High School Volleyball:
Washington Township Spikes a Big One
Friday, April 20, 2001
By John Daglian
SJSports Staff Writer
The Washington Township Boys Volleyball team completed a monster week on Friday afternoon by knocking off Olympic powerhouse Cherry Hill East in two games: 15 - 11, 15 - 9. Earlier in the week they had beaten another Olympic power, Eastern, in three games. The two wins show proof that Township is a team to be reckoned with this season. Cherry Hill East, which is in a rebuilding year, suffered just their second loss to a South Jersey team in their history of volleyball.
The match between Township and East took a little over an hour to complete. The first game clearly showed the emotion on the Township side as Todd Strassberger blocked for a point and then got a kill to give Township an early 4 - 0 lead. They extended that lead to 7 - 2 behind the steady play of Mike Gaffney and setter Matt Aloi. However, Cherry Hill East knows how to fight back and slowly cut into the lead behind Jason Mitchell and Michael Morrow. The East setter, Alexis Alonzo was trying to spread the ball around, but the Washington Township height advantage was clearly playing a roll in the game as East had multiple hitting errors for points and side outs. However, their tenacious defense never quit and with some key hits and blocks, East took the lead 11 - 9. Once again Todd Strassberger took control with help from setter Dan Nadel and Township was back in front to stay at 12 - 11. Fittingly, Township's block forced a hitting error and they had the critical 1 game to none lead in the best of three match.
The second game started slowly, featuring multiple service and hitting errors for side outs. The score stayed close for most of the game. Neither team was able to get more than a two point advantage. However, with East leading 8 - 6, Joe DeNoble had a couple of key kills to halt their momentum and get Township back in control. The rest of the way Township's setters, Matt Aloi and Dan Nadel, were able to keep East off balance by distributing the ball to all their weapons. In the early going East used strong performances from Joseph Lee, Jason Mitchell and Michael Morrow, for the early 8 - 6 edge. In the end, Township's desire won out as they caught East at 8 and went on for the 15 - 9 victory. The match ended on a service ace by Matt Aloi.
| Match Leaders: |
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| Washington Township: |
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Cherry Hill East: |
| Kills: |
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Kills: |
Todd Strassbergerc 7
Mike Gaffney 5
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Jason Mitchell 7
Michael Morrow 6
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| Blocks: |
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Blocks: |
Andrew Nieradka 4
Matt Ogin 3
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Joseph Lee 3
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| Aces: |
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Aces: |
| Matt Aloi 2 |
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Alexis Alonzo 2 |
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