Coming off a 12-8 record, Steve Dentler’s South Brunswick High School boys volleyball team is looking to take things to the next level.
“We have seven seniors coming back, and of these, three or four have had significant playing time,” Dentler says. “We’re excited about this spring.”
The Vikings, who open the season April 1 against J.P. Stevens of Edison, finished fourth in their conference last year, behind powerhouses East Brunswick, St. Joseph’s of Metuchen and Old Bridge. All eight SBHS defeats came at the hands of those three teams.
“The guys did well, even though we were knocked out of the counties and the states,” Dentler notes.
Leading the senior returnees is one of the area’s better centers, Kazuki Yamada, who maintains the offensive rhythm. Kyle Mariano is moving over to the strong side of the court.
“I expect big things from him,” Dentler says.
Kieran Fitzpatrick, 6-foot-7, is a lefthanded middle player, and as his coach points out, “It took some time to get used to that. This is my seventh year of coaching and I’ve never seen a middle who hits left.”
Running down the rest of the seniors, Ken Eder has looked solid during the preseason on the outside. Stephen Zhang has also shown ability, while Sean Monaghan, who played libero last season, may be moving up front.
“We’ll see if he can fit in up front or stick with libero,” his coach says.
The final senior is Vishal Patel. Completing the relatively small Vikings roster is a pair of juniors, Andrew Green and Ben Woller, who are stuck behind the 12thgraders at the moment.
“Our goal is the same every year,” says Dentler, who is assisted by junior varsity coach Sean Ruyman and frosh mentor Javier Blanco. “We want to knock off the big boys and win the counties, and we’d like to make it to the Final Four in the states.
“If you don’t shoot for the stars,” Dentler says, “what’s the point?”