October 29, 2011

Captains Allie Perricone, Jackie McCaffery and Danielle Muzones celebrate with the title. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Bayonne vs Secaucus Girls Volleyball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – It didn't take long for any concerns Secaucus may have had about nerves from its young team in a championship match environment to be put to rest.

Even with the presence of four freshmen in the lineup, the Patriots showed they were still the gold standard of girls volleyball in Hudson County. They scored seven of the first eight points and rode that early momentum to their third-straight county championship in a 25-17, 25-19 win over Bayonne last night at Saint Peter's College.

"As soon as we started, no one looked like they had any nerves," freshman Julie McClure said. "They all just came out and brought it."

For the second-straight day, it was McClure who set the tone with a kill on the opening point for third-seeded Secaucus (19-5). McClure and Allie Perricone each picked up a pair of kills as the Patriots built up the early 7-1 lead in the first game.

"It brought our spirits up as a team and really realize that we could do it," said senior Jackie McCaffrey. "The first points got our spirits up."

"We talked about jumping right on them and let's play our game," Secaucus head coach Sheila Rivera said. "We don't let anyone else dictate our game."

Jump-started by that early run, the Patriots kept control for most of that opening game, but top-seeded Bayonne (19-2) would rally back in the second by scoring six of the first nine points and leading 11-8.

The lead turned out to be short lived as a resilient Patriot defense anchored by freshman libero Andie Lennon (15 digs) withstood a barrage of spikes from the Bayonne duo of Amanda Borges and Franchely Inoa.

"Andie's good moving her feet like you wouldn't believe to get to those balls," Rivera said. "She's reading the hitter, she's been impressing us."

" I thought Secaucus played very good defense," Bees head coach Pat Longo said. "They picked everything up.

"I thought Secaucus played a great game and we had too many errors. Way too many errors."

Behind the defense of Lennon and juniors Kim Alfonso (10 digs) and Danielle Roesing (nine digs), the Patriots would erase the second-game deficit with a 12-3 run to make it 23-16. Secaucus would take the lead for good at 14-13 on a Bayonne error and Roesing followed with a kill.

Roesing had a match-high 14 assists, paving the way for McClure (10 kills and 11 digs) and Perricone (eight kills). For the second year in a row, McCaffrey served the championship clinching point, this time with an ace to end the match.

Inoa had seven kills for the Bees and Borges added five kills, three aces andfour digs.  Megan Mahan and Bhavika Patel had four and three digs respectively and Jessica Dolan added three kills.

It only took one week of practice for Rivera and assistant Cory Roesing to believe that this younger, more inexperienced version of the Patriots can match the heights of the previous two seasons. Even after meeting these high expectations, the feeling in Secaucus is that the best is still yet to come.

"I know that we're not at our peak yet," McCaffrey said. "We're still getting better. The freshmen have adjusted so much. They're only going to get better  and they're going to do big things."

Rachel Densing had a team-high 12 assists for Bayonne in defeat. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Bayonne vs Secaucus Girls Volleyball Photo Gallery