By: Joe Haemmerle '86
MAY 29 – ORADELL, NJ – George Thorogood made it big with his hit, "Bad to the Bone." While Volleyball teams don't always conjure up visions of tough guys, BC has a group of them led by a guy named George.
George Azrumelashvili that is. You could just spell it A-W-E-S-O-M-E as I imagine the sir name may very well might mean. If I have a regret these years, it is only seeing George play a handful of times.
George and his BC teammates shutdown state power Belleville in straight sets (25-16, 25-21, 25-19) to advance to the NJSIAA Group III North Semifinals against Westfield HS. You can see the "A" man forcing opposing coaches to call time outs to try to stop his runs of aces with the serve. The topspin he put on the ball Friday afternoon caused all kinds of havoc for the Buccaneers. When he's not serving, he's recording digs and kills from his outside hitter position where he is lethal with the slam, but his vision helps him to dink and dunk a team to destruction. Perhaps his most complete game in BC Volleyball's most important match to date, George finished with 18 kills, 16 digs, 16 service points and 8 aces!
But enough about George, this team is so fun to watch. Just be careful as the ball careens around the gymnasium at some pretty high velocities. Mike Tremarco "Big Mike" is a major force inside. The 6'5 freshman is tough to hit around and packs a mean punch driving the ball to the opponent's court. Mike finished with 3 kills, 4 blocks a dig and an assist.
Jose Ferreira continues to shine as an outside hitter, often combining his talents with Tremarco and
Andrew Coyne at the net. Ferreira finished with 15 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs and 3 service points of his own.
Andrew Coyne is a playmaker all over, pitching in a kill, two blocks and a dig.
I really got a kick out of watching
Nicholas Auriemma who dives all over the court to dig slams from the opponent to give BC a chance to score. Nick recorded 13 digs, 8 service points, 2 aces and two, well-executed backward summersaults on dig attempts.
Logan Sarza was excellent pitching in 9 digs and 5 service points.
Jayden Choi had 7 kills, 12 digs, 4 service points and an ace. That leaves us with
Benjamin Li. I asked Coach DeBellis about the value of a "setter" in volleyball.
She spoke to me in terms I understand. "He's the quarterback of the team."
As play went on, I understood. Except this quarterback is spinning around in circles, sometimes passing the ball behind him. He makes passes that appear to go toward one teammate, but find the power of one of his outside hitters waiting to slam the set home. Just when you think you've seen it all, he turns and spikes one, or drops it into an opening in the opposing zone. Li is a playmaker! Benjamin finished the day with 44 assists, 1 kill, 2 blocks and a pair of service points.
If you have the chance, check out the 27-1 Crusader Volleyball Team. You'll get a chance to see a BC Team pursuing a championship with every bit as much grit, talent, toughness, teamwork, communication, finesse, eye-hand ability and joy, as you would see from any of the great BC teams!
FUN FACT: I chased down one of the referees after the match, in a very non-threatening way, and asked him if a block counts as a hit in volleyball. I guessed that it doesn't. When a player from one team spikes the ball toward the other and the other team blocks the hit
ABOVE THE NET the hit does not count toward the team's three chances to get the ball over the net. He shared that there was one situation where the block came below the top of the net and he was prepared to count that as a hit, but the Buccaneers were unable to get the ball over the net anyway.
The more you know!
| TEAMS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
FIN |
| Belleville (21-6) |
16 |
21 |
19 |
X |
X |
0 |
| Bergen Catholic (27-1) |
25 |
25 |
25 |
X |
X |
3 |
