Old Bridge volleyball off to a great start
Knights' record was 9-2 heading into this week's play
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer
The Old Bridge High School boys volleyball team will be looking for its 10th win of the season this afternoon when it visits Southern Regional.

The Knights, who went 21-11 a year ago, are off to a 9-2 start including impressive wins over Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough and South Brunswick. The Knights' two losses have come against Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) rivals St. Joseph's and East Brunswick.

"Most of our starting lineup from last year graduated, so we're counting on a lot of different kids," coach Andrew Hopman said. "The most important thing is that they all work together. We don't have any superstars here, and we're winning because our guys play like a team."

In the early going, the fourth-year coach tried out two different lineups, before settling on a third that he used in the South Brunswick match.

"Right now we have good chemistry on the court and things are starting to become automatic," Hopman continued. "They know where each other will be and they've been able to feed off that."

The Knights' lineup includes 6-3 junior Dan Shapiro and 6-2 Davis Obi, who line up in the middle. Shapiro, who moved up from the junior varsity, has shown his versatility. He has an excellent serve, blocks well and has come up with several big kills. Obi, meanwhile, is the Knights' top blocker thanks to his ability to move side to side. He has also contributed several timely kills, Hopman said.

Matt Guzzo, who started last season, is again the setter. He's adept at digs and setting teammates up to make kills.Apair of juniors, Ken Lisk and Pat Cole, are the outside hitters. While both have played well, Lisk has come on strong in the last few matches. Will Queen and sophomore Matt Totten have been solid in manning the right side.Michael Totten, a defensive specialist, has played well when called upon.

The emergence of Mike Christian as libero has been a pleasant surprise and a big help, the coach noted. After spending three seasons on the JV, Christian worked hard in the offseason, earned a starting spot and has been particularly impressive on digs.

"We had a lot of our JV kids step up and it's really good to see, because they've all put in a lot of time," Hopman said. "We wouldn't be where we are without their contributions- and they're getting better and better with each match."

The coach noted that the Old Bridge program has 38 participants and a topnotch JV team. In addition, the Knights have enough freshmen to play an informal freshman schedule and participate in frosh tourneys.

The freshman class includes five players over 6 feet.

In the meantime, the varsity is well positioned to make another run to the NJSIAA Group IV tourney, where the Knights were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Columbia a year ago. Old Bridge made its way to the semifinals of the GMC tourney before bowing to St. Joseph's.

"We're looking to do a lot more this year," Hopman said. "If our guys keep playing the way they have been, this team will win a lot of matches."

Following the Southern match, the Knights will return to action on Saturday at the East Brunswick Tournament.