SOMERSET – The final game of the NJSIAA girls volleyball championships was between the girls of Secaucus and Raritan high schools, with the Patriots taking a 3-0 victory. The game took place at Franklin High School in Somerset, where each team had a loud crowd filling the bleachers with different posters and colors that matched their uniforms.
The first set started strong for the Raritan Rockets, who took the lead with the first few points. However, senior Olivia Jasiczek of the Secaucus Patriots did not hesitate to show her powerful hand as she hit back-to-back kills. She, along with senior Sofia Guzman, were the star hitters of their team, giving Secaucus an 11-5 lead.
The girls of Raritan had their fair share of strong players as well, putting up an amazing fight in the first set. Leading by example, middle blocker Madelyn Burgos was the first to score a point for her team from a block. Brielle Brosonski and Makayla O’Donnell scored the most points by blocking the strong hits coming from Secaucus. Although it was a hard-fought match, the Patriots won the first set 25-13.
“Overall, we played a better team today,” Raritan head coach Tom Shockley admitted later on. “This was a tough one. The toughest team we’ve seen all year.”
The second match continued to highlight the strength Jasiczek and Guzman had over the game with their powerful kills. It was clear that the communication between the entire Secaucus team was solid as they scored back-to-back, with senior libero Avalyn Torres communicating well on passes.
“Playing together for so long really helped us with our connection,” Guzman commented. “Yeah, it was hard at first, but as we got used to it over time, even in practice, it’s just something that takes time to get used to, and I think that just really helped us through, especially this game, with very intense games because we rely on each other for support and comfort.”
Though the Raritan girls continued to stay behind, they were constantly diving for the ball at every chance. Right side Sophie Papagiannakis never stopped hustling and hit the ground constantly to save the ball. At the end of the second set, the Rockets encountered a slight problem when hitter Sabrina Sicilia gave two points to Secaucus after the referee called her for being in the wrong spot two consecutive times. The set ended with the Patriots winning again at 25-9.
The third set started off with the only service ace of the match, thrown by senior Apollonia Dicanio. Jasiczek and Guzman consistently slammed kills, keeping Secaucus in the lead by many points.
Raritan’s Burgos and Brosonski fought back hard with their blocks, able to stop a few Secaucus kills. Though the entire team hustled hard, they eventually fell to the Patriots in the final set by a score of 25-5, leading to a Secaucus celebration in the middle of the court.
“You can’t coach an athletic mindset and a ‘refuse to lose’ mindset. They were locked in from the second we all came together at noon today,” head coach Dylan Caruso of Secaucus emotionally answered after being asked about the win. “They had been working so hard; they knew that they wanted this, and they knew that they wanted it in this fashion. You can’t coach mindset.”
“We take tons and tons and tons of reps day in and day out at practice. We have practice hours upon hours upon hours, and if they do something they’re not happy with or the coaching staff isn’t happy with, we run it back and it’s exciting for them,” he added. “A lot of athletes, when a coach says, ‘Hey, you did something wrong,’ they kind of shut down. But they’re like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna improve on that.’ And that’s clearly the result.”
As the Patriots held the trophy high and their families in the crowd erupted, one thing was certain: this was a championship they earned, and one they will never forget.
