Wayne Valley rallies, hangs on to top rival for Passaic County title by Greg Tufaro of The Record
CLIFTON – Winning was difficult. Catching their breath afterward was equally tough for Wayne Valley’s girls volleyball players on Saturday.
The No. 1 seed Indians captured their second Passaic County championship in three years by outlasting No. 2 Wayne Hills, 26-28, 27-25, 25-20, in the final at Clifton High School.
Junior Gracie Watson spiked the winning kill, her 10th of the match, though the Patriots nearly kept it alive with a diving pancake dig.
“I have nothing left, and the girls have nothing left,” Indians coach Jason Carcich said. “I’ve been playing [against] Wayne Hills for a long time, and I have never seen them play that well. They were absolutely outstanding.”
Both teams were, as well as the crowd. The split of fans in the stands from the crosstown rivals was virtually even, and each side reacted loudly to every point.
Through the first two-plus sets, neither team led by more than four, and there were 38 ties. Wayne Valley (19-4) used a 7-1 run to pull ahead in the third set, 15-9, before Wayne Hills (11-5) mirrored it to draw even at 16-all, the 39th and final tie of the match.
“Going into this, we knew it was going to be a tight game,” said a near-breathless Jessica Dunitz, who led Wayne Valley with five blocks. “But I would have never expected this, it was such a great game.”
PREVIEW: Passaic County girls volleyball championship match
SEMIFINALS: Wayne Hills books first trip to Passaic girls volleyball final
The Indians had swept both of the teams’ regular-season Big North Independence meetings.
Wayne Hills finally got over the hump in the first set of the title match, closing on a 7-3 run after trailing, 23-21. Senior Megan Kaloukian had two of her eight kills during the stretch and served the final two points.
The Patriots appeared to even the second set at 26-all after a Wayne Valley dig attempt steered out of bounds. However, since the ball caromed off the basketball hoop behind the Indians’ end of the court, officials ruled it a dead ball and had the teams replay the point.
On the ensuing rally, Indians libero Gina Ziegler dug a spike and got the ball to Lauren DeVoe. She then set up Watson for a tip into the shadow of the blockers for game point.
#PCTvolleyball 2nd set tying point overturned b/c it hit bball hoop. Up 26-25, Wayne Valley closes out game to send us to 3rd set
“There’s always going to be an intense rivalry [between the schools], and it’s always more fun when it’s a close game,” said Ziegler, who finished with 22 digs and two aces.
“We battle it out, and it feels even better to have the victory because we worked so hard for it.”
DeVoe had another outstanding all-around effort with 11 kills, 14 assists, four aces and four blocks. Senior middle Meghan Marzella had the go-ahead kill in the third set – plus three key points during a second-set rally that brought Wayne Valley back from a 20-17 deficit – while junior Laura Balinski added 21 assists.
All six Wayne Hills seniors to play in the match served an ace. Middle Precious Obidigbo tied Kaloukian for the team lead with eight kills, and setters Taylor Habeeb and Ally Zarro each put up 10 assists. OH Erin Santowski chipped in seven kills and 11 digs, and libero Sam Quaglia had 19 digs.