Boys Volleyball: Old Bridge regains GMCT title to remain undefeated

OLD BRIDGE – The Old Bridge boys volleyball team may be ranked nationally in the top 10. It may be the top squad in New Jersey.

But Knights coach Andrew Hopman had a message to his players before Tuesday’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final.

“I kept reminding the team that we’re not the defending GMC champs,” the veteran skipper said. “Just trying to get them to not be complacent. Do what they’re capable of doing. So last thing I said to them before they went out to the court, and, again, just one more reminder – ‘You’re not the defending GMCT champs. Go get it.’”

Don’t worry coach, it wasn’t lost on the players.

While the Knights captured their fourth-straight NJSIAA state title last season, they lost to St. Joseph in the GMCT final.

Tuesday, Old Bridge took the rematch with a 25-18, 25-14 win on its home court.

“We’re not obviously a team that’s used to playing with a chip on our shoulder,” senior Blake Krapf said, “but having lost the GMC title last year, we kind of came in almost feeling like the underdogs and that made us want it a lot more. Made us work a lot harder in practice and definitely had us pumped to come in and play today.”

Teammate Massimo Roco added, “Last year was heartbreak. I mean, all of us really wanted it bad this year. We’ve worked hard day in and day out, just grinded for it, you know. It means a lot.”

What does it mean

Old Bridge (26-0) continues its dynasty-like run in the county with its fourth GMCT in the last five years. Before its win in 2018, the last title for the program came in 2012.

It’s not just the Garden State that knows about Old Bridge. The Knights are ranked No. 8 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports/AVCA boys volleyball Super 25. The national ranking includes four teams from California in the top 10. Old Bridge is ranked No. 2 in the Northeast Region behind Shaler High School (Pa.), No. 6 in the Super 25.

Key points

Give St. Joseph (16-8) credit – the Falcons battled throughout the match. In the first game, there were seven ties and at 12-12 it seemed like anybody’s outcome. Keep in mind that the Knights have only gone to a third game twice this season

Old Bridge erupted on a 5-0 run to take the 17-12 lead and never trailed again in the 25-18 win.

The second game had a similar start with both teams trading points with ties at 6-6, 8-8 and 10-10. The Knights methodically opened a lead en route to the 25-14 win.

Old Bridge game balls

Krapf fired power shots and serves all game finishing with 12 kills and 10 service points, adding five digs and three kills. One of the things that makes Old Bridge so dangerous is they’re not a one-man show.

Roco had two straight points in the second game to break a 10-10 tie and finished with four kills, two blocks and a dig.

Aleksander Kolodziej added four kills and five digs and Adrian Marke had three kills and a block. In the team win, Evan Jazmin had 15 digs, Troy Markle had 13 assists, a dig and a kill and Nicholas Do chipped in 13 assists, three digs and an ace.

Unsung heroes

Old Bridge was playing without injured outside hitter Jacob Lupinski, who last suited up May 16. The Knights used the sophomore combo of Noah Brown up front (2 kills, 3 digs) and Ali Chaudary (4 digs, 1 assist) in the back line to make up for the loss. Hopman noted, “They looked like they’ve been playing on varsity all year long. So it’s a luxury.”

St. Joseph game balls

The Falcons’ 7-foot Scott Schmitt led the way with six kills, two blocks and two digs. Sam Contursi contributed four digs and Robert Ilcyn had three digs and two kills, while Nicholas Drake had 10 assists with a kill and a block.

They said it

Hopman on playing in a loud, championship environment, “We’re built for days like this. They have the experience of playing in front of even larger crowds. We prepare for this by traveling on the road going to play anybody and it helps. When you’re willing to play anybody, then the crowd is just part of the game.”

Hopman on the rivalry with St. Joseph, “I mean (St. Joseph coach) Miguel (Cabrita) does such a great job with them and it seems like we always play each other four times a year. At least we don’t have to face them it the states now. It’s tough. They’re competitors. He does a great job. We’ve been coaching versus each other for a long time. I value his friendship, but we both want to win badly.”

Hopman on regaining the GMCT title, “They’re outstanding competitors. It seems that we’re playing them an awful lot and it’s just because we’re both around at the end of the season. It feels really good to bring it back home again. Last year when we lost, I was depleted for a couple of days.”

Hopman on what made the difference, “If you look at our stats, nobody had a bad hitting day. So the fact that we were able to send the ball in any direction to any player and they were able to put it down and get the kill, I think that made a huge difference. If you want to focus on this guy, we’re going to set that guy. Now what are you going to do? You’re going to focus on him, we’re going to set him. And that’s really tough to defend.”

Krapf said the win will help heading into the state tournament and “it’s a great momentum boost and a good way to show that our hard work’s really paying off.”

Krapf on Old Bridge’s mentality when the games were tight, “We’re definitely a team that does well with adversity. Sometimes when we get hit with adversity it takes us a point or two and then we kind of gather ourselves. We’re like, ‘OK, we’re Old Bridge, we got to play our game’ and then we roll right into the next part of the set.”

Roco on the team’s chemistry, “We treat each other like family. We’ve always had that brotherhood. We’ve hung out like day in, day out. Just treat each other like family is the number one thing. I think it’s really important just to be so connected with each other. It really makes us click as a team.”

What’s next

Both teams next turn to the NJSIAA playoffs beginning Thursday. Old Bridge may again enter with a chip on its shoulder after drawing the No. 2 seed in South Group 4. The Knights host 15th-seeded Hillsborough in the first round. Southern is the No. 1 seed in the bracket.

St. Joseph is the top seed in South Group 2 and hosts No. 16-seeded Roselle in the first round.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Boys Volleyball: Old Bridge regains GMCT title to remain undefeated