Marlboro High School’s Dylan O’Handley tries to keep the ball alive during the Mustangs’ April 11 volleyball match against visiting Colts Neck High School. The Cougars defeated Marlboro, 2-0. ERIC SUCAR staff The wait was worth it. Colts Neck High School did not start its 2012 boys volleyball season until April 11 in Marlboro and it took little time for the Cougars to make an impression.
In their 2-0 win over an always dangerous Marlboro High School team, the Cougars showed why coach Glenn Jansen believes they have the potential to produce the best record in school history (19 wins).
Like a successful baseball team, the Cougars are strong up the middle, with middle hitter Hunter Wysocki, setter Ryan von der Fecht and libero (defensive specialist) Corrado Cina. The seniors are the team’s tricaptains and the foundation.
“What I see is that we work well as a group,” Jansen said after the Cougars had locked up 25-21, 25-22 victory over the Mustangs.
Colts Neck High School’s Ryan Oros (l) and Colton Bryan try to block a shot during the Cougars’ 2-0 victory over Marlboro on April 11 at Marlboro High School. ERIC SUCAR staff Wysocki has transferred his basketball talents to the volleyball court and has become a force (Marlboro was triple-teaming him). Make no mistake about it, the 6-5 Wysocki takes the sport seriously and has picked up the nuances like a cut shot and dinks. He is not all about power, but when it comes to power, he is unstoppable at the net. He had 12 kills against Marlboro.
“I’d put him up against anyone in the Shore Conference at his position,” Jansen said. “He hits the ball harder and with more accuracy.”
Wysocki is one of three imposing players the Cougars can put on the floor, along with the 6-5 von der Fecht and 6-7 Hong Lang Zhang. The trio asserted themselves against Marlboro.
Von der Fecht is as good a playmaker as the Cougars have had, according to Jansen. He had 24 assists in the win over Marlboro.
Colton Bryan (outside hitter), Jeffrey Cho (defensive specialist), Jack Lind (outside hitter) and Ryan Oros (middle hitter) complete the Cougars’ starting unit.
Jacob Feigenbaum (defensive specialist), Dean Horneck (outside hitter), Matt Kemp (setter), Vivek Sindhu (middle hitter), Dan Spieler (outside hitter) and Elvin Yaskluvich (right-side hitter) complete the squad.
Colts Neck came back onApril 12 in its first home match to beat Freehold, 25-11, 25-18, as von der Fecht contributed 16 assists, Wysocki had four kills, and Cina came up with 11 digs.
Despite the loss to Colts Neck, Marlboro coach Margie McNamara said she is seeing progress in her inexperienced club. She has only three returning players.
“There is a difference playing varsity from JV,” she said. “It’s a transition.”
McNamara said the varsity inexperience has shown itself in close sets, where inconsistency catches up to the Mustangs. The team does not quite have the confidence it needs. Yet, the Mustangs are 4-3.
Senior Ejaz Galani (middle blocker), who, McNamara says, “sees the court so well,” Jason Kaplin (libero) and Brandon D’Lima are the only returnees from 2011.
Ryan Mandell (outside hitter) and Dylan O’Handley (setter) are newcomers who have fit right into the starting lineup.
Tim Ong (setter), Mitch Lee (outside hitter) and John Vaccaro (outside hitter) all get a lot of playing time as McNamara frequently substitutes with her 6-2 lineup.
The Mustangs bounced back from the loss to Colts Neck to defeat St. John Vianney, 25-17, 24-26, 25-13, and collect a win in a close match.
Galani had seven kills and Kaplin had 21 digs and five service aces, while O’Handley chipped in with 16 assists and five aces.
Freehold High School, which has been making steady advances in volleyball, is looking to improve on its 7-9 campaign of 2011 with a veteran team of seniors and juniors and one sophomore. With a 2-0 win over Marlboro and an early 2-1 record, this could be the year the Colonials post a winning record for coach Ben DiBiase.
Seniors Mike Holdorf (opposite), Brody Indursky (setter), Justin Eng (outside), Kenny Taylor (outside) and Mike Chehanske (outside), and juniors Joe Bock (libero) and Bryan Pfeffer (outside) make up the Colonials’ veteran core. Juniors Kyle Scoras (middle) and Pat Hannigan (outside), and sophomore Nick Krauss (middle) are expected to contribute.
Senior captains Holdorf and Indursky are the team leaders, according to DiBiase. Indursky had 35 assists in the team’s first two victories, while Holdorf had 11 kills and five service aces.
Taylor and Krauss have been very effective at the net, and Bock has been the leader in service points.
Colts Neck, Marlboro and Freehold play in the Shore Conference A North Division.
Howell High School, which plays in the Shore Conference A South Division, is looking to rebound from last season’s subpar 6-10 campaign. Coach Jim Huebner has a senior-laden team that is ready to put 2011 behind it and put Howell back on the winning track.
Although the team has seven seniors, it is not long on experience, but the Rebels are making up for that with chemistry and teamwork.
“They get along well and they are playing well as a unit and communicating,” Hueber said. “We have no one dominant player. They mesh well together.” Seniors Mitch Smith (outside hitter) and Tom Shockley (outside hitter who was the libero last year) are the players who saw significant time in 2011. Pat DeVine (middle hitter) saw limited playing time.
Seniors George Catanzaro (outside hitter), Brian Maisonave (middle hitter) and Frankie Papasso (setter), and junior Pete Wilson (outside hitter) are all up from the junior varsity, where they experienced success last season.
The Rebels are off to a 4-1 start.
“I anticipated this being a good team,” said Hueber, who added that what he did not expect was Howell gelling this quickly. He said having seven seniors in the lineup has helped the Rebels win the close games.
Howell handed Marlboro its first loss of the season, 25-15, 25-20, with setter Papasso controlling the game with 26 assists. Smith came up with 11 digs that kept points alive.
At the net, DeVine and Smith had seven kills each, Maisonave had six and Shockely had five.
On the serving end, Maisonave and Shockley each had seven service points, with Maisonave delivering six aces. Smith has the most kills (26) and digs (15) on the season and is tied with Maisonave for most service points (25). Maisonave leads the team with 16 aces. For the season, Papasso has 81 assists.
The bad news for Howell about playing in the A South division is the presence of state power Southern Regional High School of Manahawkin. The Rebels opened their season by losing to the Rams, 2-0. Since then, they have won all of their matches by a 2-0 score.
McNamara’s Mustangs have played all of the other Freehold Regional High School District teams this spring and she remarked that “the district teams are looking good.”