Thursday, October 25, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Senior Julia Topor was dominant at the net as she finished with a match-high 21 kills as Bogota swept Ramapo in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament on Thursday.

OLD TAPPAN – In 2008 the Bogota volleyball team reached the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament. In 2009 it was an exit in the Round of 16. Two years ago the Bucs made it as far as the Final 4 and last year they made the county final for the first time in school history. Bogota has been banging on the door for a long time and one of these years it just might become the first Group 1 school to win a Bergen County championship. Not too many people would be surprised if this is that year.

With an impressive 25-9, 25-14 win over seventh seeded Ramapo in the tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday night at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School, Bogota showed once again that it is not just a good small-school team, but an elite team by any enrollment standard. The Star Ledger ranks Bogota as the No. 2 team in the state and Ramapo head coach Dave Van Hook agrees with that assessment.

“They just frustrate you, they absolutely frustrate you. We watched how they played, we made adjustments and moved kids where we thought they would hit and they hit it somewhere else. They are a well rounded team with a couple of kids that can really hit,” said Van Hook. “That is why they are the No. 2 team in the state.”

Leading the charge are senior outside hitter and junior outside hitter Carly O'Sullivan, both varsity starters since their freshmen years. Topor, who stands 6-foot-2 is a powerful hitter. Give her two steps and a high set and there is little a defense can do to stop her. O'Sullivan is a crafty player who can hit to all angles and spots on the floor and also can dominate a game with her jump-serves, which knuckle and dip on their way over the net.

Ramapo's Marina DiTomasso finished with a team-high 6 kills.

Bogota led wire-to-wire in the opening game and Topor gave a preview what the match would look like when she crushed one from the middle of the floor to the back line to give her team a 5-3 lead in the opening game. Her blast off a dig attempt put Bogota up 6-4 and she then reeled off seven straight points from the behind the service line, a run finished off by an O'Sullivan smash down the line.

Topor was responsible for putting the game away as she put down a kill from the back row to make it 17-9, stuffed an overpass that came off a diving dig by Ramapo's Sammy Szura to make it 19-9, stuffed another overpass to make to 20-9 and then crushed one off the block to make it 21-9. Meanwhile most of that damage came as a result of serves by O'Sullivan, who served out the final eight points of Game 1, including the service winner that officially put the Bucs up 1-0.

“We have just about everyone back from last year and we have high expectations for ourselves and to reach our goals we have to come out and play as hard as we can in every match,” said Topor. “Ramapo is a great team and we knew they had some great players, but we just focused on what we needed to do to be successful and everybody did their part.”

Bogota junior Carly O'Sullivan finished with 10 kills, 7 digs and 16 service points.

Ramapo, the No. 7 seed, got off to a better start in the second game by winning the first three points on the serve of Erica Salmins. A block by Lia Saluppo, a service winner by Salmins and setter Shannon Hubert's sneaky tip gave the Green Raiders the 3-0 lead. But Topor then got back in the flow and her hit down the line tied the game at three before she gave Bogota back the lead for good with a winner off the finger tips of the Ramapo block. Topor then combined with Brenda Curiel for a block that gave the Bucs a 5-3 advantage.

Ramapo got back to within one point at 6-5 on an attack error, but Bogota then ran off the next six points to open a 12-5 advantage and basically put the game out of reach.

Marina DiTomasso led Ramapo with 6 kills, Hubert finished with 6 assists and Szura and Salmins finished with 5 digs apiece for the Green Raiders, who fell to 14-6 on the season.

Topor was dominant at the net with a match-high 21 kills, O'Sullivan played her usual all-around game with 10 kills, 7 digs and 16 service points and setter Rebecca Kelemen finished with 27 assists. Jennifer Ramirez pitched in with 7 digs for the Bucs, who improved to 26-2 on the season heading into Friday's county semifinal against third-seeded Old Tappan.

“A fast start was a boost for us because it got us in the flow early and then we could just play our game,” said O'Sullivan. “I feel like this year we are really prepared for this tournament and we know Old Tappan is going to be tough. I think we will win, but if we don't I know we are going to give them a run.”

Ramapo setter Shannon Hubert finished with 6 assists.

Bogota is once again amongst the elite in Bergen County and it would be hard to find a more competitive set of four teams left playing for the title. The three other participants in the Final 4 –Old Tappan, Demarest and IHA – have combined to win 11 of the last 12 county championships with Pascack Valley's win in 2003 standing out as the only exception. Demarest won seven titles from 2000-2007, Old Tappan won in 2008 and 2010 and IHA has won two of the last three.

Is this Bogota's time to break through?

“I think we have to play lights out, but I think we have a shot. I think this is the most talented team we have ever had,” said Bogota head coach Brad DiRupo, whose team is the two-time defending Group 1 state champion. “We have two hammers outside that can score and defensively we have improved over last year. But when you get down to the Final 4 in this county against this kind of competition, it comes down to not necessarily the most skilled team, but the most mentally strong team and we will see if we can be that.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.