Red Raiders cite team chemistry, hard work for their quick victory
OCEAN CITY — The Red Raider volleyball team repeated as Cape-Atlantic League champions Thursday evening, sweeping a strong Our Lady of Mercy Academy team in straight sets.
The Ocean City High School players attributed the decisive victory to their team chemistry, which has led them to a 19-2 record this fall.
OLMA, the second seed in the CAL tournament, had lost only three matches this season to opponents that were not the Red Raiders. They came in with a 15-6 record; half of those losses have been to Ocean City. The Red Raiders beat OLMA 2-0 in mid-September and again in early October.
Although OLMA was able to get some small leads and almost pushed Ocean City to a tie-breaker in the third set in the CAL final Oct. 22, they again fell to the powerful Ocean City team, this time 25-20, 25-13 and 25-23.
“It’s really, really exhilarating. I feel like we all have worked a lot as a team to get to this point,” senior Ava Aristizabal said. “A lot of the team dynamics have gotten super strong and our chemistry is really what brings us together.”
“It feels pretty great,” sophomore Lyla Smith said. “I’m pretty happy for our team. I think our team chemistry is way stronger this year and because of that we all came together to take (the CAL title).”
Senior Brynn Williams said the victory “feels amazing. It’s a great way to end my senior year as the season’s coming to a close, and it just feels great that me and my teammates came together and just brought this goal that we had since the beginning of the year.
“We worked really hard in the off-season and we brought that through this whole season,” she added. “We worked really hard in practice and we had a little bit of a better schedule this year. I think that really prepared us for this game right here.”
Sophomore Rylee Boyd has been a CAL champion both of her years in high school. “It’s so fun. I love that it’s at the same school, same team,” she said. “It’s such a good feeling.”
“We really thought about playing every point like it’s game point. That was our main theme here,” Boyd said. “I feel like that really helped us. We were just hungry to win the whole time.”
“It’s really overwhelming,” senior Charli Eberson said of the relatively quick victory, “because we played them last year and they could have come back (this year) wanting to win. This was our last chance to win.”
Sensing how her high school volleyball career will be over in a matter of weeks, Eberson added, “I just hope we can keep having fun. I mean it’s sad that we’re ending, but I’m glad it’s ending on a positive note. If anything, I want to all keep playing and keep contact. I don’t want us to lose each other.”
“I think this year we played better as a team, we really came together and we have great connections,” junior Brooke Sutor said.
“I’m excited to keep improving as a team. I mean, we did great today, so I’m just really excited for what’s coming next … hopefully a state championship.”
Senior Gabrielle Erace was still hugging the CAL trophy well after the victory. She, too, talked about the tightness of the team.
“Honestly,” she said, when asked about how the team was able to be do dominant in the CAL final, “it was just a lot of trust in our team. I think our team chemistry was the main thing that kind of brought us together.”
“It was really exciting this year to finally get a sweep,” Erace added. “I think last year we were still developing and I think this year we definitely still are, but I think that from last year we’ve developed so much and together as a team.”
Senior Bradee Boyd transferred to Ocean City High School last year and has led the team in kills. She has topped 350 kills this season alone. She was excited about the CAL championship, but also recognized her high school team will be finished soon.
But not too soon.
“We’ve been working for this all season and it’s been the topic of our practices and just like everything we’re working for,” Rylee’s older sister said. “Just to finally be here and the anticipation of it and just getting to win it in a sweep is just so sweet.
“It’s my last CAL game. It’s bittersweet, but it’s amazing and I love playing with my team,” she said. “It’s just so fun. I’m so grateful that we were able to do this.”
Boyd said she and her teammates aren’t done. The next goal is chasing a state championship.
Head coach Jillian Garza also attributed the victory to the team’s “great chemistry” and one heck of a lot of practice.
“We started it from the beginning of the season and we just rolled with that (chemistry) the whole season, and I think that’s what kept us winning,” she said. “My girls have worked so hard. I mean, they practice so hard. They do extra practices. They do extra reps any chance they get. They’re a great team.”
Garza noted there was a different strategy in the CAL final against OLMA.
“I did switch it up a little bit. I switched up my offense a little bit. I switched my hitters to different sides, but for the most part, we just kind of try to stick to fundamentals and building their confidence.
“I think confidence is huge for high school kids in general,” Garza said. “So every day, all day, that’s what I do. I just try to build their confidence and every single time, if they make a mistake, I tell them a mistake is still a rep and you’re still getting good reps. You’re going to learn from that and you’re going to get the next one. So I just keep encouraging them to have confidence.”
One thing that did boost their confidence was what she called “a reverse sweep” against Paul VI, which was ranked No. 1 in the state at the time. When the Red Raiders played that powerhouse team they lost the first two sets, 25-20, 25-20. Then they fought tooth and nail through the next two sets, winning 28-26 and 30-28 before taking the fifth set 15-9.
“They were ranked number one in the state at the time and we kind of dropped them down. That was an amazing game,” Garza said. “It was a great confidence booster for my girls.”
Ocean City’s only two losses so far came near the end of the regular season, to Williamstown and Kingsway, but that helped too, according to the coach.
“We had a great game against Williamstown even though they took us down, but Williamstown’s a great team. It’s great preparation. All of those games are great preparation,” Garza said. “Kingsway was another one, a really good team. We scheduled that out-of-conference game just to get them ready.”
The coach added another pair of out-of-conference games to help the team prepare for the upcoming state tournament.
Ocean City is at the top of Power Point rankings in South Jersey Group II. Power Points close Sunday, Oct. 25, and tournament seedings are Oct. 27. The Red Raiders should get home court advantage.
The first round of the sectional tournament is Nov. 3.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
