East Brunswick High School Volleyball

11/02/2007 - State Tournament - East Brunswick defeats Cherry Hill East 25-20, 25-21

East Brunswick seems to be getting better with each game. Against Cherry Hill East, the score was going back and fourth but staying very close until it was 9-9 in the first game and Jing Cao came up to serve and the Bears rolled to a 14-9 advantage. The Bears went on to a 25-20 victory in the first game. In the second game, East Brunswick got off to a bad start falling behind 8-2. The Bears clawed back to 8-5, but then Cherry Hill East pulled ahead 14-9. Once again with Jing Cao serving, the Bears surged forward and pulled ahead 17-14 and went on to win 25-21. In addition to strong serving, the Bears really have good blocking capability this year with opponents often hitting the ball out trying to avoid being blocked. Both middles, Jing Cao and Grace Huang, and the two opposite hitters, Alannah Miller and Mary Ruffner all make it very difficult for opposing hitters to get clean kills. East Brunswick had plenty of kills of their own with Grace Huang getting five kills and Michelle Sempkowski had three. The Bears also played very solid defense with Becky Temkin (7 digs), Michelle Sempkowski (4 digs) and Marta Matera all getting lots of amazing digs. Nicole Venezia and Allanah Miller each had many great hits. Splitting the setter duties Candace Riggs and Allanah Miller were spectacular. This team is playing with a lot of heart and they don't panic when they get behind. The competition is going to be very tough, but with any luck, this team may still have a long way to go. East Brunswick improves to 27-3 on the season and will go to Southern Regional on Tuesday for the quarter finals.