East Brunswick Holds Off Cherry Hill East In Eastern Tournament

High School Volleyball:
East Brunswick Holds Off Cherry Hill East In Eastern Tournament

Saturday, April 8, 2000

By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer

In Voorhees on Saturday morning, Eastern High School was the place to be for the Eastern Viking Spring Invitational Volleyball Tournament. Teams from New Jersey competed in a boy's volleyball tournament run by Coach Tom Armour. With ten teams split into two pools, the finals championship match came down to East Brunswick against Cherry Hill East. As expected, the match went to the best of three, with East Brunswick taking the final game of the match to capture their second straight Eastern Viking Spring Tournament.

This tournament is a favorite among the boy's volleyball teams, as they get an early look at how good teams are at the beginning of the season. The ten teams were divided into 2 pools of five. In the Blue Pool were Bridgewater, Cherry Hill East, East Brunswick, Wayne Hills and West Windsor. In the White Pool were Cherry Hill West, Eastern, Fair Lawn, Hackensack and St. Joseph. East Brunswick (7-1) and Cherry Hill East (6-2) finished with the best records of the tournament from the Blue Pool, while St. Joseph (5-3) and Hackensack (4-4) led a tight pack from the White Pool.

The playoffs began with the East Brunswick and St. Joseph getting a bye in the first round of the quarterfinals. Cherry Hill East had little problem advancing past Eastern to meet St. Joseph in the next round. Hackensack cruised by West Windsor to face East Brunswick. After things settled down, the teams with the best records faced each other in the finals. Cherry Hill East defeated St. Joseph 21-9, while East Brunswick cruised past Hackensack 21-8. With a long day finally coming to an end, the teams with the best records faced each other in the finals. In regular play, East Brunswick defeated Cherry Hill East 15-8, 15-12.

Game one of the finals began with East jumping out to a 5-0 lead. East's Tim Roche, Jeff Mooney and Matt Minoff played a big role setting up the block to deny any access of East Brunswick gaining points early. But the East Brunswick team scored 14 straight points behind Mike Ressler, Ryan Walsh, Chris Schuller and Seb DiPiedro's key hitting. East Brunswick finally put the game away 15-9. The theme of Cherry Hill East jumping out to an early lead continued when they took and early 9-1 lead. Walsh and Schuller played big roles in East Brunswick's eight straight points to tie the game at nine all. But after Roche's serving ace and Mooney's kill to take an 11-9 lead, Brunswick regained the lead and was sitting on match point. Cherry Hill East scored the final five points of the game to even the match at two games all.

So, the tables were set to watch these two excellent volleyball programs compete on the court. The final game of the day saw Brunswick holding an early lead but just could not pull away from their opponent. After taking a 12-7 lead and eyeing the trophy, Cherry Hill would not go away. The game was tied at 12 all as both teams were trying to finish the match strong. After Ressler's kill to earn a side out for East Brunswick, they would score the final three points of the match to capture their second straight Eastern Viking Spring Invitational Championship.

Photos by Art Redd

Championship Match - East Brunswick vs. Cherry Hill East