Sports

Sports & Recreation

WITH Jim Hague

ogsmar@aol.com

Kearny volleyball season ends in sectional fi nal

The Kearny High School boys’ volleyball team was in a place it had never been before – an NJSIAA state sectional championship match, facing familiar foe St. Peter’s Prep, in front of a raucous and loud home crowd in the sweltering gym at Kearny High.

And there the Kardinals were, staring at getting the first game against the Marauders, winning 13-6.

“We were really playing well,” Kearny head coach Bill Mullins said. “In all the recent games, Union City, Harrison, then Summit, Union and (Newark) East Side, we beat some terrific teams. We were getting better as the season went on.”

So when the Kards went up by seven points and were more than half way home to the first set, Mullins issued a word of warning to his squad.

“You can’t let a team back in when you have them down,” Mullins said he told his team. “You think about it. We’re home and have a good crowd behind us. But the beauty of volleyball is that there is no clock. You can’t just run the clock out. You have to keep playing. That’s what makes it exciting.”

The Kardinals let up a little and allowed the Marauders to climb back in and steal the first game, 26-24.

Still, there was the second game available to grab momentum in what is clearly a sport of momentum.

And the Kards were in position once again to gain control, taking a 21-19 lead, when disaster struck. The Kards’ best player, Santiago Lopez, went down hard in a collision with a teammate and screamed loudly in pain. Lopez remained on the floor for 10 minutes while his teammates looked on in disbelief. Lopez, a senior hitter, had seven digs, seven kills and three service aces for the Kards, keeping them in contention.

“When he went down, I still thought we were going on to the third set,” Mullins said. “These things happen. You never know when a kid is going to get injured.”

To the Kardinals’ credit, they found the way to keep trudging forward.

“We didn’t crumble,” Mullins said.

The Kardinals managed to score the points necessary to take a 24-22 lead and were ready to serve for the set.

Dream dies for Nutley softball team in sectional fi nal

Photo by Jim Hague Nutley junior pitcher Fallyn Stoeckel had a brilliant junior campaign, but it came to an end Saturday in the state sectional title game against Cranford. By Jim Hague ogsmar@aol.com

After falling to Cranford in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group III championship game Saturday morning at Yanticaw Park, Nutley High School head softball coach Luann Zullo tried to put a positive spin on the loss.

“If you would have told me before the season that we would ended up 22-5 and make it to both the county and sectional final, I would have said, ‘I’d sign on that dotted line,’” Zullo said.

Still, the reality of the moment didn’t take away the sting of the setback and make it hurt any less.

“We had out chances,” Zullo said. “We hit the ball hard. We just hit it right at them. Cranford is a very good team. They got in the box and hit the ball. But we could have won. I would play them again and again and again.”

Cranford (23-5) scored two runs off losing pitcher Fallyn Stoeckel in the top of the first inning that dampened the spirits of the approximately 700 fans in attendance.

“But that didn’t put us down,” Zullo said. “We came from behind before. We came back all year. We weren’t devastated. We knew we could come back.”

Lorianne O’Connor hit the ball to the fence to start the first inning, but the Cranford centerfielder ran it down. It was a sign for times to come.

“We knew that we were going to have to score runs to win anyway,” Zullo said. “The first inning really didn’t effect us.”

But in the fifth inning, Elizabeth McCaffrey, the daughter of the Cranford baseball coach, hit a home run that pushed the lead to 4-0.

“They swung the bat,”

NUTLEY

Continued from Page 9

Zullo said of Cranford. “They weren’t looking to walk. They got in the box and hit the ball.”

Cranford delivered nine hits off Stoeckel.

“We just didn’t have it,” Zullo said. “Sometimes, you need a little luck to win big games. We needed the ball to bounce our way a little. We hit the ball right at people. We needed to get it six inches either left or right. We didn’t lose to a losing team.”

Zullo said that she thoroughly enjoyed coaching the 2021 Maroon Raiders.

“They were a good group, a fun group,” Zullo said. “They enjoyed being together and had fun. There are so many other teams that can’t have fun. I’ve had more talented teams than this one. But this team really enjoyed being together and playing. Was it the year away from playing? I don’t know. I just think these girls tended to appreciate the game a little more. Who knows?”

Zullo then got a little emotional talking about the season’s end.

“The most disappointing thing is that we’re not going to be together tomorrow,” Zullo said. “That’s the most disappointing part to losing. I didn’t want it to end.”

Zullo loses three seniors from this year’s team, so the rest will be back in 2022, looking to capture the elusive state sectional title.

“We’re definitely looking forward to next year,” Zullo said. “In fact, maybe I’d wish for it to start tomorrow. The younger players we had needed experience and they have it now. I think it might have been a little overwhelming for them in the beginning of the season. They needed to become students of the game. They don’t now.”

So look for another shot at state glory a year from now.

Zullo wanted to thank the hundreds who took the time a Saturday in June to come out and support the Maroon Raiders.

“The environment was electric,” Zullo said. “The community really came out to support the girls. It was an intense game, but it was well played. We are glad the community came out to see them.”

And will come out next spring in even stronger fashion with no threat of an international pandemic.

Photo by Jim Hague Nutley head coach Luann Zullo (center) tells her team how much fun they had been to coach during the trying times of 2021.

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