Lakeland sweeps through Hackensack tourney by Greg Tartaglia of The Record

HACKENSACK — Lakeland had a Field day at the Hackensack Tournament.

Junior outside hitter Connor Field racked up 45 kills in 10 games at Saturday’s boys volleyball event, leading the Lancers to the Gold Bracket championship.

Lakeland defeated Kearny in the final, 25-21, thanks in part to seven kills and an ace from Field, plus 10 assists and a late ace from junior setter Ben Donatien.

The Lancers have reached the title game of both tournaments in which that have played this season. They fell to Wayne Valley in the April 8 Verde/McNeill final at Passaic Valley one day after dropping a 2-0 match to their Big North Independence rival.

This time, Lakeland entered tournament action less than 24 hours after winning their division rematch against the Indians, ranked No. 1 in The Record Super Six. The Wanaque squad then 8-0 in Pool B before topping Elizabeth in the semifinals, 25-19, and Kearny.

“We had a lineup change right after the beginning of the season, and at the PV tournament, we were still working through things,” Field said. “[Saturday], everything really clicked, we all came together, and we just played amazing.”

The pivotal change was moving junior Chris Nieves from middle hitter to opposite. Not only is the left-hander in a spot that better suits southpaws, he is in a position to take pressure off of Field and senior middles Greg Huebner and Jakarhi Dupree-Walker.

“What would happen usually is, [opponents] would fan out toward me, and I would get a really hard block,” Field said. “But now that Chris is hitting on that right side, the middle blocker is kept guessing, so it makes it a lot easier for both of us as hitters.”

Nieves tallied 14 kills in the tournament and tied Huebner and Dupree-Walker for the team lead in blocks with five. His twin, Sean Nieves, led Lakeland with 25 service points.

Donatien put up 72 assists on the day. Senior libero James Holm had 19 digs and served an 8-0 run in the semifinals that put the Lancers in control after they trailed, 8-4.

“We’ve been on a roll, in general, with everyone kind of picking each other up,” said Lakeland coach Brian Phillips, whose team will take a dual-match win streak of six into next week.

“Ben being new to setting, he’s doing a nice job moving it around. And we’ve got Chris at opposite now, and it makes a big difference, because teams can’t key on Connor.”

After tying for first place in Pool A at 7-1, host Hackensack and Kearny wound up meeting again in the Gold semifinals. Jason van der Wilt and Jonathan Ramirez combined for 10 kills for the Comets, who used a 6-2 run to take a 19-18 lead. The Kardinals scored the next four points and prevailed, 25-21.

Garfield (4-4 in Pool B) was the other North Jersey team to qualify for the Gold Bracket and bowed to Kearny in the quarterfinals, 25-16. Clifton and Teaneck each were eliminated in the semifinals of the Silver Bracket.

Hackensack Boys Volleyball Tournament

GOLD BRACKET

Quarterfinals: Elizabeth def. Jefferson Township, 25-16; Kearny def. Garfield, 25-16.

Semifinals: Lakeland def. Elizabeth, 25-19; Kearny def. Hackensack, 25-21.

Final: Lakeland def. Kearny, 25-21.

SILVER BRACKET

Semifinals: Vernon def. Clifton, 25-16; Memorial (West New York) def. Teaneck, 27-25.

Final: Vernon def. Memorial (West New York), 25-19.