By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton High girls volleyball program has now put together back-to-back championship seasons.
The Little Tigers, the two-time West Jersey Interscholastic Volleyball League champion, saw their season end this year with a loss to Westfield in the state Group IV quarterfinals last Saturday. And while there was disappointment in not advancing further in the tournament, the big picture shows just how far the program has come in just its fourth year at the varsity level.
“It was an exciting match, just a bummer not to pull it out,” said Princeton coach Patty Manhart, whose fifth-seeded team dropped a 25-16, 15-25, 25-17 decision to fourth-seeded Westfield. “We felt like it was a momentum-based match. Whoever had the momentum in each set was going to pull that set out. Unfortunately for us, they had the momentum in the third set.”
Princeton, which finished the season with a 31-2 record, had beaten East Orange Campus and Monroe to advance to the quarterfinal match with the Blue Devils. A year ago, Princeton qualified for the state tournament and lost its opening match to Clifton. This year, the Little Tigers went in looking for more.
“That is what the girls are expecting now and the mindset going in was to make the postseason and win as much as we could,” Manhart said. “Overall, we hoped to go a little further with the seniors we had. With the sophomores and seniors, we felt like the sophomores really wanted to go further for the seniors. The Monroe match was a highlight.”
The loss to Westfield brought to an end the careers of senior players who have taken Princeton from a fledgling program to one that can compete at the state level.
Seniors Rachel Cheng, Anna Cao, Sara Vigiano, Sydney Rubin and Tia Giblin helped transform the program from one filled with novice players to one that has now won two straight WJIVL titles.
“That is what I had to remind them of,” Manhart said. “There were a lot of tears and running noses after we lost. I had to outline it for them that we won back to back championships and finished with a 31-2 record. That was not what they were thinking about moments after the Westfield match, but eventually they will realize what they have done.
“I know they each have their own memories of seeing this team grow. One thing Sara Vigiano said was her memory of not being able to get a serve over the net when she first started. Now she serves consistently and is a solid and important player for us. They have all seen how much they have improved.”
Manhart hopes the program continues to move forward, even with the loss of such a talented senior class. There is plenty of talent coming back and hopefully younger players will begin to latch onto the sport.
“We have a decent nucleus,” Manhart said. “But when you lose your big hitter and setter, who is your quarterback, and also your middle hitter who is a spark, that’s tough. There is not a youth recreation program in town. But if we could work through Princeton Recreation or the athletic department and hopefully get the word getting out there and hope young players are getting into sport. I need to do more as a coach to develop the pipeline.”
Whoever joins the program will be joining a group that has quickly put Princeton volleyball on the map. The program is just four years old and already has a pair of championships.
“I feel like I have to pause and remind myself of that, too,” Manhart said. “It has happened so quickly and you don’t want to take that for granted. Last year we might have been surprised by having a winning record and been happy about going further this year. But with our mentality now, that has become the bar.
“The girls get to put a 2017 on the banner in the gym. It’s a nice reminder that they can always see and something to be proud of.”
In the loss to Westfield, Rachel Cheng finished with 20 assists in the match, while her sister, Kim Cheng, recorded eight service points. Cao finished with 10 kills, while Gillian Hauschild collected seven kills and four service points. Natalie Drobnjak finished the match with eight digs.
