May 9, 2021 – By NJP
NJP hopes all of the Volleyball Mom’s had a great day today…
Here is the inner look for Sunday night…
Just a few comments on Saturday’s schedule. We thought the Williamstown vs. Eastern game would be very close, but The Braves are picking up momentum in every game. Their straight set win is another milestone for a team on a very hot streak. They have another big match tomorrow against a very solid Kingsway team. With a win, they will continue to press deeper into the top 20.
Undefeated teams Rancocas Valley and Southern matched up on Saturday. Southern just outclassed the Red Devils as they put them away by 10 points in each set. It was a rough spot for Rancocas to travel to SRHS and RV could just not get any momentum falling behind early in each game. With that experience under their belt, it will help them prepare for the rest of the season.
The top 3 in the NJP rankings are landing on unprecedented ground. There has not been three challengers this close in the rankings since the first Lightning McQueen movie…
The algorithm is all about math… so it doesn’t believe in having to beat the top ranked team to take their spot. It looks at an entire season’s performance with added weight on recent trends. The Southern set loss last week to Old Bridge, and the set loss the week before to Fair Lawn, is part of their microscopic drop in rating. SPF is flawless this year, as is CBA. CBA and Southern schedule strength if much higher than SPF. SPF’s average margin of victory is just staggering. So the virtual dead heat is one for the NJP record books.
And keep in mind, the teams following the top 3, despite being a point behind, are exceptional. Jackson Memorial is perfect this season but their schedule strength has kept them from the very top. Three-peat candidate Old Bridge is a power and just waiting to step up and knock off the top 3. Kearny remained undefeated this past week and has slotted in at #7. And frankly, any team in the top 30 has the capability of knocking off a team ahead of them in the rankings. This type of parity makes for some amazingly competitive high school volleyball games that are truly fun to watch.
Some quick stats:
TOP 25 AVG DIFFERENTIAL PER SET
Here is a quick link to the updated rankings for 5-9…https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/09/njp-boys-ranking-3-may-9th/
Here is a link to the updated NJP Player Rater for 5-9… https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/09/njp-player-rater-for-nj-high-school-boys-volleyball-5-9-21/
There are almost 1,400 players that have stats on NJ high school rosters thus far this season.
This Friday is the state playoff cutoff date. Still hoping for some modifications to the requirments for entry in the state tournament. Here is the NJSIAA web page link… https://www.njsiaa.org/sports/volleyball-boys This link has a wealth of knowledge about numerous topics related to boys volleyball so check it out.
Some great player interviews this past week. Here are the links:
Brian Snook (Old Bridge) https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/03/brian-snell-fuels-knights-season/
Lorenzo Bonomo (Williamstown) https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/05/lorenzo-bonomo-brings-passion-to-dubtown-volleyball/
Jake George (Colts Neck) https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/06/howell-senior-jake-george-fuels-rebels-fire/
Nate Sta Rosa (SPF) https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/07/scotch-plains-fanwood-senior-nate-sta-rosa-drives-undefeated-season-for-raiders/
Nithin Kumar (Indiana University) https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/08/nithin-kumar-checks-in-from-bloomington/
Launching early this week will be interviews with Mauricio Catalan from Colts Neck and Justin Pauli from Bergenfield…
As far as the player rater… this fun look at players overall contributions has created a lot of discussion. Again, it’s all math-based and of course is flawed in several area. Have fun with it…
NJP Predictor picks for Monday at https://njpowerranking.com/2021/05/09/njp-predictor-game-selections-for-monday-may-10th/
And lastly, every chance we get to pay it forward, is a chance worth taking. Especially during our current times. If you don’t know the concept… take a minute to google it!
