October 29, 2022
BLOG IN PROGRESS… Check back as we updated our blog tonight for new content…
State playoffs are underway and we will check in on team progress thus far as well as those who are now done for the 2022 season…
We launched a “Regular Season” final ranking and Player Rater through all regular season games. This analysis reflects all games through 10-27.
Let’s Look at the Central Sectionals…
Central Group 1, according to the math, clearly favors the Dayton Bulldogs with McNair being the next closest in the ratings. Dayton walked away with the #4 seed based on Power Points and will thus face McNair in the semi-final rather than the championship match. Here is the grid with ratings noted…
McNair, Dayton, New Providence, and Hoboken are strong favorites to reach the semi-finals. McNair vs Dayton in the semi’s should be a great match-up and we expect whichever team that takes this match will win the group title.
Central Group 2 ratings and seeds are shown below…
In Central-3…
Central-3 had some pretty big upsets in the round of 16 with the #12 seed Red Bank Regional beating Burlington Township and #13 Brick Memorial dropping #4 Brick Township. Honestly, we did not see the Brick Memorial win coming at all. With rating differences of more than 5 points, we have seen a 98% win percentage but we guess all bets are off when you put two rivals of this intensity together in a state tournament. We saw Township going to the semi-final round as they have had a solid campaign. Kudos to the Mustangs for advancing and pulling off the upset. NJP favors #3 Princeton to cruise to the Championship game in this group. The Tigers are filled with firepower, defense, and youth. We expect a great finale with Colts Neck being their opponent.
In Central -4, we have some great teams in the top ten seeds. Here is our analysis…
We just love the match-ups that will be created in this group. So many solid teams which will equate to some thrilling quarter-final, semi-final, and championship matches. Old Bridge has had an amazing season with just 2 losses all year. I don’t think Old Bridge head Coach Andy Hopman wanted to be the one to potentially end the career of retiring BR Head Coach Corey Romanak. But we expect the Panthers to be fired up for the match for their departing Coach. Hillsborough vs Monroe will be a classic with the Falcons having some signature wins this season and facing young Aileen Xue who has been a hammer for the Raiders. The match favors Monroe but this one we expect to be three sets.
East Brunswick has not been as dominant as last year when they had just one loss all season. Facing the resurgent Cougars who have been the turnaround team of the season will again potentially create a three set outcome. And Piscataway is another team that has played so well this season, accumulating 16 wins. But Hunterdon Central is just too solid all-around to not make the finals here. We expect OB and HC but this group is much more wide open than we thought.
Sunday… we will take a look at the other groups in the state tourney. We will see if the NJP algorithm will once again outperform the seeds in win percentage for the third straight year since we started covering volleyball.