Volleyball - Week #1

Morris County - Week #1 (plus)

So far, no surprises ...

By Coach Carchietta - MCHSS.net (9-18-2007)

Friday, September 7 – Saturday, September 15

Quick opening Day in Morris:

The gyms were cleared out early on opening day as every Morris result came in 2-0, except Madison’s 2-1 loss to DePaul. Randolph knocked off Roxbury 2-0 lead by Vicki Jones with four kills and five aces. Parsippany, Kinnelon, Mendham, Montville and Chatham all won versus out-of-county opponents. West Morris, the perennial queen of Morris County Volleyball, opened with a 25-9, 25-15 victory over Morris Knolls. It looks as if West Morris is ready to play at the highest-level right out of the gates. A team to watch in Morris maybe Mt. Olive, who maybe overlooked by most considering they only won 6 times last year, and finished 3-11 in conference. The mature and experience squad over came Hanover Park, lead by new coach Charles DiGiacomo, 25-23, 25-16. The Marauders were guided by Amber Mosher's 8 kills, 9 digs, 3 aces and 2 blocks.

Saturday Sept. 8: Tournament Time - Roxbury hosted a pool play – tournament. Mt Olive came out 3rd in their pool finishing with a 5-3 record. Emily Hines recorded 20 assists and 10 digs. Kinnelon went up to Indian Hills and lost both to the host and Ramapo.

Monday 9/10: Morris Tech – most of you know the school as Denville Vo-Tech – played their 1st Varsity match ever, and fell to Hackettstown in two. Montville came out victors in the days “spotlight match.” The Mustangs took game #3 25-19 over Madison. Montville fell in the 1st game, but managed to take home the next two for the victory. Hanover Park gave their new coach his first victory with a 2-0 sweep of Summit.

Tuesday 9/11: Par Hills needed to rally, after dropping the 1st game to Randolph 25-10. The Vikings came back strong and took the final two, 25-14; 25-17. Montville improved to 3-0 with a victory over Mt. St. Dominic’s – 25-23, 25-21. But the shocker of the day came when Wayne Valley knocked off West Morris in three. West Morris fell to 2-1 on this young season.

Wednesday 9/12: Kinnelon rebounded from the weekend sweep, knocking off Morris Knolls in three at Morris Knolls. The final game was decided 26-24, so you know that the place must have been in going crazy. Mendham improved to 3-0 with a 25-17, 25-10 win over Westfield. Megan Lunch had 18 kills for Mendham. Madison knotted their first victory winning 2-1 against Passaic Tech.

Friday 9/14: Mendham & Chatham remained undefeated. Kinnelon went back over the .500 mark for the season with their third win.

Saturday 9/15: Parsippany improved to 2-0 with a 25-2, 25-6 pounding of East Orange. Madison fell to 1-3 with a loss to Watchung Hills.

Coaches: When I was coaching, I always had those days where it was difficult to call in the results, but it had to be done. Sometimes, after a loss or a long ride home stuck in traffic … you know the routine. Please call the Record and log in or call Ledger - no matter what there problems are, they have an obligation to you and your kids. Here’s what I need from you – as does the record and ledger: Once a week write up a little summary, some stats (if you have them); a few highlights; what’s coming up – JUST SIMPLY INFO! Coaches, parents, players LOVE to complain that they get no coverage, I am telling you (THE COACHES ONLY) – SEND stuff and you will. Other coaches busted my chops that my teams always were covered and had press – simple answer – because I supplied them with information as much as possible. I love chatting with, giving them ideas and info for their top 10, the best players I saw, etc. I know you read the forum. I know you read the papers and I know you want your kids to get press … start acting on it –

TheCoach@MCHSS.net

The Ledger's Coverage: It has not been the same since they went to the new format in '05. Sure it gets names in and gives you a section ... it's not bad. But the kids miss head lines. Sure Joey Batts covered a game or two a week, but I'd rather headlines. Once they get the computer system up, it should even out and become pretty darn cool. I really like the new set up, but it needs to work. They'll get there ... even though these kinks should have been ironed out in August. Getting back to when the Ledger changed formats, I was coaching volleyball. I was not happy and decided to, for once, take a stand. I posted on NJ.com for teams to protest and not call in until the Ledger gave us back our headlines. Bozo posters at njo proceeded to bad mouth me, berate me and tell me how bad my idea was. Hate to say it, but you should have listened. Now I read the forum and people complain about the one thing I tried to prevent ... one time I hate being right.

An E-mail that I actually liked:
This came the other days as a result of my posting on the forum asking coaches to email me. Here is one response I received, I think, from a parent – not a coach – but very knowledge and informative. I DO NOT WANT EMAILS FROM PARENTS – unless they are a thank you. I had my share of complaints and hate mail when I coached, I had enough – lol – but an email like this I will always entertain:

“I saw on the NJ SL volleyball forum that you were looking for some info on Morris County VB. The Ledger just came out with their first rankings of the season and for the first time ever, 3 Morris county teams are ranked in the top 20. Chatham is at # 4, Mendham is at #15 and West Morris Central is at #20. Many believe Chatham to be the best team in the state as they boast 2 all state players in Jr. setter Marika Racibarskas and Soph. OH in Casey Read, they also had a libero from Texas transfer in that solidifies their defense, Mendham may have the best all round player in the county with all state jr. OH Megan Lynch who is probably going to lead the state in kills per game. Finally, West Morris Central is the 7-time defending champ in Morris County and although they lost their top 7 players to graduation, Beth Grasso is the best coach in the county (one of the tops in the state) and her team is reloaded and will make a run at the title again. The game of the week this week is Mendham at West Morris Central on Thursday night."

To whom ever sent this: Thanks – just thought I’d let you know that I coached volleyball in this county for 6 years, so I know WMC’s history as well as that of their head coach. Now if only coaches were as enthusiastic and as well informed as you! You feel free to send info anytime, but how a little on the teams most people do not hear about – Montville, Parsippany, Kinnelon, Randolph, etc?

Team Spotlight: Mt Olive – The Marauders was 2-1 after their victory over Jefferson. The Flacons, in their first year, were handed a loss in their first ever home game. Mt. Olive attended their second tournament of the young season with 4th place in pool play at Clifton. Their opening two games were both losses to Lakeland and Wayne Valley. Mt. Olive finished 2-3 in the pool. This is a big week for Mt. Olive and one that could have a major influence on their season. They start today (Tuesday) at Randolph, with Parsippany Hills on Wednesday. They close the week at Vernon (a ride I did once as a coach and never again). Vernon was 2-2 entering today, coming off a loss to Sparta. With her 19th attack against Hanover Park, Amber Mosher became the career attack leader for Mt. Olive H.S. Mosher broke the record with 813 and had 842 entering today. Mosher also leads the team in Kills (19), blocks (5) and digs (29). The team leader in assists is Emily Hines with 28. The power serving Marauders have three players tied with 6 aces: Alex Day, Hanna Ensel and Kaitlin Behrens.

The Super-Seven (through Sunday 9/16):

1) West Morris: The Ledger dropped WMC to 20th (cough, laugh, spit) for a loss in three to #14 Wayne Valley. Ok, so I see the 15-20 if WV is #14, but I know Newark Science and have a lot of respect for the program, but in no way does Science beat WMC. They stay at #1 until they are knocked off by Morris or a non-top 20 team.

2) Chatham: Right where they should be 3-0 and will be untested for a while. Next toughie: Mendham on 9/27. The Cougars will definitely have some fun at the Bloomfield Tournament 9/22.

3) Mendham: Geez, I remember the days when Mendham did not have volleyball and now look at them. A Star Ledger top 20 and ready to knock off WMC in a big sister-school rivalry game on Thursday.

4) Montville: They may not have been thoroughly tested until this week. 3-0 going into Tuesday’s match-up with Sparta. Follow that with Caldwell next Wednesday and we’ll see where the Mustangs run.

5) Kinnelon: This is what I like, a small school that pads their schedule with tough out of conference battles. Sure the Colts came out 0-2 when they travel to Indian Hills, but they need those games to make a run in the MCT. Plus, people in Morris seem to underestimate the likes of MKA and Science.

6) Morris Knolls: Knolls may not have the size and middle presence of past teams, but DeNure does his magic and they’ll be ready when it counts the most.

7) Mt Olive: This is a very good team that can really pull an upset or two. You heard it here 1st.

Top 10 teams: Randolph, Parsippany & Par Hills


Trick Question: Can you find the coach in the picture? Click here to see Photo











This week’s action (all schedules come from www.highschoolsports.net – schools that do use this service may not be included). All games are 4:00 starts unless noted.

• Mon 9/17 Randolph at Livingston
• Mon 9/17 Madison at MSD
• Mon 9/17 Kinnelon at Northern Highlands
• Mon 9/17 Columbia at West Morris
• Mon 9/17 Jefferson at Woodbridge 5:00
  

• Tue 9/18 Morristown at East Orange
• Tue 9/18 Morristown-beard at Kinnelon
• Tue 9/18 Sparta at Montville
• Tue 9/18 Mendham at Par Hills
• Tue 9/18 Hanover Park at Parsippany
• Tue 9/18 Mt Olive at Randolph
• Tue 9/18 Morris Knolls at Roxbury
• Tue 9/18 Chatham at West Essex
• Tue 9/18 Science at Whippany Park
  

• Wed 9/19 Parsippany Hills at Mt Olive
• Wed 9/19 Madison at West Orange
• Wed 9/19 Chatham at Whippany Park
• Wed 9/19 West Morris at Hunterdon Central 5:30

• Thu 9/20 Jefferson at Sparta
• Thu 9/20 Kinnelon at University
• Thu 9/20 Montville at Madison
• Thu 9/20 Mt Olive at Vernon 4:30
• Thu 9/20 Par Hills at Hanover Park
• Thu 9/20 Parsippany at Chatham
• Thu 9/20 Roxbury at Morristown
• Thu 9/20 Whippany Park at Mo-Beard
• Thu 9/20 Parsippany at Chatham
• Thu 9/20 Parsippany Hills at Hanover Park
• Thu 9/20 Montville at Madison
• Thu 9/20 Columbia at Morris Knolls
• Thu 9/20 Roxbury at Morristown
• Thu 9/20 East Orange at Randolph
• Thu 9/20 Mendham at West Morris 7:00

• Fri 9/21 MKA at Kinnelon
• Fri 9/21 Sparta at Morris Knolls
• Fri 9/21 Immaculate Conception at Whippany Park
• Sat 9/22 Chatham at Bloomfield Tournament TBA