By Jennifer Ersalesi
Photo Credits: JP Melfa and Darlene Capobianco
On Wednesday, November 13th the Rutherford High School Girls Varsity Volleyball Team played the Sparta Girls Varsity team at Rutherford High School.
The Rutherford Bulldogs started off the second set behind the Sparta Spartans. “The girls kept playing hard. They did not panic or give up. The Senior members of the team had been on this stage before and it showed that they had the experience and leadership that Sparta did not,” explained Coach Edward Guy. It wasn’t until the score was 23-22 that the Rutherford Bulldogs took the lead. “Once the girls started that run, there was no stopping them,” Coach Guy told TIR.
With great confidence and energy, the Rutherford Bulldogs played fiercely against the Sparta Spartans and won the game, winning the Section A, Group 2 Sectional Championship, 25-22. Rutherford Bulldogs went on an 11-1 run. The enthusiasm from the crowd on their home court also kept the girls focused and eager to win. Overall, the Bulldogs played inconsistently throughout the game, but managed to pull it together during the end to win the game. "Perseverance and heart......this was the difference between us and Sparta on Wednesday. Our team refused to lose and continued to stay confident. As a coach, my goal is to help form young women to emotional strong women. Yesterday's victory proved that this group will undoubtedly become successful," Head Coach Helen Antzoulides told TIR.
Although it was a total team effort, there were a few players that definitely helped the team bring home the win. Jenna Rogers did a little bit of everything and lead the team with 22 kills and 15 digs. Overall, during the third set, it came down to Erin Augusterfer consistently serving the ball over the net. She also had 13 digs throughout the game. Mia Capobianco had 26 assists and 10 digs.
The Rutherford Bulldogs will play the Demarest Norsemen this upcoming Saturday, November 16th at William Paterson University in the Group 2 State Championship game. The game will take place at 3:00 p.m.
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