October 9, 2023

Some great matches tonight… let’s jump in.

Sparta downed Westfield in a feature match up, improving to 15-0 on the season. Lea Tsamadias had 7 kills, 2 aces, and 4 blocks in yet another impressive accomplishment for the Spartans.

Montclair Immaculate suffered their first loss of the season today, taken down by Cedar Grove in straight sets. Ella LaForgia and Leah Weinstein setting the tone for CG.

Southern vs Donovan in a dream matchup at the shore ended in a straight Ram victory. Jordyn Hamlin with 11 kills, 3 aces, and a block while Jessica Smart added 10 kills for Southern. The Rams improved to 18-1 and the Griffins fell back to 18-2.

Monroe shocked Old Bridge tonight with a straight set win, The win wasn’t the biggest shock as the Falcons held the Knights to just 28 points in what we expected to be a three set match.

Pascack Hills, Washington Township, East Brunswick, Par Hills, Vianney, Williamstown, Bergen Tech, Demarest, IHA, Wayne Valley, Old Tappan, River Dell, Roxbury, Secaucus, and Governor Livingston all won in straight sets.

Tonight we continue with our assessment of the sectional groupings for state playoffs. You can review our take on the Central sectional as well as North 1 at this link… CLICK HERE

North 2 Sectional

Group 1: The math has Verona as a clear favorite to win the sectional. Secaucus is a solid three rating points behind. Then there is some distance to the rest of the participants. Secaucus has had an outstanding season and we expect their momentum to carry them to the final. Verona appears too deep and will likely prevail.

Group 2: This grouping will really test the algorithm as power point leaders and NJP rankings are far apart. Despite losing records, NJP favors the strength of schedule for both West Morris Central and Montville. The PP leader thus far is West Essex who NJP has ranked 9th in the grouping despite their solid 13-4 season. Morris Tech at 12-1 and Par Hills at 13-4 are both far behind the 2 leaders who boast losing records. So this will be an interesting one for fans to watch and weigh in on. But WMC is our choice at this point.

Group 3: The Millers of Millburn cracked the top 30 this week in the rankings and have the top billing in our analysis in N2-3. They hold a point and a half lead over 2 underachievers this season in Mendham and North Hunterdon. Both the Minutemaids and Lions have vast experience at the sectional playoffs level and beyond over the past few years. The leading PP team is Belleville who NJP has in the bottom 5, so a perfect opportunity for Belleville to stick it to the algorithm. Some other solid teams in this grid as well such as Chatham, SPF, Summit, Rahway, and Nutley who can all surprise will make this a very fun grouping. Watch for less noted seeds to win.

Group 4: Westfield seems fine tuned to walk away with this sectional. They have a 4+ point rating advantage over second rated Elizabeth. The unknown in the grouping is undefeated Watchung Hills. They could walk away with top seed based on the PP’s and any team that is undefeated deserves high consideration.

South Sectional

Group 1: Delaware Valley is leading in PP’s and is the highest ranked by NJP. Go figure. They hold a 5 rating point lead over PPB. PPB and Johnson are the only teams close to DV in this grid according to the algorithm.

Group 2: Barnegat and Jackson Liberty are too close to call in this grouping. Pleasantville is also close to the top pairing. Then it’s a big jump to the rest of the teams. Barnegat handled Liberty pretty easily earlier in the season and ironically they play tomorrow to preview the 2 best teams.

Group 3: NJP likes Mainland here. They hold a 3+ point differential over TRE, TRS, and Pinelands. And have played some of NJ’s best on the schedule.

Group 4: Williamstown and Southern are the cream of the crop of a strong S4 grouping. They are currently #2 and #4 in NJ. We can’t imagine the final being between any other teams. Whichever team wins will be in the driver seat for the Group 4 state title and a chance to win the overall highest rating in NJ. Williamstown holds a .5 rating point lead over Southern currently which would reflect a Brave three set win.

Non-Public Sectional

A: We expected IHA to roll back at least a small bit this season after losing Maria Nolan and fantastic slew of seniors. But if anything, they may be more separated from the rest of the state at the top of the heap this Fall. The Blue Eagles excel in the high pressure contests and we totally expect them to reach the finals and win another state championship based on their showing thus far. We will list three teams here that we feel can stay close enough to pull an upset: Paul VI, Donovan Catholic and Union Catholic. We don’t think any other team in the grid is capable of stealing a set.

B: St. Mary’s (Ruth.) has risen to the occasion this Fall. They have taken their talent infusion from the Lodi Immaculate closure, and are poised to bring a sectional title to the Rutherford private school. They have a 6+ point rating advantage with seems insurmountable.