SBHS volleyball team making early progress

By: Guy Kipp
   High school coaches routinely look for steady improvement from their charges throughout the course of a season.
   To that end, South Brunswick girls volleyball coach Shaun Ruymen already likes what he sees.
   Although South Brunswick was a winner in its opening-day encounter with Edison last Friday, the 25-19, 25-18 scores were a little too close for Ruymen’s comfort. He much preferred his team’s performance three days later in a 25-17, 25-14 verdict over a more athletic, highly regarded Piscataway outfit.
   On Tuesday, South dropped a 2-1 nailbiter to a 4-0 J.P. Stevens squad, losing 27-25, 20-25 and 25-18.
   "The girls started to jell against Piscataway," Ruymen said. "We need to rely on their ability to pass and serve, and they did that well against Piscataway. Piscataway had more weapons and more athleticism, and they had trouble with our serves."
   That stood in contrast to the match against Edison, in which South Brunswick "walked away disappointed, knowing that we should have played better."
   One standout performance in the triumph over Piscataway was provided by Melissa Curcio. The senior setter shook off an inadvertent elbow to the head, continued playing and, according to Ruymen, "turned in an incredible game. She made no mistakes and toughed it out."
   Curcio also contributed 13 assists and four kills against Edison, and had 22 assists, six aces and two digs against J.P. Stevens.
   Outside hitter Kaci Kelly posted 11 kills against Piscataway, six more than she had in the opener against Edison. She followed with 11 more kills against Stevens and three aces. Ruymen was also pleased with the effort by outside hitter Sara Johnsen against Piscataway.
   "Sara is a really strong server and passer," Ruymen said. "She was also one of the few who also played really well on Friday."
   The more his players accept the philosophy of finesse over power, the more successful Ruymen expects South Brunswick to be this fall.
   "We need six players playing real well to look good," he said.