VOLLEYBALL
By: Ken Weingartner
With the match against state-ranked Hillsborough on the line, South Brunswick High boys volleyball coach Steve Dentler suggested Steve Smoke take a safe approach to trying to serve out the win.
Smoke declined, preferring to stick with his jump serve. The result was two easy points for teammate Dan Latinsky to close a 25-17, 23-25, 25-22 Viking victory over the state’s No. 11-ranked team last week.
"I asked him if he wanted to stay down and just get the ball in play, but he went right after it," Dentler said. "They did what they were supposed to do; they came up big when we needed it. They want to be very aggressive and they don’t want to change their style of play to ease their way into victory. They want to go after it. Their attitude is that if you lose the game trying your best, so be it.
"This is the first team I’ve had that has that kind of bravado, that desire to win, and they have the game to back it up. It can be nerve-wracking, but it’s fun."
Smoke’s serves capped a South Brunswick rally from a 21-18 deficit in the decisive game. Latinsky finished with 12 kills and six blocks while Brian Roth had 10 kills and an ace. Smoke had 11 digs, five kills and an ace while Conor Monaghan added five kills, five blocks and three digs.
The Vikings were unable to keep the momentum going the following day, losing in two games to No. 4-ranked Old Bridge, despite nine assists from Kevin Mariano and five kills from Roth. South Brunswick rebounded, however, to win a tournament at Hillsborough over the weekend.
"To be honest, given the marathon match with Hillsborough it’s not an excuse but it’s hard emotionally and in terms of intensity to follow up," Dentler said. "It was one of those natural letdown games. We were flat, and it looked like it."
South Brunswick struggled early in the Hillsborough tourney, dropping two matches in pool play, before steamrollering the final three teams it faced, including the host school and Vernon, 18-9, 18-13, in the final. Roth had seven kills while Latinsky had seen blocks and Smoke seven digs in the final.
"We were struggling along and lost two games in pool play that maybe we shouldn’t have, but from that point on, it was like a switch was turned on and the guys were outstanding," Dentler said. "Once they started to show an interest in being really good, there wasn’t much the other teams could do."
The Vikings, who cracked the state’s Top 20 for the first time this season with a No. 17 ranking on Monday, improved to 4-1 with a 25-6, 25-13 win over North Brunswick on Tuesday. The Raiders are in their first year with a varsity program. Mariano had 12 assists while Smoke had five kills, three aces and three digs.
South Brunswick was scheduled to play No. 3 St. Joseph’s yesterday, No. 1 East Brunswick today and West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Friday.
"While we won Hillsborough tournament, St. Joe’s and East Brunswick also won tournaments over the weekend," Dentler said. "If that doesn’t say something about the quality of programs in the Greater Middlesex Conference, I don’t know what does.
"This is an interesting stretch for us; it’s the big test."