By: David Gurney
EDISON There’s just something about those East Brunswick Bears.
The South Brunswick High girls’ volleyball team hasn’t dropped many matches the last couple years, but one team certainly has the Vikings number.
In each of the last two seasons, the Vikings have fallen in the GMCT Championship game to the Bears, this Monday falling to undefeated East Brunswick 2-0 (25-22, 25-15) at JP Stevens High School.
Adding insult to injury, two of the Vikings four losses this season have come against East Brunswick, although the Vikings were the only GMC team to win a game against the Bears.
"It stinks, you want to beat them so badly and that’s pretty much all we came here to do today," senior middle back April Thomas said. "It’s really disappointing. We were so close. But we let them get to us."
Thomas, like most of the squad, has seen her share of wins and losses to the Bears. In fact, seven of the 12 members on the roster are seniors and 10 of the 12 are upperclassmen, including the six starters.
But the frustrating factor is, for these upperclassmen and seniors, the losses recently have outweighed the wins against their county rival.
"Last year we lost to East Brunswick in the finals and we played them well this year, we gave them a run for their money," senior setter Jordan Confessore said. "It just didn’t fall our way today."
For head coach Shaun Ruymen, this year was his first taste of the SB-EB rivalry. Yet, he knows full well the significance of the rivalry and how close his team had been to beating the Bears this year.
"It’s a tough thing to lose to East Brunswick, because it’s a team you know that you have to compete with and go through every year," Ruymen said. "It’s a tough way to go out. But we know what the level is that we have to get to and we know we’re not far away."
NOTES: Confessore and Thomas were both named to the GMC All-Conference team after outstanding seasons. Meanwhile, Ruymen was named GMC Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm for the Vikings

