Colts Neck captures its first volleyball title
Cougar girls are perfect in A North play
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

JEFFGRANIT staff Colts Neck's Caitlin Clarke spikes the ball during a recent win over rival Howell in Colts Neck.

The Colts Neck girls volleyball team is no longer a contender. The Cougars are champions.

"It's all ours - we accomplished our goal," said coach Glenn Jansen.

With another perfect week on the court, the Cougars, who had clinched no worse than a co-championship for the Shore Conference A North Division the week before, clinched the title outright. It's the first championship for the program and the Cougars don't have to share it with anyone.

Colts Neck clinched its first championship when the Cougars topped Point Pleasant Beach in straight sets, 25-14, 25-22. Beach had been one of the preseason picks to win the division. It was Colts Neck's second win of the season over the Garnet Gulls.

Jackie O'Reilly had 11 kills and three blocks along with serving up a pair of aces. Caitlin Clarke had a team-high 15 assists, and Tiffany Kirk had three digs and two blocks.

A straight-set win over Marlboro on Oct. 9, 26-24, 25-15, clinched the title outright for the Cougars and improved their record to 18-1. They are 11-0 in division play.

Ferdesa Bauta contributed nine kills in the title-clincher. Clarke served up three aces and had 18 assists while O'Reilly had two aces and 10 kills.

Despite the perfect division record, Jansen pointed out that the team didn't just waltz to the championship. The Cougars were pushed to three sets on four occasions, including two against runner-up Rumson-Fair Haven.

"It wasn't easy," he said. "But we kept getting better at every point of the season."

There is still a lot of work to do before the Cougars can call it a season. The Shore Conference Tournament will be played tomorrow through Saturday. The first round will be at the home of the highest seed, and as a division winner, Colts Neck is assure of a home match. The final two days will be played at Southern Regional, the top-ranked team in the conference.

The states begin the following week, and Colts Neck's goal for now is to get a home game.

"We'd like to get a home match in the states," said Jansen. "We've been in the states the last two years and were on the road."

The division championship was the culmination of an upward trend the last two years, when the Cougars went from a team struggling to get victories to a winner that qualified for the state tournament. The steady improvement was on the watch of co-captains Clarke and O'Reilly.

"They were a strong presence," said Jansen. "The other girls saw their work ethic and put in the extra time."

That extra time included travel team play in the Jersey Shore Volleyball League, which Jansen credits for his team getting off to a great start.

"They came in sharp and ready to go," he said.

Middle hitters O'Reilly and Kristen Anderson have been the cornerstones of Colts Neck offense as the playmakers. O'Reilly, Clarke and Samantha Shaw are the team's best servers. Shaw occasionally throws a jump serve at the opposition.

Bauta and Tiffany Kirk are the outside hitters and Angela Papasso is the libero, or defensive specialist. Clarke gets the assists as the setter. Cherelle Hill is another player who is very good on defense.

One of the more positive impacts of having such a fine season is that Jansen was able to get his nonstarters a lot of playing time.

With the division title under their belts, the Cougars are looking forward to the tournament season.

"The girls are excited," he added. "They'd like to play Southern in the SCT."

It has taken just two years to turn Marlboro into a playoff team. Tom Mullcahey's Mustangs are 9-6 and headed for both the SCT and state tournament. The cutoff date to be .500 or better to make the conference tournament was yesterday, while today is the deadline for the states.

A three-set win last week over Red Bank, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23, turned out to be the match that put the 'Stangs over the top. The marathon match was another example of how resilient Marlboro has been this year. They've pulled out a number of close sets and matches - a sure sign of their maturity.

Chiara Sturgill had 10 kills, one block and an assist in that win while Kristen Batts came up with seven kills, a block and an assist. Amanda LeFonte helped out with four assists and three kills.

Howell's Rebels have also made great strides in their second season.

Todd Going's squad is 6-7 and needs to pick up a win before the deadline to make the playoffs. The Rebels gave Colts Neck one of its sternest tests of the season Thursday, falling to the Cougars in three sets, 21-25, 25-10, 25-16.

Kaitlyn Brown (two aces, three kills and two blocks), Katie Tedesco (nine kills, two blocks and one dig) and Sara Owen (three aces, four kills and two digs) were Howell's standouts.