Perfect season intact, Bears chase state title
East Brunswick knocks off South Brunswick to win GMCT
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Above, South Brunswick's Nikki Weis avoids the block of East Brunswick's Anne Ruffner during the GMCChampionships at J.P.Stevens High School on Monday. At left, South Brunswick's Jordan Confessore makes an athletic dig to keep play alive.

A 28-0 record. It just doesn't get any better than that.And that's precisely where the East Brunswick High School girls volleyball team stands as it awaits its first opponent in the opener of this week's state tournament match.

The Bears are fresh off a big victory, having captured the Greater Middlesex Conference title earlier this week with a 25-22, 25-15 defeat of South Brunswick, a formidable foe with a 21-4 record.

"We've worked on fundamentals, and the girls have been dedicated to learning new things," said head coach Melissa Krauss. "They've really been putting it all together."

Against the Vikings, the Bears were as good as ever, and they needed to be, since the Vikings entered the match brewing with confidence.

Early on, the Vikings played extremely well and seemed to be surprising the Bears with their ability to keep long rallies alive. The result was a first game that included 18 lead changes before East Brunswick was finally able to put the game away.

South Brunswick actually had a 20-18 lead following an April Thomas ace, but the Bears quickly tied it at 20-20. South Brunswick took the lead again, before East Brunswick tied it at 21-21. Then, with Melissa Favis serving, the Bears reeled off three straight points to take control of the game.

The second game looked to be another dogfight early on, with the teams playing to an 8-8 tie. However, East Brunswick took over from there, rolling to the 25-15 win, and keeping their perfect season alive.

Now the unblemished Bears gear up for the states, where they will play Hackensack on Friday in the second round. Hackensack, the 14th seed, knocked off 19th-seeded Old Bridge, 2-0 (25-21, 25-14), in its state tourney opener on Tuesday.

Krauss and company are determined to pursue the crown. Last year's 25-2 squad, like this one, captured the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title, but went down to defeat in the state tourney semifinals.

"This has been a very, very satisfying year, of course," said Krauss. "But after losing in the states last year, we're hoping for a different outcome this time."

The Vikings, meanwhile, took their 21-4 mark into the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday, where they faced an undefeated Bayonne team (20-0) seeded 16th in the bracket.

Once again, the Vikings played well early on, even serving at game point in the first game, before Bayonne reeled off three straight points to steal the game, 26-24.

The Vikings had trouble bouncing back from that, and the red-hot Bayonne team took advantage, building up a 10-point lead in cruising to a 25-19 win.

Nikki Weiss (six kills, three blocks and three digs), April Thomas (six kills, five blocks and 12 digs) and Jordan Confessore (three kills, 12 assists and four digs) led the way for the Vikings against Bayonne, as head coach Shaun Ruymen's squad finished the year with a strong 21-5 mark.

Elsewhere in the tournament, 20th-seeded J.P. Stevens gave 13th-seeded Clifton quite a scare on Tuesday, nearly upsetting the Mustangs before falling 24-26, 25-22, 25-16. That loss leaves East Brunswick as the only GMC team still alive in the state tournament.