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The Southern girls volleyball team downed Toms River East to win the second edition of the Shore Conference Girls Volleyball Tournament. The Rams have now won 83 matches against Shore Conference opponents without a loss after dispatching the Raiders by game scores of 27-25, 25-12 and 25-12. Check back later Saturday for more video highlights.
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By �?? Scott Clayton �?? Senior Staff Writer
STAFFORD �?? There are times in sport when emotions can overcome talent. Of course that is not something the more talented team wants to hear but under some circumstances, emotion can bring a team to another level.
Southern dealt with that in the first game of its Shore Conference Girls Volleyball Tournament Final against Toms River East. The Rams awoke late in Game One against a fired up Raiders squad and from there rolled to a 3-0 victory. Southern has now won both of the official SCTs for girls volleyball and extended its streak of matches against Shore Conference opponents without a loss to 83.
Senior setter Nikki Miller finished the final with 13 digs and 12 assists to earn DigitalSports Player of the Match honors. The Rams used a rotating crew of threats from the outside hitter positions, including juniors Erin Regan (three kills) and Megan Sharkey (four kills), to flank middle hitter Ashley Gesicki (seven kills). However, it was serving and defense that carried the day for the Rams. Kristine Falkowski recorded nine digs, while Regan, Carly Ficken and Pam Tamowski all served the Rams to long scoring runs in a 27-25, 25-12, 25-12 win over the Raiders.
Late in the first game, after watching outside hitter Amber Cifrese leave the court on a stretcher after suffering dizzy spells, Erin Spencer served three straight aces to help East put Southern in a 22-17 hole. Cifrese had suffered a blow to the head during Thursday�??s quarterfinal against Toms River South, but after gaining clearance to play Friday was among the stars of the match in the Raiders�?? 25-13, 17-25, 29-27, 27-25 semifinal win over Colts Neck. Shortly after taking the court for warm-ups prior to the final, Cifrese found herself unable to continue.
�??I felt like they gave us their best shot and if they had been able to win that first game they could carry it over,�?� Southern coach Eric Maxwell said. �??When we were able to pull it out, I felt that we would get on a roll.�?�
�??You could tell that they were upset,�?� Miller said, �??but we went out fired up. We got a couple of points �?? our coach calls it the Southern run.�?�
There was no secret formula to putting the run together. Southern simply ramped up the defensive effort and kept the ball in the air long enough for the Raiders to make a few mistakes. By the time the score got to 22-20, it felt like a tie and by 22-22, it seemed, emotionally, like Southern had already reached game point.
�??We don�??t really take anyone for granted,�?� Gesicki, one of the few veterans from last year�??s squad, said. �??Anyone can come out anytime and beat us. It�??s not like a given that we�??re going to win or anything, but when we�??re down five points or whatever, Coach Maxwell sets scenarios like that in practice for us where we�??re down five and we have to come back.�?�
�??We always have valuable seniors on our team,�?� Maxwell said. �??When you get in that situation, I look out on the floor and I put it into their hands and usually they are able to respond.�?�
Already sporting a thin bench, Toms River East coach Gregg Maskale substituted setter Valerie White into the rotation in place of Cifrese. While White�??s service run helped the Raiders turn a 9-6 deficit into a 12-9 lead, her inexperience as an outside hitter eventually caught up to East, which was appearing in its first Shore Conference Final. Southern beat Toms River North in 2006.
�??I had to put Valerie into a spot that she�??s not usually used to,�?� Maskale said. �??I was maybe asking a little too much in a moment like that.�?�
A block at the net by sophomore Avery Hodgson eventually gave Southern a 23-22 lead, but with Christina Arecchi serving, East went back ahead, 25-24. After a side out, however, Southern�??s Carly Ficken served a pair of aces to seal Game One.
Having survived East�??s best attempt, Southern rolled to 25-12 wins in Games Two and Three.
Regan, who had helped Southern climb back into a 17-17 tie in Game One after dropping behind, 15-11, put together a 5-0 run to end the second game. Sharkey produced a nice cross-court kill to get to 23-12, but mostly the key to Southern�??s success was to wait out the Raiders�?? mistakes.
�??We�??ve got a great defense,�?� Tamowski said. �??Nothing gets to the floor without us diving.�?�
It was Regan again behind the end line belting away at serves early in the third game as Southern ripped off an 8-0 run to get up 9-2. From there it was a matter of coasting home while getting all 10 seniors a taste of the court.
�??I definitely have some good servers,�?� Maxwell said. �??It�??s not something that we necessairy focused on, but it�??s just naturally some of these kids have developed big serves and if you�??ve got it then you go with it. We can get on some runs.�?�
Southern wasted little time advancing past fourth-seeded Red Bank in the semifinals. The Rams downed the Bucs, 25-4, 25-6 and 25-12. Toms River East overcame a tough Colts Neck squad in the other semifinal. Playing a best-of-five format for the first time this season, the Raiders fought off five game points in Game Three and three more in Game Four to down the Cougars.
Cifrese was among the stars for the Raiders in the semis, registering four assists, 11 digs and eight kills. Colts Neck downed Red Bank, 25-22, in a one-game consolation game for third place.
E-mail: clayton@digitalsports.com
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