By Jimmy Allinder
Even though the Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen volleyball team is fresh off winning the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament championship, the Falcons had very little time to celebrate.
Following a hard-fought 2-1 victory (23-25, 25-13, 25-21) over rival East Brunswick High School May 21, St. Joe’s (27-9) re-entered the pressure cooker of postseason tournament volleyball as the second seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey sectional and hosted 15th-seeded Freehold High School May 24.
The victor moved on to the quarterfinals two days later to face the winner of the match between seventh-seeded Hillsborough High School and 10th-seeded Colts Neck High School.
The top seed in the sectional is East Brunswick (23-6), which owned the best record at the cutoff for qualifying and split a pair of regular-season matches with St. Joe’s in league play. The Falcons, however, have markedly improved since then.
“Every season, we fill our schedule with the toughest competition possible,” head coach Miguel Cabrita said. “By doing that, we are able to test our strengths and challenge our weaknesses with the goal of putting the best team on the court.”
Cabrita admits the experimentation can result in more losses but in the long run, his team will be better prepared for the postseason. The GMC title over East Brunswick is proof the strategy works.
St. Joe’s needs to play its very best moving forward since Central Jersey is regarded as the most competitive in the state with defending state champion Bridgewater-Raritan High School also in the bracket.
Senior setter Dave Goncalves continues his remarkable season with 797 assists, while senior outside Connor Mahony has 442 kills and junior middle blocker Kyle Duggan has 283 digs.
“At this stage, it’s about fine-tuning,” Cabrita said. “My goal is to help each individual player perfect his game and eliminate any weaknesses that can be exploited by opponents.”
Edison
An area team that made marked improvement over a year ago is Edison High School, which finished 10-10 following a 4-16 season. The Eagles relied on a lineup dominated by seniors, including the team leader in multiple categories: setter Omkar Brahmbhatt (106 points, 294 assists and 111 digs).
Other contributions came from senior opposite Raj Patel (113 kills), senior outside Dishen Patel, junior outside Michael Wales (104 kills, 114 digs), junior middle blocker Ryan Sohail, senior middle blocker Uzair Shaikh, senior defensive specialist Aayush Patel (81 points, 91 digs) and senior libero Musa Sadiq (126 digs).
“Our goal was to continually improve and I feel our seniors helped us accomplish this and have set the tone for a successful program for years to come,” coach John Scarpa said.
J.P. Stevens
J.P. Stevens High School is enjoying a banner season on the diamond this spring, as with the baseball and softball teams contend for postseason championships.
The Hawks’ baseball team have followed a 5-7 start with a 14-game winning streak, and it traveled to Woodbridge High School May 23 to take on the Barrons in an NJSIAA North Jersey, Section II, Group IV first-round game. A victory would propel 10th-seeded J.P. Stevens to the quarterfinals against the winner of second-seeded Westfield High School against 15th-seeded Franklin High School.
Meanwhile, the Hawks have already clinched a berth in the GMC Tournament championship game May 27 against East Brunswick at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater.
Ninth-seeded J.P. Stevens opened with a 6-0 shutout over 24th-seeded New Brunswick High School and followed with an 8-2 triumph against eighth-seeded Old Bridge High School. In the quarterfinals, the Hawks edged top-seeded Monroe Township High School, 1-0, and advanced to the championship game via shutout again in a 5-0 victory over fifth-seeded St. Joe’s.
The last time J.P. Stevens appeared in the conference championship game was 2007 (lost to Spotswood High School, 7-6), and the Hawks have never won the title game.
The softball team (18-4) is also enjoyed a late-season streak, but that stopped when the third-seeded Hawks were eliminated by South Brunswick High School, 8-2, in the GMC Tournament.
J.P. Stevens was awarded the top seed in North Jersey, Section II, Group IV and hosted 16th-seed Union High School May 23 in the first round. With a 16-0 victory in that contest, the Hawks host eighth-seeded North Hunterdon High School May 25.