Winning volleyball seasons end in state tournament
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

All good things come to an end. For the Freehold Regional District's girls volleyball teams, it was in the first round of the NJSIAA Tournament.

What had been very successful seasons for all three state qualifiers - Colts Neck, Howell and Marlboro - came to a conclusion on Halloween.

Colts Neck (22-7) lost at home to Hillsborough in a three-set tussle, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20.

Marlboro (11-11) lost to fellow Shore Conference member Toms River North on the road, 25-19, 25-14, and Howell (8-9) lost at Cherokee, 25-9, 25-6.

For all three teams, which played in Group IV, the 2006 season was one in which each accomplished their goals.

Glen Jansen's Colts Neck Cougars went into the season with high expectations and lived up to them. Moving into the A North Division for the first time, the Cougars looked at themselves as legitimate championship contenders. They proved to be more than that. They were the division's dominant team, going through the division schedule undefeated on the way to their first championship. They would then reach the Shore Conference Tournament semifinal round.

Another goal for the Cougars was to have a good enough record to play a state game at home. They had made the state tournament the previous two years, but had to go on the road for their first-round matches. With an outstanding regular-season record (19-1), the Cougars did just that. Unfortunately, the visiting Raiders spoiled the party.

Caitlin Clarke had 10 assists, two kills and two digs for the Cougars, while Jackie O'Reilly served up four aces and had three digs, one block and eight kills in the playoff game. Angela Papasso contributed 10 digs for the Cougars.

The Cougars finished the season at 22-7.

The championship season was a fitting conclusion to the careers of co-captains O'Reilly and Clarke. They were there for the hard times at the beginning and there when the team won its first championship.

"They were a strong presence," said Jansen.

Despite the graduation of those cornerstones, Jansen is confident that the Cougars will remain a championship-caliber squad. Papasso, Ferdesa Bauta (libero), Kristen Anderson, Samantha Shaw and Cherelle Hill all played significant roles this year and will be returning. Because the Cougars won a lot of straight-set matches, Jansen was able to give his substitutes a lot of playing time.

"I'm very excited for next year," said Jansen.

Marlboro and Howell, both in just their second seasons of varsity play, had the same ambitious goal - make the state playoffs, which they did. They also made the SCT field.

Coach Tom Mullcahey's Mustangs

showed tremendous improvement from last fall to this season and then continued to get better as the season progressed. They went 2-2 at the SCT, effectively finishing in the top six.

Chiara Sturgill led the Mustang effort in the state tournament against TRN with seven kills and one block. Amanda LeFonte had three assists and one kill, and a very active Kyleen Hoover contributed 22 assists. Nisha Nadkar had two kills and one assist for Marlboro. Kristen Batts, Lauren Einecker, Megan Ragovin and Klora Dakas also played well during the course of the season for the Mustangs.

Todd Going wanted his Rebels to show improvement throughout the course of the season, and that's exactly what they did, reaching .500 at the cutoff date for the playoffs.

Kaitlyn Brown, Katie Tedesco and Sara Owen were some of Howell's standouts during the season. The good news: the Rebels were young. Owen leads an underclassman contingent that includes Keri Hardiman and Kelly Mormino, among others.