Both teams win first-round playoff matches
LINWOOD — Less than a week before sectionals began, the Mainland Regional volleyball team hosted Ocean City and dealt the visitors a fairly lopsided loss, showcasing the difference of a team with more experienced seniors playing against a much younger squad.
The Mustang girls (13-10) beat the Raiders (9-13) in straight sets, 25-10, 25-12.
The Ocean City girls looked a bit out of sorts in the first game, but were able to regroup in the second, even though they lost. The Mustangs played well from start to finish, controlling the games and giving themselves a boost before Monday’s playoffs began, but both Mainland and Ocean City won their first-round matches in the South Jersey Group III sectionals.
“I am feeling really good,” Mustang coach Erica Reiss said.
Last year the team won the South Jersey Group III sectional championships, but graduated most of the starters.
“We have made tremendous progress from the start of the season to the middle to the end. We are much more mature. We are playing as a cohesive team,” she added.
“We have great teamwork and my (players’) leadership has come along a lot. I am really excited to see how well my girls do in playoffs.”
“Once the end of the season starts to slow down and we’re going on one game a week,” Ocean City coach Jill Garza said, “it’s making it a little bit harder to get back in that rhythm of working together, being aggressive on the court.
“I just told them they had to be more aggressive,” she said. “Talk to each other on the court and communicate. They kind of pulled it together there at the end, but it was just a tough game.”
“Last year we ended up at No. 16 and we’re No. 9 this year,” Garza said of a bright spot with the tournament seedings. “So we definitely made some improvements and I’m proud of the girls from that.”
The No. 9 Raiders traveled to No. 8 seed Central Regional Monday and beat the home team in a close match, 26-24, 25-22. Brynn Williams had nine kills and Ella Miller had 12 assists.
They now head to No. 1 seed Moorestown Wednesday.
The future does seem to bode well for the Raiders.
“We have a young team,” the coach said. “Our team leaders in stats are both sophomores.”
Youth is leading the team. The best stats in kills and digs are courtesy of a trio of sophomores – Williams, Miller and Gabrielle Erace — and freshman Brooke Sutor (six kills in the playoff game).
“We have a young team,” Garza said.
Williams finished the regular season with 89 kills and 205 digs, Erace had 213 digs and Miller 77 digs to go with her 11 kills.
Miller led in assists with 158, more than 10 times better than almost everyone else on the team. Sutor was second in kills with 77. She also had 50 digs.
Williams had the most service points with 116, including 47 aces, followed by Sutor with 105 (39), Miller with 99 (21); senior Sarah Hoffman with 61 (26); and junior Nicole Lihou with 34 (10). Lihou also had 47 kills, 34 service points (10 aces) and 26 digs.
Other notable statistics included 48 digs for senior Danna Ramirez; 25 digs, 21 assists and 19 service points for sophomore Cassidy Derrickson; and 17 service points (6 aces), 17 assists and 17 digs for sophomore Ava Aristizabel. Senior Olivia Stone had 36 kills.
Mustangs
Senior Sage Geubtner was the regular season team leader for the Mustangs with 190 kills, 110 service points (45 aces) and 151 digs. Senior Cady DeMarco led the team in assists with 291 to go with 85 service points (29 aces) and 97 digs.
Two other seniors, Zayda Shevlin and Kylie Hennelly, also had impressive stats. Shevlin had 99 kills, 134 digs and 107 services points (52 aces) and Hennelly had 199 digs, 101 service points (44 aces) and 34 assists.
Fellow senior Jayne McCartney contributed 86 service points (33 aces) and 74 digs; and junior Ana Kilibarda had 50 kills, 76 service points (26 aces) and led the team in blocks with 13.
Both Ocean City and Mainland had identical 6-6 records in the Cape-Atlantic League, the Mustangs in the American Division and Raiders in the National.
Mainland is the No. 6 seed in the South Jersey Group III tournament and beat No. 11 Pennsauken on Monday, 25-14, 25-20. They travel to No. 3 seed Shawnee Wednesday.
Hammonton at No. 2 is the highest seed on Mainland’s side of the bracket. The Blue Devils beat the Mustangs twice this season but the matches were close, going three sets.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
