The North Brunswick Township High School girls’ volleyball team is injured but still determined.
Coach Kimberly Lynch was proud of North Brunswick’s effort on Sept. 27 when the host Raiders fell to John F. Kennedy Memorial High School of Iselin, 2-0.
The team’s effort was noticeable, despite having to make major adjustments due to injury.
“We made some last-minute changes,” Lynch said. “I had a couple girls sick and a couple girls injured, so I had some younger players really stepping up. We all played different positions. I like that they were able to do that and step up. Our hitting was stronger over the past couple of weeks. We had some good passes from a much stronger team. We’re still working on communications and stuff like that. We’re lacking there, but we’re seeing improvements in other areas.”
With all of the changes, Lynch pointed out what the key may be.
“The big thing that we’re working on right now is our communication,” Lynch said. “We also need to bring a little bit more energy.”
The Raiders, who lost by scores of 25-13 and 25-9 to the Iselin school, followed with another 2-0 loss at home to Monroe Township High School by scores of 25-13 and 25-16 to fall to 4-12 on the season.
Lynch hopes that once the team’s new nucleus starts to gel, the Raiders will turn their fortunes around.
“Right now, we just want to bring a couple more wins home,” Lynch said. “If we can pull a couple more things together, and if we want to just put a whole game together and not just have spurts here and there, [we can do that].”
Seniors Ariana Morgan, an outside hitter, and Nicole Ilicic, a center, have praised their teammates for their commitment while working through all of the injuries.
“A lot of people were changed into new positions, myself included,” Morgan said. “I feel like everyone was just trying to adapt and stay positive throughout the process.”
“We have a lot of players who are going through injuries right now, both major and minor,” Ilicic said. “So we’re really fighting through this. We also came off playing some really tough teams over the weekend. I think we’re gradually progressing. Slowly, we are. But we’re definitely working together as a team very well.”
The players know what their coach desires.
“I think we definitely need to improve on our communication,” Morgan said. “On the court, we’re all a bit silent on who gets what ball, and there’s a bit of confusion there. So if we can improve on our defense, then that will contribute very well to our success.”
“In volleyball, the key thing is serve-receive,” Ilicic said. “So I think having a stronger ability to side out faster on every play will definitely give us an advantage against strong teams.”
“Just to have better chemistry on the court,” Morgan said. “I think as time progresses, we’ll get used to each other more.”
The players still want to be able to enjoy the season.
“Our main thing is having fun,” Ilicic said. “There’s six seniors this year. We’ve been playing together for at least two years now. I think we really just want to end the season as strong as possible and finish a little bit better than last year and just have fun on the court.”
The Raiders were scheduled to travel to Hillsborough High School on Oct. 2 before returning home to face Woodbridge High School on Oct. 3. The Raiders were also scheduled to travel to Ridge High School on Oct. 4.
