October 3, 2022
We will updating this blog as the night progresses so stay tuned for new content and additions…
Week 4 of the season is underway today. We continue to build awareness and collect information that gives insights into state playoff contenders. And we continue to have some fun with players, coaches, and fans across the great state of NJ. We just came through an information update yesterday so let’s start with some links to some current and pertinent information related to the NJ high school volleyball community:
The latest updated ranking and ratings as of 10/2: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/updated-rating-and-ranking-for-nj-high-school-girls-volleyball-10-2-22/
The latest updated group rankings as of 10/2: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/section-group-rankings-10-2/
Updated analytical standings for each division and conference: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/analytical-standings-for-the-nj-girls-hs-volleyball-season-as-of-10-2/
Game Table and results grid for easy ingestion of scores and matches: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/game-table-update-10-2-22/
Overall Player Rater update for 10/2: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/overall-player-rater-10-2/
Player Rater update by Class year for 10/2: https://njpowerranking.com/2022/10/02/player-rater-by-class-year-10-2/
NJP Faces update with some new surprise additions: https://njpowerranking.com/njp-faces-of-2022/
This is the usual time for county tournaments. Please send us your county seeds and schedules when received! njpowerranking@gmail.com or DM us through social channels…
The NJP Predictor launched on Friday. The algorithm was 44-3 at picking winners. That’s 93.6% accuracy. Congrats to Roxbury, Rancocas Valley and Mountain Lakes who turned the table on the math! Awesome job! https://njpowerranking.com/2022/09/29/njp-predictor-9-30/
Ranking Update dialogue:
Here is commentary on the latest ratings and rankings for the NJ high school girl’s volleyball season as of October 2, 2022. Many teams are closely rated so even though some teams rose or fell, the margin in the ratings can be insignificant. This type of parity will make for excellent county and state playoffs for sure.
IHA continues to be distinguished as a clear leader in the state. The algorithm has favored them since the first rating driven by their strength of schedule and margin of victory per set. Their win against Williamstown this weekend helped both teams rise in the ratings. The Blue Eagles are a force with depth and a high level of talent that has been refined in the IHA system driven by NJ legendary Head Coach Maria Nolan. Non-Public A will be one of the most competitive playoff grid in NJ this season with Paul VI, Donovan Catholic, MKA, Union Catholic, Notre Dame and Vianney to name a few. Paul VI remains undefeated and 4 rating points behind Immaculate Heart.
River Dell and Bogota have been at the top and battling for second honors in the rankings all season. They have 2 of the largest margins of victory in NJ this season. There are 7 teams within a rating point from 3-10 in the rankings so all squads are super close as measured by the math and we expect will be moving back in forth in the top 10 for sure the rest of the season.
There are still 18 undefeated teams left in NJ. That’s double the normal amount for this time of year. There are 5 teams in NJ that have yet to lose a set this season, which is truly impressive. They are River Dell, Bogota, Donovan Catholic, Old Bridge, and Colts Neck. There are five teams that have lost just one set this season: Washington Township, Tenafly, Southern, Sparta, and Bergen Tech.
Ramapo has been identified as having the most difficult schedule so far this season. The top 6 most difficult schedules through 10/2 are Ramapo, Ridgewood, Old Tappan, Roxbury, Elizabeth and Mendham.
The largest margin of victory per set on average this season favors Bogota who has achieved a 12.95 spread on their wins per set. Meaning they typically beat teams 25-12 on average. Bergen Tech (12.2), Washington Township (11.2), Immaculate Heart (10.8), Dayton (10.6), River Dell (10.4), Old Bridge (10.2), and Madison (9.63) round out the top 8.
7 teams dropped from the unbeaten ranks last week. Expect at least a few more this week… Union Catholic, Verona, and Demarest make their way into the NJP top 25. Dropping out of the top 25 this week are Madison, East Brunswick and MKA.
Tonight’s schedule recap:
Our cover photo featured the Payne Tech Lions who jumped on SEC foe East Orange today, taking a straight set win. Payne Tech is now 10-3 overall with the loss dropping East Orange to 7-4 for the season. Another spirited performance by Angali Maragh who posted 11 kills, 3 aces, and 3 blocks as well as 6 digs. Jaylene Nivar lifted 15 digs and was the defensive star. Angali has been a major contributor this season for the Lions as she picks up her 6th multi-digit kills/match and her ninth match with multiple aces. The 4-year varsity starter sets the tone for Payne Tech. If Angali has an ace, the Lions win. She has one in all ten wins. And the Lions lost the matches she did not. The Lions are pushing themselves to higher goals as evidenced by scheduling Bergen Tech last week. They did not win that match against the Top 20 challenger, but playing against top caliber teams in NJ will raise their level of play for sure.
Livingston was knocked from the unbeaten ranks today by a rising Verona squad. A solid performance by Patricia Rakova, who posted 12 kills, was a difference in this match. Livingston opened the season with 13 straight wins before today’s loss. Verona has put together a strong six game win streak with wins against league rivals MKA, MSDA, Newark Academy and now Livingston. They jumped into the NJP top 25 this week based on the momentum built during this streak. We also wanted to note the fine defensive play from both Marley Kramer and Nicole Hagaman who posted 10 digs each in today’s match. Sydney Aiello also contributed on the defensive front with 3 blocks.
It’s so great to see Victoria Latino back in the lineup this weekend. Roxbury sustained two losses on Saturday but one was to #1 IHA and the other they took Williamstown to three sets. The math and algorithm can only go by past performance of the team so situations like this will cause the algorithm to undervalue the Gaels in the rankings. A player the caliber of Victoria can add 5-7 rating points alone to her team. It will take a number of games for the algorithm to “catch-up” so note this in content geared toward Roxbury. We also would like to recognize the achievement of Roxbury senior setter Lorie Horta who just surpassed 1,000 assists. Way to go Lorie!
Johnson out-dueled Roselle Catholic today in UCC action. Both teams came in to the match having awesome starts to the fall season. RC was 9-1 and Johnson 7-2. Senior Gabby Meloni has been a standout achiever for Roselle Catholic this season as she approaches 100 kills, already has well over 100 digs, and has blasted 37 aces for the Lions. She played well this evening scoring 8 kills and 10 digs but it was not enough to get by the Crusaders. Johnson was the recipient of several outstanding performances for the match from Sofia DiProfio, Cassandra Gloster, Rebecca Fogle, Angela Silva, and Allie Fitzharris. Sofia logged 10 kills, 2 blocks, and 8 digs while Cassandra put up 11 kills, 8 digs, and 2 aces. Allie supplied 8 kills and 6 digs, Angela led the defense with 10 digs, and Rebecca added 16 assist3 aces, and 6 digs for the winners. Johnson was reclassified into South Group 1 this season and remains our top rated team in the group despite being in third place in power points. RC resides in Non-Public B and is currently ranked fifth by NJP in that group of 25 teams.
It was a bit of David vs. Goliath today when #1 IHA took on Holy Angels. But Goliath prevailed in a big fashion as the Angels were limited to just 11 points over two sets. Eva Roman had the best match of her career supplying 7 kills and 2 aces and Brookelyn Talmadge and Grace Coughlin combined for 16 kills and 2 blocks on the attack. 30 assists for Kalena Stavish as IHA gets their 15th win of the season.
Southern dropped once beaten Toms River North to get their 11th win versus zero losses on the season. Jordyn Hamlin was stellar with 8 kills, 3 aces, and 7 digs while Jessica Smart added 6 kills and 2 blocks. 19 assists for Rams setter Molly Regulski. Southern resides in one of the toughest groups in NJ: South-4. The road to a group title will have them contend with Williamstown, Washington Township and a host of other top ranked teams. The Rams lead in power points currently despite NJP having them ranked third in the group in a tight matchup pf three teams separated by only .60 of a rating point.
Hillsborough edged Madison in a three set thriller which went down to the final point to determine a winner. Sophomore Aileen Xue made the difference today as she slammed 17 kills and added a block, an ace, and 10 digs for the Raiders. Gisele Galera had 30 assists and Regan Pirog and Neha Tolpadi lifted 13 and 11 digs respectively. It was only Madison’s second loss of the season as the Raiders improved to 7-4.
RFH is putting together a really interesting season. They got off to a great start at 3-0 and then dropped 5 games in a row. They now have a 6 game win streak including wins over St. John Vianney, Middletown South, and today’s win over Wall. Three of their 5 losses went to three sets. Taylor Crow has had a great senior campaign thus far and junior Cayla Kuo has been outstanding as well. Jacee McGinnis and Devyn Gwydir have anchored the middle. RFH will be a team to watch as the season progresses.
Summit flexed their UCC muscles tonight and shredded a red hot Cranford Cougar team. Cranford had just completed a sweep of Union and had already defeated the Hilltoppers this season. But they ran into a buzz saw today named Hannah Barlow. The junior posted 12 kills, a block, 2 aces, and 5 digs. Zoe Zacharias posted 16 assists, Vivian Roberts added 5 aces, and Alison Wauters had 3 kills and 7 digs to propel Summit to the big win. Summit is now 10-2.
River Dell remained undefeated at 10-0 after taking down Westwood today. Erin McCabe, Lily Crowder, and Alicia Idiculla had 6 kills each for the NJP #2 ranked team. Westfield also remained undefeated, also at 10-0, fueled by a great defensive performance by Guiliana Gallo who lifted 11 digs and added 4 aces. Tenafly also rolled over Teaneck to open the season with 10 straight wins, Callie Milionis had 4 blocks and 4 kills for the Tigers.
In the Big North, Fair Lawn held off Wayne Valley and won in straight sets today in Wayne. Ash Kingsley led the way with 9 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces. Gabriela Imburgia added 10 digs, 3 kills and 2 aces for the Cutters. Isabelle Borowinski had 7 kills for the Indians.
Brick Township downed Jackson Memorial today driven by solid performances by Lilli Duggan, Isabella Campione, Hailey O’Neil, Sarah Vannucchi, Paulina Flores, and Gabby Kaminski. The Dragons are candidates for turnaround team of the year after a rough campaign last year producing one win to a strong 9-3 record so far this season.
Bayonne knocked off Hudson Catholic Hawks for the first time since 2014 with a straight set win at Hudson Catholic. Bayonne improved to 8-5 overall with the win and were fired up by a 10 kill performance from Kiley Jurcisin and 21 assists from Julie Makram. Allie Fletcher and Menna Hafiz combined for 13 kills and 17 service points for the Bees. Congrats to Head Coach Pat Luongo for another memorable victory.
Addy Matos had 11 kills and Nayely Lucero added 7 as Passaic took down Clifton in their longtime rivalry match-up. It was the second win of the season by the Indians over the Mustangs. It was a thrilling three set win with the final set going 25-22. 19 assists from Desiree Santana who also had 3 aces and 15 service points.
Liahnna Orange continued a strong senior campaign pacing the Setters of Mother Seton to straight set win over North Brunswick. Liahnna was all over the floor tonight posting 10 assists, 5 digs, 4 kills, 7 aces and 15 service points. she also setup Ashlie Jordan and Kate Moses for 4 kills each. Maya Brown had 9 digs for the winners.
Cinnaminson needed a full team effort tonight to fend off Collingswood in BCSL action. The Panthers took the first set and almost stole the match in the second set but the Pirates fought back for a 26-24 win. Cinnaminson controlled the pace in the third and used the momentum created to take set 3 and the overall win to improve to 10-5. Seniors Sami Muraresku and Kozette Quinn have been driving the attack all season long along with junior Alex Arnold while Nicole Howe has handled the majority of the setting responsibilities. Cinnaminson has 9 players with double digit kills this season and has a full squad of contributors that drive their success.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 10/5
Two monster match-ups: Undefeated #4 Washington Township faces last year undefeated State Champion and #7 Williamstown for the big rematch from earlier this season. The Braves will look to revenge the early season loss to WT and this time Williamstown will host the match. AND #1 Immaculate Heart Academy hosts #3 Bogota in a battle of undefeated NJ powers! It’s NJP’s existing #1 vs NJP’s Pre-season #1. Should be a screamer!!!