Senior setter Addison Gioffre distributed 26 assists to five separate scorers as Northern Valley/Old Tappan topped district-rival Demarest, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21).
OLD TAPPAN - Senior setter Addison Gioffre distributed 26 assists to five separate scorers as Northern Valley/Old Tappan topped district-rival Demarest, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21), to earn a spot in the semifinals of the BCWCA Volleyball Championship next Saturday afternoon.
“Demarest has gotten better since the last time we saw them,” Gioffre said. “It was a league game and it was not as close as it was today. Their passing was great and they really had the fight in them.”
“They’re always our biggest rival,” added junior MB/OH Julia Whaley. “The game has so much around it. There’s tension and we always want to beat our sister school. It puts pressure on the game itself and makes each team nervous. [But] once we’re in there it’s a lot of fun.”
In the first set the teams battled back and forth with 4 ties and 3 lead changes before sophomore OH/MB Bianca Benasillo smacked one of her four kills to give Old Tappan the lead for good. Gioffre spread the ball around as she passed the 750 career assist threshold.
“Addie has been working on connecting [with us] for the past three months and it’s really paid off,” said Whaley, who finished with 6 kills and 2 blocks. “We have a great connection. She’s an amazing setter.”
Many of Gioffre’s sets resulted in well-placed kills to complement the thunderous ones.
“We’ve been working on that a lot in practice,” Gioffre said. “We’re blessed with a bunch of really strong arms who can put a hole in the floor. Sometimes the point isn’t in that necessarily, especially since Demarest put up a great block today and their defense was really good at reading where our hitters were swinging, So we were mixing in those tips, keeping the defense honest, keeping them from cheating or anticipating a really tough swing. We got in the position to put the ball where we want it to go and not have to force anything. We put the ball in those open spots.”
Two of the players who often found those openings were senior OH Samantha Kranzler, who led all scorers with 13 kills, and Whaley.
“As a middle you have one or two people in front of you,” Whaley said. “Today they had two blockers up on me, which leaves an empty spot. So I’m able to tip there because they can’t really cover it; the person is really deep and it’s hard for them to get there. I feel like, by playing smart, a simple tip is the same as putting a hole in the floor and all you’re doing is working for that next point.”
Gioffre got into the scoring column herself with a “quick” kill and 2 other kills, including the point that ended the first set. Later she even blocked a shot for a point.
“I love being at the net,” she said, smiling. “Even though I’m smaller than coach [Kelly] Brogan, she’s been working with me on those quicks trying to keep them on their toes, to keep them from cheating on our stronger hitters, to get less of a block on them and keep the defense honest.”
The second set was hard fought throughout. The teams were tied 8 times and neither team had more than a 2-point lead until late in the game.
“We made sure to stay together especially in those tough times,” Gioffre said. “One thing about us is we know each other really well as a team and we’re so close on and off the court that even in those tough points when other teams might have drifted or grown apart we know how to keep each other locked in and really stay together as a team.”
“It’s always tough when a league opponent, let alone a district rival, is also your opponent in the county tournament,” said Old Tappan coach Melissa Landeck. “It adds an extra layer to the moment. I thought my kids handled it really well.”
Whaley broke a 20-20 tie with a kill and Kranzler pounded 3 kills sandwiched around an errant serve to set up a match point, 24-21.
Junior S/Opp Eva Curko, who finished with 6 kills, 1 block and 3 assists, belted the match-winning kill one point later.
Demarest sophomore Deanna Finkelstein led the Norsewomen with 4 kills and a block, junior Lisa Fishbeyn contributed 3 kills and 2 blocks and senior Scarlett Gaard and junior Schuyler Berenbroick chipped in with 2 kills apiece.
The Golden Knights move on to play Ramapo next Saturday in the semifinals. But as satisfying as this victory is, they say they will continue to work hard to try and make themselves better.
“We believe in ourselves and we have a lot more to come,” said Whaley. “We’ll keep working on a bunch of different rotations and I think we’re going to keep getting better.”
“We hold ourselves to a really high standard,” Gioffre added. “We are obviously doing really well as a team but there is always room to grow and get better. While we like to acknowledge we have so many great individual players and we’ve done so many amazing things this season we like to nitpick, fix the tiniest things. In practice and at games I ask the hitters if they want the pass a smidge to the left or right, let me know. Anything at all, I’ll do it.”
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
