By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Sydney Gonzalez has changed positions seamlessly, and it has helped to lift the Hillsborough High School girls volleyball team to a promising start.
The senior libero had 10 digs as the Raiders rallied to knock off their second highly regarded foe, Ridge, last Tuesday in three games, 23-25, 26-24, 25-12. They followed it up with a win over Notre Dame on Saturday to give them a 9-1 start.
”I don’t think we expected to come right off the bat like that because last year’s record wasn’t as good,” Gonzalez said. “We thought this year’s season would be a whole lot better. We’re a really tight knit group this year. Our chemistry off the court is helping the wins on the court.”
Gonzalez is one of four key seniors that start for the Raiders, who were scheduled to face North Hunterdon on Tuesday in a showdown of two of the state’s best performing early-season teams.
”They’re the equivalent of my softball team,” said Hillsborough volleyball head coach Cheryl Iaione, whose senior softball players led her Raiders to a state finals berth last spring. “They’re the glue right now. They’re going to set the bar for the next groups that come through here. This was the plan when I walked in here three years ago when I saw the knowledge they had for the sport and the passion they had. They helped me coach and I’m helping them become a better team.”
Gonzalez helped out last year as defensive specialist. This year, she has moved to the libero spot, and already she has 76 digs — almost as many through half the season as she had all of last year.
”It was definitely a huge change,” Gonzalez said. “There’s a lot more pressure on my shoulders. Coach says I’m the quarterback of the whole court. I’m watching the other team. I’m in the back row watching everyone from behind. I’m supposed to be the eyes of the whole court.
”Last year, I was back on defense. Last year, there was someone else calling the shots and I went along with it. Now everyone is depending on me. It’s a different, but a good kind of different.”
The Raiders are encouraged by their start. In addition to winning all but one of their first 10 matches, they won the Raider Invitational at Scotch Plains and the Morris Knolls Volleyball Tournament. They also have wins over Ridge and Hunterdon Central, teams ranked among the state’s best.
”I think it was a reassurance,” Gonzalez said. “Going into this year, we were confident with our skills, we’re happy together. It sounds cliché but we really are a big family. We’re able to understand everyone without saying anything. We get along really well. Seeing that, along with our combined abilities, we could see it was going to be a good year.”
The Raiders are progressing each week. They are working at becoming a more complete team.
”They’re starting to gel together as a unit and figure out the roles they play,” Iaione said. “My seniors are tremendous leaders. It’s transforming on the court. We’re playing relaxed and having fun. It’s what I always say, just play our best. You can’t control the calls or who we’re playing. They’re having a great time doing it.”
Gonzalez has been contributing for three years on the varsity, and that experience is paying dividends. Fellow seniors Kari and Lisa Coetzer and Savannah Zhang also are veterans in the lineup. Together, they have helped to lead Hillsborough to its strong beginning.
”I think we just really wanted to pass a good influence over the younger girls,” Gonzalez said. “We didn’t want to boss everyone around, or say, we’re the seniors, you have to listen to us. We wanted everyone to feel like they were a part of the team and everyone had a say, and they can put their word in and we’ll listen to it. It’s like we’re guiding everyone along.”
The Raiders are getting contributions from a variety of sources. The Coetzer twins each have 56 kills this season, while Jordan Williams has another 38 kills. Zhang has 66 service points, which trails only Lisa Coetzer’s 70. Lisa Coetzer has added 70 digs as well. Zhang has 18 aces to lead the team.
”Honestly, we’ve always had the skill sets,” Gonzalez said. “Even the girls that moved up from JV to varsity, they’re good players. We all have the ability to do it. Volleyball is a very mental game. I think we all have the mindset that we can do it, and we can win together. It was more of our mentality that changed rather than our skill sets.”
Gonzalez has played some libero in club volleyball, as well as the defensive specialist spot that she played for the Raiders last year. She has fit into the spot well.
”This is her first year as libero,” Iaione said. “She played defensive specialist last year, and some libero. She’s lights-out. Danielle Fanizzi is her back-up. She’s been tremendous When she gets her chance to play, she’s improved so much. The kids that played JV, they have improved so much there’s not much of a drop-off.”
Even practices are more competitive with greater depth helping Hillsborough improve more, and the players are finding their roles and where they can contribute.
”This year was a lot different,” Gonzalez said. “All the rest of the players, not just the starters, they’re all really strong and bring something to the court. Being back there and being able to work with everyone, it’s kind of cool.”
Hillsborough isn’t satisfied with its good start. The Raiders want to keep developing.
”I think there’s always something to improve on,” Gonzalez said. “Consistency is good. We’ve been falling in a problem of getting an early lead and we’ll slip up. The other team will get closer. We need to work on keeping our intensity up rather than letting go.”
The schedule dictates that Hillsborough has to continue to grow. With several state contenders in their section, the Raiders will be tested.
”The next couple weeks will be a battle,” Iaione said. “Beating two top-20 teams was a feather in our cap. Playing against teams in our conference you’re not going to see teams better than that. We think we have a good shot of going deep in county and deep in states.”
The Raiders have proven that they have the ability to knock off the traditional powers this year. It’s upped their expectations.
”North Hunterdon last year was No. 2 in the state,” Gonzalez said. “Central was No. 5. It was an amazing win. Taking those wins from really high ranked teams boosts our confidence a little. We are kind of the underdog in our group. Showing we can go out and win, it’s boosting us up and giving us a little morale kick. We know we can do it if we work hard and play together. It’s bringing us together.
”I think we had a lot of confidence going in,” she added. “We’re starting to gel a lot. We can see it in practices. Winning those games was a reassuring thing. It showed we’re a player, and ready to come in and battle for wins. It was a back-up for our confidence.”
If Hillsborough can continue to bring its best more consistently, it figures to be a contender right to the end.
”I don’t know if we could play better,” Iaione said. “They’re playing their butts off. They’re not letting a lot of balls hit the floor. I think we have to maintain our level of play. If they do that, they have good chance of winning. Our passing has been great, our serving has been good and we’re getting great net play. Our subs are doing well coming off the bench. Our team morale is great.”
It’s all added up to an ideal start for Gonzalez in her senior year. She is looking to play in college next year, and she is enjoying her final and best season with the Raiders. It’s the culmination of three straight years of improvement.
”It’s a cool thing to have all this going on your senior year,” Gonzalez said. “It’s nice that we’ve gotten to this point.
”I don’t know if we thought it would be this great. All this stuff happening is great. The younger kids are doing a good job of maintaining the competition. The core of us has played club. We’re bringing that over and we’re teaching each other stuff as we go through practice.”
