Old Bridge volleyball captures fourth-straight NJSIAA Central crown
METUCHEN – Not fun. Of course, losing never is and with the sting still fresh, the Old Bridge volleyball players congregated in the locker room on May 13 after falling to St. Joseph in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final.
Topic A: let’s figure out what could be changed.
“We spoke to each other and that’s the day we realized that we were playing as a group and not a team,” senior Pavlo Chernyshov said. “We just decided that we needed to come together and finish this out.”
While the talent was always there, the intangibles started clicking. The unit jelled and the postseason run was underway.
Friday, second-seeded Old Bridge beat top-seeded St. Joseph 25-18, 25-20 in the NJSIAA Central championship. St. Joes had won the three previous meetings this spring.
But this was the Knights’ day before a large Old Bridge fan base clad in purple.
In the first game, Old Bridge seized the momentum early and never trailed after leading 2-1. Chernyshov and Blake Krapf had some exciting power shots that energized the team and crowd.
In Game 2, St. Joseph jumped to an early lead and led 8-3 and 9-4. However, at 11-9, Old Bridge went on a 7-1 run to lead 16-11.
The Knights increased it to 24-16 and wouldn’t let the Falcons have a final rally.
This time, the Old Bridge players had plenty of fun, clutching the winning plaque and eating celebratory donuts.
“We figured it out,” Chernyshov said. “We just decided to come together and play as one and I’m pretty sure that’s what got us here today.”
What it means
Old Bridge (24-7) captured its fourth-straight Central title to cement itself as a dynasty under head coach Andrew Hopman.
Despite the loss, St. Joseph (32-6) had a terrific season, going 14-0 in the GMC and winning its first GMCT since 2016.
What’s next
The Knights will play in the state semifinals on June 7 at host South Brunswick High School against Scotch Plains-Fanwood, which beat Union 2-0 in Friday’s North 2 final.
Key plays
In a post-game interview by the team’s bus, Hopman was describing the team’s strategy, when he paused.
“Hey, what’s rule number one,” Hopman shouted to the open windows on the bus.
Several players responded, “Keep the ball off the floor.”
Hopman added, “That just takes the wind out of another team when they attack the ball and you keep it alive. So we always talk about keep the ball off the floor no matter what.”
Friday, that was on display.
Libero Rob Obdyke had a team-high 10 digs with Evan Jazmin contributing eight digs and David Flores having seven. Aleks Kolodziej contributed four digs.
Game balls
Chernyshov had a dominant game, finishing with nine kills and Krapf had five kills. Massimo Roco and Evan Jazmin each had four to keep St. Joseph guessing.
The Falcons’ Jacob Franco had six kills and 11 digs and Aidan Thompson had 15 digs.
Unsung heroes
Old Bridge's two middle hitters in senior Jeremy Smith and the sophomore Roco did a good job in allowing the team to set up the outside hitters in Chernyshov on the right side and Krapf on the left side. As Hopman noted, “the middle might not get the glory, but if they don’t do their job the guys on the outside don’t get the glory.”
They said it
Chernyshov said, “It feels good. It feels even better especially after everyone counted us out. Victory’s a lot sweeter when you tasted defeat. ... There’s a game plan, but it’s more about mentality and just playing every point like you know it could be your last because for us seniors, we came into this not knowing if we’ll be at practice tomorrow.''
Hopman praised the three captains of Chernyshov, Flores and Obdyke for bringing the team together, "We weren’t jelling and I talked about teams of the past, how they would watch film together and eat together. And that’s where the captains stepped up and made that stuff happen. Especially Rob Obdyke ... You look up leadership in the dictionary, you see his picture. From the end of last season to now, he’s been the guy that keeps everybody in line. Keeps everybody doing what they’re supposed to be doing and out of trouble.”
Hopman on the team's success, “It’s my assistant coaches, they work harder than I do – Tom Buoni and Rob Weiss, they do so much that they make it pleasurable for me to want to keep coaching. Parents, they’re always so supportive and the fans. … Our AD (Dan DiMino), who right after we beat Hillsborough (in the semifinals) arranged for a fan bus. I didn’t have to ask him. I didn’t have to do anything, he took care of all of that. That’s what it takes for us to be successful. It takes a whole village … and just knowing that we have the administrative support, too, makes all of us work harder.”
Email: amendlowitz@njpressmedia.com
Andy Mendlowitz is a sports reporter for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to local news throughout Central Jersey, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Old Bridge wins fourth-straight Central volleyball title
