April 22, 2010
Prep dominant against Bayonne
Senior outside hitter Kenny Walter had eight kills, seven aces and five digs.
Click Here for photos from St. Peter's Prep at Bayonne.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
BAYONNE – In recent years, few volleyball rivalries in the state have matched the intensity or competitiveness of Bayonne and St. Peter’s Prep. Both teams have produced thrilling, closely-contested matchups, often with a conference or state sectional title on the line.
The first 2010 meeting between the Hudson powers however, was no contest.
Staking their claim as not only the county’s premier team, but possibly the best in New Jersey, the Marauders dismantled the host Bees 25-9, 25-10 last night.
“This game was very important to us because we needed to establish ourselves as the dominant Hudson County team and show them that we are better,” Prep middle hitter John Armstrong said.
“Everybody jumps, they block, they hit, they swing and they’re a terrific team.” Bayonne coach Pat Longo said. “We’ve played a couple different teams and I think they’re the number one team in the state. They just do a lot of things, they’re very powerful.”
St. Peter’s Prep, ranked third in the state, set the tone immediately with six straight points and a 7-1 lead in the opening game. Armstrong, a senior, led the charge for the Marauders (8-1), recording a pair of kills during the stretch as he took advantage of the considerable defensive attention paid towards Parker Kolodka and Kenny Walter on the outside.
“They love to go for Parker and Kenny,” Armstrong said. “That’s how it was last year. I worked hard in the off-season to develop my slot and three so that can be effective when they go double-blocking on the outside and that leaves me open.”
Armstrong and Prep continued to take advantage as he recorded two more kills as they closed the first game with a 12-1 run. He finished the match with seven kills and three blocks in the win.
“I can’t think of any middle in the state of New Jersey that can do everything that John can do,” St. Peter’s Prep coach Don Guide said. “They have to watch him (on defense).”
The Marauder dominance over a Bayonne (7-5) team, ranked 17th in the state, would continue in the second game as an 11-2 run gave St. Peter’s Prep a quick 12-4 lead.
Walter would put the exclamation point on the convincing win with a kill and a pair of aces in a 6-1 run to close out the match.
The Marauders racked up a staggering 13 aces in the win, led by seven from Walter. Kolodka added three aces and Lorenzo Samin had two.
Walter also had a team-high eight kills to go with five digs. Alex Cogott and Alexander Perez led the defense with nine and six digs respectively. Kolodka and Samin had three kills apiece.
Setter Mike Blicharz, who is back after missing most of the early season due to injury, added 17 assists for a Prep squad which is finally at full strength after an injury-plagued start.
“It’s definitely made us a stronger team,” Armstrong said. “It gave us a gut-check to make sure that we had it and when those guys were hurt we had to play harder.”
Sophomores Konrad Budny (four service points, three assists) and Kris Kucza (five service points, two kills) led the way for Bayonne. Khaled Abdelaal had two kills and Rafal Kierznowski added two blocks for a Bees squad which looks to pick itself off the canvas after a nightmare night against their biggest rivals.
“We haven’t had (a loss) like this in a long time and hopefully this will be an eye-opener,” Longo said. “Hopefully this will make us get better and we’ll learn from this game.”
Sophomore Konrad Budny had a team-best three assists for Bayonne.
1st |
2nd |
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| St. Peter's Prep Marauders (8-1) | 25 |
25 |
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| Bayonne Bees (7-5) | 9 |
10 |
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