April 24, 2012

Kearny's Josh Lemos (right) hits the ball above the defense of Lincoln's Devin Nicholas. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Lincoln at Kearny Boys Volleyball Photo Gallery

KEARNY –It quickly became obvious to Jonathan Horvaht and his Kearny teammates would have to change their offensive approach against a bigger, more athletic Lincoln team.

Rather than try to match their opponent with power, Kearny turned an offense based more on finesse and accuracy over brute strength in a 25-18, 18-25, 25-16 victory yesterday.

"I was getting frustrated, I wanted to hit the ball hard," Horvaht said. "But if it's a point, you've got to think of it as the best way possible."

"I just try to tell them don't beat yourself trying to whack the ball," coach Bill Mullins said. "That's a good team we beat. They played well and took it to us in the second game."

The home Kardinals (6-5) had moved away from that finesse style in the second game as Lincoln (3-8) capitalized on a series of Kearny mistakes.

With the third game tied at 6-6, Horvaht took over with three-straight kills to jumpstart a 10-2 Kearny run. During the stretch Horvaht had four kills and four service points.

"You got to set people up. It's like a game of cat and mouse," Mullins said. "Jon's a smart player."

The Lions would never seriously threaten the rest of the way as they never cut the deficit closer than six points after that. Horvaht would deliver the winning point, appropriately enough with a soft shot that crossed from right to left and beyond the reach of the Lincoln defenders.

"It came back to finesse and we couldn't pass the ball," said Lincoln coach Walter Marte of his team, which has just three guys who played volleyball before this year. "We definitely have potential if we can pass the ball. We can definitely hit the ball and block."

"We just needed to get the point," said Horvaht. "That was the main thing, get points. It didn't have to be pretty or anything, it was just getting points"

Horvaht, a junior finished with seven kills, four blocks and 16 dibs. Josh Lemos led the attack with 12 kills and 13 digs. Douglas Chemin earned five kills and three blocks in his first varsity start. Alberth Jimenz also had five kills.

Kevin Ortiz had 26 assists and 12 digs and Arkadiusz chipped in with 13 digs.

Onaja Tonge paced Lincoln with nine kills and two blocks. Michael Lynch and Zakee Adams added five and three kills respectively. Devin Nicholas notched three blocks and two kills. Mitchael Serrano had 16 assists and three digs.

"We're not the quickest, we're not the strongest," Horvaht said. "Obviously we're not the biggest, we're very small. But we try to play smart and that's the main thing."

Dontre Harrington (left) digs the ball up for Lincoln as Michael Lynch (right) looks on. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Lincoln at Kearny Boys Volleyball Photo Gallery