Friday, November 30, 2007

Scott Teske update

Once he was allowed to drive again, one of the first things Scott Teske did was make a stop at PowerZone.

Teske, a PowerZone regular - most members probably know him, since he has played on a men's club team, was a regular at open gyms, played in the men's and coed leagues, and coached in the Allegro local program - fractured one of his vertebrae during a trip to Greece last summer.

After returning to the U.S., Scott has been undergoing rehab at his parents home in Tabernacle. His doctor gave him permission to drive last weekend, and on Wednesday he was at PowerZone, catching up with old friends, and taking pictures of the coed playoffs.

"It's so great to be able to get out and get around,'' he said. "Hopefully, if things keep going well with rehab, I'll be allowed to play again soon. I'm hoping to be allowed to play again by summer, that's what I'm shooting for.''

Scott fractured the C1 vertebrae in three spots after diving into a shallow pool.

"I'm actually pretty lucky, 80-90 percent of the people who fracture that vertebrae end up with some paralysis, like Christopher Reeve,'' Scott said shortly after the accident. "I don't have any. I can eat, walk, go to the bathroom, and talk. I'm able to get around on my own.''

To allow the bone to heal, Scott had to wear a halo that was attached to his skull in four places, and also attached to a vest that he wore. He didn't need any outside apparatus during his visit on Wednesday.

Scott has been publishing a blog on the web detailing his recovery (http://www.sjtdesigns.com/wordpress/).

Touch It wins title

When there's only four players on the court, it helps to be flexible. Touch It's players showed their versatility on Wednesday as they won the Gold Division title in the Coed Fours Fall League, beating Ultra 25-16, 25-22 in the championship game.

The versatility showed in final five points of the second game, as the Touch It players went outside their normal roles to come back from a 22-20 deficit.

After a time out, Carrine Mackey (2 kills) used a sneaky set over on the second hit to make it 22-21 Ultra, and Anthony Calabria (9 kills in the match) went back to serve. Sean Mackey (7 kills, 2 blocks, 3 aces) set up in the middle front as blocker/setter. Lynnette Chen (6 kills) was on the left side, and Carrine was on the right.

An Ultra error tied the score. Then Carrine made a dig, and Sean set to Lynnette for a 23-22 lead. On the next play, Sean made the dig, so Carrine stepped up and set to Lynnette for the kill and a 24-22 lead. Lynnette again had the kill for the match-winning point, this time after a dig by Carrine and a set from Sean.

Touch It, which was the top seed in the playoffs, beat No. 4 Resistencia 25-17, 28-26 in the semifinals.

Alex Desau had 9 kills, Roman Stobnocki added 6, and Jeff Shirtz had 3 kills, a block and an ace for Ultra in the semifinals. Setter Edna Cetina had 2 aces for Ultra.

Ultra came back from 14-9 and 19-15 deficits to take the 22-20 lead in the second game. Versatility also proved to be a key component in their hot streaks. Edna had a dig and Roman set to Alex for a kill for their 12th point, and Alex had a dig and Roman registered a block in the rally that resulted in the 22nd point.

Ultra, the No. 6 seed, beat No. 7 AARP in the semifinals, 25-12, 25-23. Both those teams had earned upset victories over higher seeds in the quarterfinal round.

The Intellivision All-Stars (Jen Hollis, Jonathan Brooks, Jason Baum and Chris Webber) won the Silver Division title, beating Team Happy (Karen Nolan, Jen Parker, Ryan Less and Bryan Schaefer) 25-15, 22-25, 15-11 in the final.

BUCA won the Bronze Division title, beating Jumbled Up 25-23, 25-22 in the final.
Phil Oney had 10 kills, Jon Raser had 7, and Tony Weshefsky added 5 for BUCA, with Jen Peach doing the setting. Tory Thompson had 11 kills, Mike Gibbs added 10, and Pat Coleman had 3 kills and 2 aces for Jumbled Up, with Bria Lovelace setting.

The winter coed league will begin on January 9. Pickup/open gym nights, for players looking to join teams and for teams looking to add players, will be held Jan. 2 and Dec. 19.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Coed playoffs reach semis

All three divisions are down to the final four in the Fall Coed 4's league.

The playoffs will conclude on Nov. 28 with Gold, Silver and Bronze division champions to be crowned that night.

In the Gold Division, Ultra will play AARP in one semifinal at 8:45 p.m., while Touch It plays Resistencia in the other. The final will follow the two semifinal matches.
In the Silver Division, Team 5 will face the Intellivision All-Stars in one semifinal, and What Hurts will meet Team Happy in the other. Those matches will also be at 8:45 p.m., with the final afterward.

In the Bronze Division, Jumbled Up will play Stu's Crew in one semifinal at 6:45 p.m., and BUCA meets the Flying Squirrels in the other, also at 6:45. The champion will be crowned in a match that follows the two semifinals.

The next coed league will start on Wednesday, January 9, with a maximum of 14 teams contending. Roster forms are available at the front desk. A practice/pickup night, for players looking for teams and teams that need players to connect, will be held starting at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 17.

For more information, call 973-983-8208, or email info@powerzonevb.com.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Coed playoff results

AARP won one for the old folks on Wednesday night.

AARP (Terry Standfast, Tina Toribio, Mike Cohen and Sarah Chisholm), the No.7 seed in the playoffs, beat No. 2 Team Happy 25-23, 25-22 to advance to the Gold Division semifinals in two weeks.

They'll play Ultra, the No. 6 seed, who upset No. 3 What Hurts in another quarterfinal on Wednesday. Ultra (Edna Cetina, Jeff Shirtz, Alex Desau, and Roman Stobnocki)won 25-15, 27-25.

The other Gold semifinal will feature No. 1 Touch It (Sean and Carrine Mackey, Lynette Chen and Anthony Calabria) vs. No. 4 Resistencia (Carla Barbatu, Junior Martins, and Vinicius Costa).

Resistencia had the closest quarterfinal victory, beating No. 5 Intellivision All-Stars (Jen Hollis, Chris Webber, Jonathan Brooks and Jason Baum), 18-25, 25-23, 30-28.

Touch It beat No. 9 Team 5 in the quarterfinals, 25-18, 25-18. Team 5 (Laura Stoll, Deneen Murawinski, Chris Pettito, Mike Brokes and Alex Milov) defeated No. 8 Jumbled Up (Bria Lovelace, Pat Coleman, Tory Thompson and Mike Gibbs) 21-25, 25-23, 15-8 in the first round of the playoffs.

The Silver Division playoffs will feature Team 5 vs. Intellivision, and What Hurts vs. Team Happy in the semifinals.

The Bronze Division semifinals will feature Jumbled Up vs. Stu's Crew, and BUCA vs. Flying Squirrels.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Coed playoffs set

Twelve teams will be battling it out for titles on Wednesday, Nov. 14 as the Fall Coed fours league playoffs start.

In the Gold Division, Touch It (Sean and Carrine Mackey, Anthony Calabria, and Lynette Chen) gained the top seed after finishing the final Gold Division pool tied with Team Happy (Karen Nolan, Ryan Less, Bryan Schaefer, Stephanie Traviola and Jenifer Parker), as both went 11-7. Touch It and Team Happy also went 3-3 against each other in the final pool, but Touch It had a plus-seven point differential to give them the nod.

Resistencia (Carla Barbatu, Junior Martins, and Vinicius Costa) moves up to the fourth seed after capturing the title in the final Silver Division pool with a 15-3 record.

Jumbled Up (Bria Lovelace, Pat Coleman, Tory Thompson and Mike Gibbs) won the final Bronze Division pool with a 16-2 record.

In match highlights last Wednesday:

Tory Thompson and Mike Gibbs each had 10 kills as Jumbled Up beat BUCA, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23. Tory also had 2 blocks, while Mike had 3 aces. Pat Coleman had 4 kills and two aces, including the game-winning point in game 3. Bria Lovelace had 4 aces in the match.

Phil Oney had 14 kills and 4 blocks for BUCA, while Tony Weshefsky and Jon Raser each had 7. Jen Peach had 3 aces, including the game-winning point in the second game.

Roman Stobnocki had 18 kills and Alex Dessau added 16 as Ultra won all three games against Team 5. Jeff Shirtz had 6 kills, while Edna Cetina had 40 assists.

Alex Milov led Team 5 with 8 kills and 3 aces, while Deneen Murawinski had 6 kills. Chris Petitto had 2 kills and an ace, while Laura Stoll and Mike Brokes did the setting.

Team Happy beat What Hurts, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, with Stephanie Traviola leading the way with 12 kills. Karen Nolan had 10 kills and Bryan Schaefer added 7. Ryan Less did most of the setting and also had 3 blocks and 5 aces.

Roman Bulawski had 15 kills for What Hurts, while Paul Mehlin chipped in 4 kills and 2 blocks. Rich Mehlin had a kill and 2 aces while providing most of the passing and defense, and Jen Duff did the setting.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Winning Ugly

It was, and wasn't, an Ugly win. Ugly as in "not pretty'', no. Ugly as in Ugly Ball, yes.

Team Ugly Ball won the Gold Division in the men's sixes league on Tuesday night, beating the Pillsbury Rollers 19-25, 25-18, 15-13 in the final.

The Pillsbury Rollers were the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, but they reached the final by beating No. 5 SixPak 0-25 (forfeit because players were late), 25-17, 25-17 in the quarterfinals, and then upsetting No. 1 seed Beauty and the Beast, the regular-season winners, 25-18, 13-25, 15-8 in the semifinals.

Ugly Ball beat the Warthogs, 25-20, 25-14 in the semifinals.

Bob Curran led Ugly Ball with 8 kills in the final, while Gary Curran had 5 kills and 3 blocks. Adam Lewis had 3 kills and 2 blocks, while setter Greg Grande had a kill and 2 blocks. Joe Saab, Gregory Solovey, and Abe Ammary also played for Ugly Ball.

Jay Sawicki led the Pillsbury Rollers with 17 kills and 2 blocks, while Dan Lattanzi had 8 kills and a block. Brad Kniewel had 5 kills and an ace, while setter Rob Widmer had a kill and 3 blocks.
Lattanzi and Glen Soria combined for a block for the winning point in the Rollers' Game 1 win.

In the Silver Division, PZ won the title, beating the Cheesesteaks 25-17, 25-16 in the final. PZ beat WML 25-19, 25-18 in the semifinals, while the Cheesesteaks beat All the Kings Men 25-21, 25-19, 25-22.

The next men's sixes league will start in January. Pickup/practice/seeding nights will be held in December.

Contact CJ Pinkney (cjpinkney@powerzonevb.com) if you have a team or are an individual who would like to get on a team.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

High school league playoffs

St. Joseph's dominated the regular season, but East Brunswick emerged as the Gold Division playoff champion in the Boys High School Fall League.

The Bears beat their Middlesex-county rivals, 23-25, 28-26, 25-19 to capture the crown. St. Joes had earned the regular-season crown and top seed in the playoffs after compiling a 33-3 record. East Brunswick was the second seed in the playoffs and was 21-15 in the regular season, with most of the losses coming against St. Joes.

Junior Mike Kvidahl led East Brunswick with 17 kills and 3 blocks. Senior middle blocker Alex Rigley had 15 kills and 5 blocks, and senior outside hitter Christian Portera had 14 kills. Junior middle blocker Rohan Patel had 5 kills and 4 blocks, while junior setter Andy Balint had 3 blocks and 2 aces.

East Brunswick took a 5-2 lead in the third game on a kill by senior Brian Murphy, and never trailed after that. The Bears had a 19-12 lead in that game before St. Joes closed to 23-19 on a kill by senior middle Paul Konopacki (9 kills, 2 blocks). East Brunswick closed out the match with kills by Rigley and Kvidahl.

Senior Marcin Midura led St. Joes with 14 kills and 3 aces. Junior left side Danny Vaccariello had six kills, while senior libero Eddie Rossiter had numerous digs (stat keeper for the match couldn't keep count of digs!)

Old Bridge, the second seed in the Silver Division, captured the title in that 8-team grouping, beating No. 1 seed South Brunswick, 17-25, 25-18, 25-17.

J.P. Stevens made the 22-team league a Middlesex County sweep in the divisions by capturing the 8-team Bronze Division playoff title, beating Fred's Group in the final. J.P. Stevens was the third seed in the bronze playoffs, while Fred's Group was No. 4. They upset No.1 St. Joes jayvee in the semifinals.

The next high school league will begin in January. Email Fred Siegle (fsiegle@powerzonevb.com) for information.