Coach Garza’s team, in only its fourth varsity year, sweeps Gov. Livingston team in final
OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School girls volleyball team set a goal at the beginning of the year: become South Jersey champions.
They accomplished that goal Thursday evening, Nov. 12, beating Gov. Livington High School in straight sets in the South Jersey Group II final.
Along the way the Red Raiders girls have amassed a 25-2 record and won their second straight Cape-Atlantic League Tournament Championship.
All this for a team that has been in varsity competition for only four years.
Head coach Jill Garza’s senior-heavy team had an “absolutely amazing” game against Gov. Livingston.
“The girls were so hyped going into this game, I never doubted them for a second. I knew how badly they wanted this, so I knew they were going to take it. “
The Ocean City girls controlled the first set, but Gov. Livingston took a big lead in the second set and had the score knotted at 24-24 before the Red Raiders closed it out 26-24. They won the first set 25-17 and the third set 25-16.
“We’ve been down before in matches and we sort of just like to bring them back together and bring them in and remind them what they need to do,” Garza said. “A lot of times it’s like us beating ourselves and not the other team that’s beating us. We have to just get back to our fundamentals and play smart and not hesitate and play our game. That’s what gets us out of those holes when we’re behind.”
She noted how they’ve come a long way quickly.
“Four years of varsity. Every year we’ve gotten better and we work really hard for this program. It’s really an amazing program. I couldn’t do it without my assistant coaches,” Garza said, citing Jenn Dean, Phil Kening, Jen Carey and Erika Wollman.
“Jenn Dean is my absolute right hand girl. She’s amazing. Jen Carey has been amazing. She was with us for the last 4 years. Erika Wollman is our new freshman coach, full of energy, so positive. And this year we had Phil Kening on our staff and he has amazing experience and I’ve learned so much from him,” Garza said. “I just love having all their support.”
Immediately after the game, the coach hasn’t begun to think about the state championship game scheduled three days later.
The Ocean City girls will face Riverdell (22-4), the North Jersey Group II champion. Riverdell knocked off Demarest in a full five-set match, losing the first and third sets but winning the second, fourth and tie-breaking fifth. The game is at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 at Franklin High School.
“I haven’t looked that far ahead so I’ve got a couple days just to sort of get ready for that,” Garza said. “I think it’s such an amazing experience for my girls, especially the graduating seven seniors, for them to go to the state championship.”
Players ecstatic
“It’s just incredible that we’ve gone this far,” sophomore setter Rylee Boyd said, comparing it to the 2025 season when the girls fell in the South Jersey semifinals. “We went far, but this is just incredible and it feels great.”
Boyd will miss playing with her big sister, senior Bradee Boyd.
“I’m going to miss her so much, but I’m super excited to watch her out at Pepperdine (University). That’s going to be pretty awesome too.” Boyd signed a letter of intent to play at Pepperdine in California next year.
The younger Boyd said it has taken a lot of mental strength for the team to compile its 25-2 record this season.
“We’ve had this season going on for three months, and it’s hard, but we keep going strong, keep training,” she said. “I think what fuels us is the excitement and the eagerness to win.”
She is hoping for a state title. “We’re super excited. Competitive volleyball, you know, whatever happens, we just want to give all of our heart out on the court.”
Big sister Bradee, an outside hitter who has been at the top of the state stats in kills this season, said she couldn’t even put into words being able to play her senior season with Rylee on the court.
“Just getting to see my little sister, like when I look across the court and give her a hand signal to set me. I mean, it’s so amazing. I’m really going to miss it when I’m gone, but I’m just so grateful for all these moments and memories that we’ve made together,” she said. “I can’t be grateful enough for it.”
“Winning a state championship has been a goal of mine forever,” she said about getting to play for the title Sunday. “The fact that I’m getting to go compete for one with this team as a senior is really special. I just really, really want to win.”
“I’m so glad to be part of this team,” senior libero Gabrielle Erace said, noting they came in with confidence, but not overconfident.
“We just stayed humble throughout the game and I think we just kept the energy that we had going into all the other sectional games,” she said. “I’m just really proud of my team for doing that.”
Senior Brynn Williams couldn’t be more excited.
“This is one of the most greatest moments in my life,” she said. “I just feel like we’ve been working for this ever since I got here sophomore year, and we just built up every single year. It’s just the best feeling in the world.”
The big crowd was what she wanted.
“The environment was great, just like I asked for,” she said. “The environment really brings us together and we just play as a whole, and I just think it really gets us pumped up. Even when we’re down, they bring us up and it’s just great.”
“I never thought we would be here,” sophomore Taylor Delucia said.
“It’s amazing and I’m so proud of our team.”
She said working with the upperclassmen has been “amazing. They make me fell like I’m a part of their family with them. They treat me like we’re siblings.”
Junior hitter Brooke Sutor said the victory felt “unreal. It feels so amazing. I’m literally shocked right now.”
Getting to a 25-2 record and becoming South Jersey champions has been all about “trusting each other … working together, supporting each other through the ups and downs and just being friends and teammates through it all.”
Senior Charli Elberson felt “incredibly lucky” after the championship game.
“I’m so happy that we were able to get here. We just have a good connection. There are so many good friendships within this team. We’ve had a lot of dedicated hours. It’s just such good relationships.”
Sophomore Lyla Smith said she and her teammates “really wanted this really bad.” Even when the team is down, like the start of the second set, they get together and tell each other it’s on to the next point. “If we get that one point, then everything will be fine,” she said.
And the win, she added, “feels absolutely amazing.”
Senior Cassidy Derrickson said it took a lot for the team to get this far this season. Part of it is getting past any mistakes they make. “We really just work together as one. I think that really helped us, like in the second set, to come back and win.”
Being a four-year-old varsity team made them feel like underdogs.
“I think we really showed people what we can do as a team,” Derrickson said.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
