Jordyn Horowitz is now in the record books at East Brunswick High School.
The senior established a school record when she became the first girls’ volleyball player in East Brunswick history to achieve 500 kills in a career.
Horowitz gained the milestone when she guided East Brunswick to a 2-0 victory over John P. Stevens High School on Sept. 26 in Edison.
“It felt really good,” Horowitz said. “I know the spotlight was on me for getting the 500 kills, but I felt like as a team, we really worked hard to get me to that point.”
Horowitz recorded 10 kills on the day to push her career total to 506.
“Tonight, we just had a lot of communication,” Horowitz said. “We have a lot of team chemistry, so I thought that went really well for us. And I think we work really well as a team. We need to keep doing that.”
The Bears had to hold off a furious rally by J.P. Stevens to leave with a 25-22 victory in the second game. East Brunswick won the first game, 25-15.
“I think we had a little mix-up because we did sub a few players in,” Horowitz said about the comeback made by the Hawks. “But I think they held their ground, and we pulled through that, so that was good.”
Horowitz seeks to improve on some matters to avoid further rallies by the foes of East Brunswick.
“One thing that I would still like to improve on is placing the ball in a little bit better spots sometimes,” Horowitz said. “It will help win the point and stop the rallies better.”
Horowitz has high expectations for the season.
“I definitely think we should keep a similar record as last year,” Horowitz said. “I know last year, we were 28-3, and I want to keep a similar record as well as make it far in [the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament] and states.”
East Brunswick coach Christian Portera praised Horowitz.
“I mean it’s pretty spectacular,” Portera said. “I know I get a little bit of credit because I had her for I think three years at varsity, maybe even a little bit of her freshman year as well. She deserves all the credit. She put in all the work. I know a lot of club coaches helped her out a lot as well to help her get her to this moment today. The little praise that I get is really unnecessary because she deserves it all. It’s all on her.”
Portera wanted to give some of his other players a chance to experience important action in the second game against J.P. Stevens.
“We had a good lead,” Portera said. “We try to get some other players in, to put them in some pressure situations — just try to mix it up from there. So we got down a few points, and I was forced to put some other players back in and just try to finish the game out. I have confidence in our team. I had confidence the entire time.”
Portera loved his team’s energy.
“We were doing a nice job passing,” Portera said. “Sometimes, for us, the passing can be a little bit off. We need a nice job passing. We kept our heads up. That was exciting to see. I told the girls before the game that, of course, we care about winning and losing, but I really wanted to see them hustle. That’s what I saw tonight, and I want to see that more going forward in the season.”
East Brunswick followed up with two more victories on the road by 2-0 scores to improve to 7-1 on the season. It defeated Bridgewater-Raritan High School, 25-17, 25-18, on Sept. 27 and Perth Amboy High School, 25-7, 25-14, on Sept. 28.
East Brunswick was scheduled to visit rival South Brunswick High School on Oct. 3.
It hosts old Bridge High School on Oct. 5 and Monroe Township High School on Oct. 6. Both matches are at 5:15 p.m.
