SC is next for CNHS volleyball champs

Cougars win second straight A North title

BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer

This season has been all about getting to the next level for the Colts Neck girls volleyball team.

This weekend they can take that next step, when they compete in the Shore Conference Tournament Friday and Saturday. Friday’s first-round matches are at the homes of the highest seeds, with Saturday’s semifinals and final at defending champion Southern.

Last year the Cougars advanced to the semifinals for the first time, and they would like to be the team still standing when the finals are held, most likely against the Shore’s top team, Southern.

The Cougars, 16-4, have already accomplished their first goal: the successful defense of their A North Division championship. The Cougars are undefeated in A North play this fall.

Head coach Glenn Jansen has called this team “the best I’ve ever had.” He could add to that, the hardest-working.

“The girls made a commitment,” he pointed out. “The entire squad went to the Penn State camp.”

Along with the camp, the Cougars played in the Jersey Shore League over the summer. When the season began last month, because of all the offseason play, the Cougars, Jansen reported, were well ahead of where he expected them to be.

The Cougars returned all but two players from the 2006 team that won the program’s first A North crown. The core of the team is a trio of senior tri-captains: Ferdesa Bauta, Tiffany Kirk and Angela Papasso.

Bauta is the go-to player on offense. The outside-hitter leads the Shore in kills this year (175). Kirk, who plays opposite, does all the little things and is the bridge between the back and Bauta on the forward line with her passing. Papasso, as the libero, is the most important player on defense.

Kristen Anderson (middle hitter), Samantha Shaw (outside hitter) Christen Papasso (setter) and newcomer Karissa Herrick have made up the starting rotation.

Bauta is the only starter who is topping the volleyball statistic charts. As if to back up how strong the Cougars are, Christen Papasso leads the Shore in assists (248) and digs (102). Shaw is among the leaders in aces (29), and Herrick has 50 kills and 11 blocks to rank in both. Anderson is tops on the team in blocks with 14 and has 38 kills.

Jansen has more than an outstanding starting unit. He has talented players off the bench.

“I have the luxury of the deepest bench in the Shore,” he explained. “I have five seniors who could start.

“I can go to any one of them and get a lift,” he added. “My subs raise the level of play.”

Seniors Katie Festa, Shannon Andl, Tori Mauro and Cherelle Hill are among the first-rate subs that Jansen can turn to. Festa is third on the team with 10 blocks.

High school volleyball is all about runs, Jansen remarked, and by having such a deep squad, it enables him to find the right match-ups that can prevent a team from getting on a six- or sevenpoint run against his club.

Colts Neck’s other goal this fall is to get the team’s first state playoff win. They’ve been in the state tournament the past three years but haven’t gotten that first win yet. Everything is pointing in the direction of a victory this year.

Marlboro coach Marge McNamara expected her team to be competitive and in the postseason mix in ’07, and that’s right where they are. The ‘Stangs are 7- 8 with the cut off date to be .500 or better today.

The Mustangs have been sparked by a trio of seniors – Chiara Sturgil, Amanda LeFante and Nikki Pigliacelli. Sturgil is the middle hitter who is aggressive at the net, LeFante is the setter and blocker, and Pigliacelli is the powerful middle hitter who also provides offense with her jump serve.

Kyleen Hoover (defense) and Danielle Edwards (outside hitter) are the other starters.

Howell is a third-year program that is still a work in progress. Captains Keri Hardiman and Sara Owen, a pair of seniors who have been with the program since the beginning, are the leaders.

Jasmine Colon, Kelly Mormino, Kelly Ng and Ivana Parker are seniors who bring veteran experience to the club.

Junior Heather Tallman and sophomores Julie Kerr and Gabrielle Sebastian represent the future.

Howell is 5-11.

Freehold Borough is the newcomer to the sport and is going through the growing pangs of all first-year programs. The Colonials did pick up the school’s first win on Oct. 9 when they beat Long Branch, 25-3, 25-8.

Andrea Brown had eight assists and four digs for Freehold, and Kristen Frost added five aces and three kills.

Blair Hassel, Anjanettte McGackin, Cassandra Salceo, Amanda Brennan, Amanda Matthews, Lauren Trulli, Zena Zweber, Melanee Devorin, Daphne Bistrimovich, Delaney Frost and Tiffany Seeber round out the school’s first varsity team.