Park leads way for Pirates
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Jinae Park never had a doubt that the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South girls volleyball team would find its way.
The Pirates junior is a big reason why.
”She means about everything to us,” said Pirates first-year head coach Dan Macionis, who added the girls job to his boys head coaching position. “She’s one of our two captains. She’s a tremendous leader. She leads by example. She’s really all in for volleyball. This is her sport. She loves to do well in it. She wants to be the best she can and she wants the team to do the best they can. She lays out to get any ball she can.”
Park’s example — maybe the biggest assist that the Pirates’ setter has given her team — has gone a long way in helping to pull together a WW-P South team that lost one of the best hitters in the state when Hayley Merrill graduated to Montclair State University’s women’s team, and long-time head coach Michael Adams stepped down to devote more time to his own family and club volleyball. It was enough to raise concerns, but not from Park.
”Personally, I thought that we were going to do great,” she said. “There were definitely a lot of people who were skeptical about how we would perform. I know the girls on our team, the different personalities and the potential we had. I wasn’t worried at all.”
The Pirates were finding their way at 5-5 when everything started to click. WW-P South crushed Piscataway in two games last Tuesday, took it to Notre Dame in a two-game win last Wednesday, stopped Hopewell Valley on Friday, then pulled out a 25-22, 9-25, 25-23 win over JFK Iselin-Kennedy for their fourth straight win, their longest streak of the season.
”Last week was definitely the point where we started progressing more as a team,” Park said. “Before that, I don’t think it was anything to do with our playing, it was more our mental game. As a captain, I partially blame myself for that. All I can do is be there for them and instill that confidence in them. It was amazing.”
While putting together the four-game winning streak, Park, the team’s starting setter for each of her three years of high school, recorded her 1,000th career assist against Piscataway to join an elite club.
”When I first made varsity freshman year, one of the things that my coaches and my parents talked about is reaching these great milestone because I had so much opportunity,” Park said. “Reaching 1,000 assists has been one of my main goals.”
Jinae Park is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”Her 1,000th assist, that’s a huge milestone,” Macionis said. “My first year with the girls program, I’m lucky to have a girl like her to help me out and let me know what they’ve done in the past. She’s also able to tell the girls what I want them to do. It’s a good gap between the old way and the new way. She’s able to bridge the gap. It can be difficult with a new coach come in. Having a captain who’s able to bridge that gap has really helped us.”
Park believed all along that the Pirates would hit their stride. They are four games over .500 as they head into today’s match against Rancocas Valley.
”I think we’re doing absolutely fantastic,” Park said. “The thing that people have said is how we’ve coped with losing one of our big hitters, Hayley Merrill. She was a big reason we did so well. We’ve gone above and beyond expectations. We’re playing hard and having fun. How we’re playing this year is how we should be playing.”
Park speaks with the confidence of a veteran player. She has more experience at the varsity level with more games started than anyone else in the WW-P south lineup. She has grown a bit every year and was ready to take on a bigger role this year.
”I think really the main difference from freshman year to now is my confidence level,” Park said. “Being on the court with some juniors and seniors was intimidating, but with the support of my teammates, coaches and family, I got through it.”
Park has fallen back to her own experiences coming up through the years to help her less experienced teammates.
”I think I really try to take the example that Hayley gave me freshman year,” Park said. “She was the veteran then and I was the rookie. The thing she gave me was the faith in me that I’m on varsity for a reason. That’s what I try to pass on to the girls now — you’re on varsity for a reason and I have faith in you, that’s why I give you the ball.
”Really, I try to emphasize enjoy the game,” she added. “There’s no point of winning if you’re not having fun. The whole point is to have fun and do something we love. Something as a team we need to keep sight of is the joy in the game. We need to never give up and have perseverance.”
Park has been a passionate example for her Pirates. Her passing has grown more consistent every year since she took up the sport in seventh grade. She enjoyed volleyball from the outset.
”I think it was really the team aspect of it,” Park said. “We played in gym. I went to a couple camps. The Pirate camp that we host at South, I went to that. I liked the whole dynamic of sport, every single person plays a huge part in the whole game. It wasn’t all on one person.”
As setter, Park does play a key role in keeping the Pirates offense working. She spreads the ball to different players and looks to keep opponents off balance. Her skills at doing so have grown as she gravitated to the setter spot.
”It was definitely something I experimented with,” Park said. “When I first started playing, you don’t have a position. As I started progressing through the levels, I realized setting was something I was good at and also something I wanted to work on.”
That work paid off. With Park passing well and the offense starting to find its roles, the Pirates are looking like a tougher team thanks to a defense that has been present all year.
”We play defense well,” Macionis said. “I keep talking to them about that being our bread and butter. When they have confidence and trust each other when they’re next to each other, we’re good at that. We’re able to wear teams down when we keep getting the ball up. They’re going to eventually make mistakes.”
There are changes to the team. As it has found success, WW-P South has started to develop more belief in itself.
”It just goes back to that confidence factor,” Park said. All the girls were really skeptical about how they would play this season. Because of that, we were playing scared. That’s not something I wanted to see from my teammates. That’s something that’s progressed — going out there knowing we can win and knowing we can have fun.”
The recent winning stretch was as fun as it gets. It has the Pirates in good position to win the newly formed West Jersey Interscholastic Volleyball League. They will have to stop WW-P North for the second time this year to do so. The two meet in their annual Serve Up Hope game on Oct. 7.
”I really think we’re going to make states,” Macionis said. “It depends if they continue to work hard. We’ll make a run at the playoffs — a couple rounds. We don’t have that huge hitter that some teams have and we have a lot of good players and any of them could step up. If we get that and everyone steps up around them, we can have a very solid team.
”The big thing is the confidence. They need to believe in themselves. It’s confidence. Coming in, seeing how they play, I know they have the ability. They have to have the confidence to trust their ability. We’re still a little timid at times. We need to go hard whether we’re up or down.”
Park has no doubt that the Pirates will be up for the North match. It’s a rivalry game that she has been a part of for three years and she is plenty familiar with what it will take to win it.
”I had this confidence in our team from the beginning,” Park said. “Now I’m starting to see the whole team is feeling the same way. Now you’re seeing girls walking on the court with this confidence. You know they can play. I love to see that.
We have the North match coming up next week. I have complete faith we’re going to win. The girls are so confident in themselves and they really enjoy playing the game now.”
And for that, Jinae Park gets another assist.