October 22, 2023
MORE TO COME IN THE BLOG LATER TONIGHT
We start our blog on a slightly different topic than high school volleyball in New Jersey. We had the pleasure of watching the Big Ten Channels coverage of #1 and undefeated Wisconsin Badgers (18-0) take on the #2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-0) in Nebraska last night. If you were not able to watch the match, it would be worth purchasing an archived stream of the game. Every girl volleyball player in NJ could benefit from watching this match. As an educational tool, the match is pure dynamite.
All of the lessons from playing team sports are exemplified in this broadcast. Both teams played 5 sets of intense, passionate, and near flawless volleyball. The home Nebraska crowd of over 10,000 set the dynamic and boisterous environment The home arena was electric as the Husker took set 1. Wisconsin settled in and took control of the next two sets and seemed destined to win out after holding a 20-18 edge in the 4th set. But the Huskers just kept battling and earned a 26-24 set win as the crowd went berserk. The fifth was just as advertised as the set to 15 was tied as 12. Nebraska had match point at 14-13 and appeared to lose the point but a review showed a net violation and the Huskers pulled the upset.
Any girl watching the game had a direct vision to the excitement of women NCAA volleyball. The game served as an inspiration as well as a video textbook. We encourage coaches to make this part of their season curriculum to watch games together as a team, visit and attend NCAA college games at all levels from D1 to D3, and use the games as educational tools and team builders.
Congrats to the Huskers and the Badgers as the level of performance was just outstanding.
Now, turning to NJ High School Volleyball… what a week. There were so many season defining games that will have major implications in the rankings and perhaps the eventual NJP overall state champion. The “Sweet 7” has emerged. Seven teams that are within 1 rating point of each other after 3,130 games played on the NJ landscape for the season. Let’s deeper dive into the top 7:
IHA boasts wins over #8 Demarest 2x, #11 Old Tappan 2x, #21 Ramapo 2x, Pascack Valley, Fair Lawn, Bogota 2x, #6 Southern, #18 Verona, #22 Northern Highlands, and has a lone loss to #4 Sparta. The Blue Eagles hopped back up into the #1 slot after winning the Big North Tournament yesterday.
Princeton had a strong week, beating #15 Hunterdon Central, #23 Lenape, and #6 Southern. They also have wins this season against #7 Paul VI and #22 Northern Highlands, and their one loss of the year was a three set heartbreaker to #5 Williamstown.
Morristown remains undefeated this season. Their schedule strength and margin of victory had kept them out of the top 10 in the NJP rankings coming into this week. They have buzzed through the NJAC all season and beat Roxbury, #4 Sparta, and #17 Morris Knolls to win the Morris County tournament. They are 18-0.
The Spartans had a golden opportunity to take the momentum from their dominant showing over IHA and ride into the state playoffs in the drivers seat at #1. But the Colonials of Morristown had something else in mind. And as their Instagram message has said all season… it was a bad day to be a Spartan… But Sparta is the only team to beat IHA this season and has solid wins over #16 Westfield, Bergen Tech, #15 Hunterdon Central, #17 Morris Knolls and WMC.
After some early season challenges where Williamstown lost to #12 Donovan and #6 Southern, and a mid season loss to #15 Hunterdon Central, they have strung together 11 wins in a row including #16 Westfield, #2 Princeton, #10 Old Bridge, and #19 Washington Township.
Southern, who held the top spot for a chunk of time this season, lost to #1 IHA mid season and fell to #2 Princeton last week. They have signature wins over #7 Paul VI, Donovan Catholic, #10 Old Bridge, and #5 Williamstown. Their schedule strength is being hurt a bit by the abundance of Shore match-ups.
Paul VI ran the table for the first 8 games of the season and then were downed by #2 Princeton. They won 6 in a row before getting beat by Delaware power Padua. and also lost a three set heartbreaker to #6 Southern last week. They beat #15 Hunterdon Central, #20 Cherry Hill East, #23 Lenape, and #19 Washington Township. They have ventured south on their schedule but have not taken on any of the top teams from the North this season.
