Senior Samantha Kranzler knocked down a match-high 14 kills for Old Tappan, which improved to 6-0 with a two-set sweep of Northern Highlands.

OLD TAPPAN - Golden Knights senior Samantha Kranzler pounded out 14 kills and served 6 aces to propel undefeated Old Tappan past Northern Highlands 2-0 (25-22, 25-18) on Thursday night. 

“I’m just trying to score however I can to help the team out, serving, hitting,” Kranzler said. “When I’m on the back line (serving) I take a deep breath and focus on getting it to wherever [coach Melissa] Landeck tells me.”

Kranzler had a lot of help from her younger teammates, especially junior Eva Curko (3 kills, 3 assists, 1 service ace), junior Julia Whaley (2 kills, 4 blocks) and sophomore Bianca Benasillo (4 kills).

“They have high volleyball IQs,” Landeck said of the underclassmen. “They work hard every day to improve and contribute. It’s still early - we’re working out some kinks, getting more and more comfortable on the court. We’re starting from a good place but I think we still have room to get even better and keep competing at a high level every day.”

Landeck also appreciates the senior leadership, composed of Kranzler, senior setter Addie Gioffre and senior libero Jamie Kim, who scooped 12 digs and served 3 aces.

“They are doing an outstanding job,” she said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them for the leadership they are demonstrating. They complement each other nicely; they have different personalities. What each of them brings makes a nice package of leadership for our team.”

And the senior leaders recognize how important the younger players are to the success of the team.

Senior Sophia Van Biert had Highlands right there in the opening set.

“We have a lot of kids this year who have really stepped up,” said Kranzler. “Last year we had six graduating seniors, a lot of upperclassmen. Julia, Bianca, Gaby [Paltag], everyone is doing their job, stepping up and getting points when they need to. We’re more experienced and we keep them calm, keep them confident and keep everyone focused. That is really big for us.”

“They’re all stepping up - we’re all so proud of them,” added Gioffre, who dished 19 assists, scooped 2 digs and served a pair of aces. “It’s difficult because they’re all being thrown into these positions of serve-receive where they’re not used to it. They’re going in and doing what they have to do. It’s on everyone - not just those individual people. We’re all lifting each other up even when people are making mistakes or feeling less confident. We know each other enough that we’re able to bring each other up.”

The first set was back and forth with 12 ties and 9 lead changes. Neither team led by more than 3 points the entire set. Highlands senior Bella Deppisch was all over the court, registering 2 kills and tallying on back-to-back blocked shots. Junior Allie Reilly added a pair of service aces, one of which tied the set 19-all.

A few points later Curko broke a 21-21 tie with a kill and Highlands made an attack error to give OT a 2-point lead. But Highlands senior Sophia Van Biert cut the lead in half with a mis-hit that skipped over the net and found an open area on the Old Tappan side, making it 23-22 in the Knights’ favor. Kranzler came to the rescue by blasting back-back kills and the Knights grabbed the first set, 25-22.

Senior setter Addison Gioffre handed out 19 assists for Old Tappan..

“Sam has an amazing kill from the back row - I have to set her on that,” Gioffre said. “Everyone is getting great kills so no matter where I set there is no wrong answer. I’m so lucky to have all these great options, really smart players who can put the ball down no matter what.”

The second set was close early on. Curko broke a 7-7 tie with a kill and then Benasillo smacked a kill, followed by back-to-back service aces by Kranzler, another kill by Benasillo and a “quick hit” by Curko to make it 13-7. The “quick hit,” was made famous by Knights assistant coach Kelly Brogan, when she was the setter for Landeck during a championship season.

“Eva is a real nice opposite and a very capable setter,” said Landeck. “We trust her a whole bunch out there.”

The Golden Knights never trailed after that. Highlands got within 3 points, 19-16, but Kranzler hammered two more kills and Gioffre served an ace to make it 22-16. A few points later Curko closed out the match with her third kill of the night.

“Highlands is always tough to play,” said Landeck. “Their coaches do an outstanding job. We know it’s going to be a hard game year in and year out when we play them.”

Old Tappan improved to 6-0, while Northern Highlands fell to 4-2.

“It’s going great,” Gioffre said. “We’ve already had some huge challenges with injuries, some people going down, being out a few games, coming back, but all in all everyone is stepping up. It’s great to see as a senior that no matter who is coming off the bench there is no difference in the level of play. We’re all really just proud of each other. I’ve had the best time of my life since freshman year. It is great as a senior. I feel like a proud mother seeing everyone doing these amazing things. I’m so proud of these underclassmen.”

“I think we’re a really good team,” added Kranzler, “and if we give 110 percent each game and each point we can really make it far. I’m really excited to see where we go.”

Photography for this game was provided by Ryan Gilmartin, a senior at Dumont High School who has accepted an internship with northjerseysports.com for the 2024-25 School Year. For internship opportunities, please contact editor@northjerseysports.com.

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