of the first two years and it’s a credit to our girls," said Sudol, whose teams went 6-16 and 5-16 in the program’s first two years. "My two seniors, who’ve been with us since their sophomore year, Patty (Manhart) and Sam (Jackson), they are my two co-captains and I credit them for being wonderful leaders and stepping up and giving the girls the confidence they needed."
   Bridgewater-Raritan was the top seed in the girls tournament and Hunterdon Central was No. 2. Cherry Hill East, the fourth seed, wound up beating Bridgewater-Raritan in the semifinal and Central in the State Group 4 final. Sudol is hoping the Raiders join their Skyland Conference rivals with deep state runs soon.
   "I see states as being a real exciting thing," Jackson said. "We were the first volleyball team, and now we’re the first volleyball team to go to the states. We’re looking to get one state tournament win, hopefully two."