Monday,
October 26, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Victoria Corcoran helped Demarest rally from a one-game deficit and a big hole in Game 2 for a 15-25, 30-28, 25-15 win over Paramus in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals. |
OLD TAPPAN – Faith Hoagland was on crutches, Nikola Kanaris had her arm in a sling, Sarah Ahmed was wearing some type of back brace and, somewhere toward the middle of the first set, Victoria Corcoran set a ball a little too wide for her twin sister Veronica, who rolled her ankle when she landed after chasing it outside the boundary. Beat up physically and run over on the scoreboard in the first game by fourth seeded Paramus, Northern Valley/ Demarest looked spent.
Paramus led wire-to-wire in the first set that was never close and opened a 14-6 lead in Set 2. It seemed a forgone conclusion that fifth-seeded Demarest was heading for and uncharacteristically early exit from the Bergen County Tournament.
“It was awful, just bad. As bad as we could play, as bad as we have ever played,” said Victoria Corcoran, a senior speaking not just of volleyball but any of the three sports she has started on the varsity level since her freshman year. “We were like, ‘This is ridiculous.’ We knew we were so much better than the way we were playing and we still believed that we could win.”
For as bad as Demarest was for the first half of the match, it was that good in the second half. Behind the serve of junior Megan DeMartini, who started at setter in place of the injured Hoagland, the Norsewomen stabilized Set 2 long enough to mount a comeback and they eventually pulled off a 15-25, 30-28, 25-15 stunner on Tuesday night at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School. Demarest will play top-seeded and undefeated Old Tappan, itself pushed to the three-set max by scrappy Bogota, in Friday night’s quarterfinal round.
“It was important that I stayed calm even when we were down in the first game because we still had the next game to go and sometimes they just blindly believe,” said Demarest head coach Beth Powell. “What helps is that when I tell them something -- and I am not going to tell you what that is because it is a strategy and it worked well in this game -- they actually do it and when we get points off of it that is when they really start believing.”
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Senior Maria Bellinger had 24 kills for Paramus, which fell to 17-4 on the season. |
Because it fell so far behind, Demarest had a long way to go before it could even entertain the thought of a comeback, but DeMartini made the idea a possibility. She served six straight points and Victoria Corcoran’s tip that fell untouched evened the second game at 14. The rest of the game was back-and-forth as neither had more than a three-point lead before it was decided.
Veronica Corcoran, who missed 12 points in the first game after spraining her ankle, was all over the court in the second game and her kill from the back row gave Demarest a set point at 24-22. Rianna McNamee fought off the first set point with a kill from the middle and she had another two points later to put Paramus on the cusp at 25-24. But Veronica Corcoran again came through from the back row to tie up and Demarest had four set points before it finally cashed in. Veronica Corcoran pushed two tips for winners on the final two points of the 30-28 win.
While Demarest needed help from every player on the court and got it in spurts, the Corcoran twins, who will finish their high school careers with a combined 24 varsity letters, took over when it looked bleakest. With Victoria setting and Veronica hitting from where she happened to be in the rotation, the Corcoran’s refused to let Demarest lose.
“Me and Victoria have this kind of twin relationship and it is kind of like this bond. It’s not easy to describe, but we just feel so confident,” said Veronica, who did the postgame interview lying on the trainer’s table with her ankle elevated. “We’ll turn to each other and I will yell ‘Set me this ball right now!’ and she’ll understand exactly what I am talking about…and then she’ll set someone else.”
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Playing on a sprained ankle, Demarest's Veronica Corcoran finished with 22 kills. |
The third set was close for a while as Paramus (17-4) took its final lead at 8-7 before Demarest (16-3) went on a 9-2 run to take control for good. Ellen Hamlin served up two straight aces to make it 17-10 and the Spartans never got close than six points the rest of the way.
Veronica Corcoran finished with 23 kills and 10 digs, Victoria had 27 assists and 5 kills. Hamlin led the rock-solid defensive effort with 12 digs and Christina Jang serves six aces. Maria Bellinger, Paramus’ senior outside hitter who will play at the University of Delaware next year, finished with 24 kills and setter Kristi Garino handed out 29 assists to go with 10 digs.
It was a tough way to go out for Paramus, which reach the semifinals last season.
“When you get to the Elite 8 and you play one of the top teams in the state, if you continue to have the dips [in play] this is what is going to happen,” said Paramus head coach MariaElena Bellinger. “Not to take anything away from Demarest –they fought, they played hard and they are a great team – but we might as well have just handed it to them and got on the bus.”
No. 1 NORTHERN VALLEY/OLD TAPPAN def. No. 9 BOGOTA 25-18, 23-25, 25-11:
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Natalie Alechko had 19 kills for Old Tappan, which improved to 17-0. |
Earlier this season NV/Old Tappan ended four-time defending Tournament of Champions winner IHA’s long winning streak against in-state competition. Old Tappan is undefeated, Old Tappan is the No. 1 seed in this year’s Bergen County Tournament and Old Tappan was dominant in the first set against Group 1 Bogota, the No. 9 seed with just one senior on its roster.
The Golden Knights spread its attack between multiple players, dominated the net and rolled to the opening set win and then got out to a 10-3 lead in the second game. The gym was emptying out, photography equipment was packed away and just about everyone thought they would get home in plenty of time for first pitch of Game 1 of the World Series.
But those people forgot about Bogota’s history in the sport of volleyball. The Bucs won the Bergen County Tournament in 2012, beating IHA in the final to become the first and only Group 1 winner in the event’s history. The Bucs are scrappy, not just this year, but always and they got off the deck. There were some stunned looks on faces on the Old Tappan side of the net when Bogota rallied from a 22-20 deficit in the second game to force a deciding set.
Kaliana Vasquez’s ace tied it at 23, Rina Garay hit one through the block to give Bogota a 24-23 edge and an Old Tappan attack error while facing a set point against made Game 3 a reality.
“I think we had a real solid Game 1, got off to a solid start in Game 2 and then I think it was a combination of things. I think we got a little complacent and Bogota played great,” said Old Tappan head coach Melissa Landeck. “It was a combination of them not giving up and playing hard on every single point and us taking a little break there for a little while before we got the wakeup call.”
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Junior Sam Gioiosa finished with 12 kills for Bogota. |
Bogota’s momentum carried it through the first 16 points of the deciding set. Those were split evenly between the two teams before NV/OT’s Kirsten Kaiser tip went off a dig attempt to open the door to a 9-0 Knights’ run that finally put them back in control.
“I am proud of my kids, proud of the effort. We did not get off to good start but we kept battling. Once we got settled in we made it tough on them. We got the ball back over the net, kept point alive and did some good things,” said Bogota head coach Brad DiRupo. “But Old Tappan is a great team with a lot of options. For us the No. 1 goal is always a state title and playing against an opponent like this only helps us get better and get ready for the state tournament.”
Kelly Brogan, Old Tappan’s setter, switched roles for a point and went down the line with a kill from the outside that painted the line and gave her team a 17-8 lead. Natalie Alechko crushed one off the dig to make it 20-10 as Old Tappan scored 8 of the final 9 points of the match to advance to Friday night’s semifinal against rival Demarest.
Alechko finished with 19 kills and sophomore Julia Passante provided a solid second option with 9 kills to go along with 6 blocks. Brogan had 32 assists and 7 kills, while Maya Ilovsky (14 digs) and Kelly Chen led the defense for Old Tappan, which improved to 17-0 on the season.
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