Anthony Sabia compared the mood within the Harrison boys volleyball lockerroom to a funeral. And while not one in the literal sense, late Friday afternoon was a moment to mourn the end of the season that ended just short of its ultimate goal of a state championship.
For the third season in a row, top-seeded Harrison saw its state tournament run end in the North Jersey, Group 1 final as the Blue Tide dropped a three-set heartbreaker to second-seeded West Caldwell Tech, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25.
And while the pain was still fresh, according to Sabia, unlike in the past when Harrison lost in the title game, there wasn’t any lament over how the Blue Tide played in this year’s matchup between two of the top nine teams in the state according to NJ.com.
“I’m definitely not mad at the result. I’m not disappointed in how we played or anything like that,” Sabia said. “I think all of us are just disappointed that the season’s over because we were having such a good time together. That’s the biggest takeaway from yesterday, that it was a premature ending of what we thought we were going to do and that’s the way sport is.
“We were hoping at some point that the odds were going to swing (in our favor) and we weren’t going to be on the wrong end of this again, because we’ve put in the work. It’s just a bit frustrating.”
Harrison opened the third set by scoring three of the first four points. But West Caldwell Tech rallied by taking four of the next five points to take a 5-4 lead. And while West Caldwell Tech never pulled away – the biggest lead it had from that point forward was three points – Harrison never led again despite tying the set four different times.
“They just hold their emotions really well. That’s usually what people say about us, that we’re able to stay composed,” Sabia said. “I think they do a really, really good job of that as well to come into our gym all those times (and win). Even during summer league, the gym is packed and they’re able to hold their composure and hold their nerves and find a way to finish matches against us.”
West Caldwell Tech ddefeated Harrison in last year’s North Jersey, Group 1 final and in each of the past two seasons for the championship in Harrison’s summer volleyball league.
Early on, Harrison, ranked No. 6 in the state, had every reason to feel this year would be different when it led for nearly the entirety of the first set to take an early advantage.
West Caldwell, ranked No. 9, took control in the second set, leading by as many as seven points, before holding on and forcing the decisive third set.
Timothy Smith posted a game-high 18 kills for West Caldwell Tech with Ibrahim Dessources adding 12. Dennis Ayora dished out 37 assists and John Jimenez had 20 digs.
Alatim DeLeon recorded 13 kills and three blocks for Harrison. Ryan Manini had nine kills and Yamil Espinoza added eight with nine digs. Jonathan Petrillo had a team-best 12 digs to go with four kills and Jeremy Rivera added 32 assists.
Rivera, Espinoza and DeLeon are among the 11 seniors that the Blue Tide graduate this spring. And while they didn’t win a state championship, it’s a group that at 28-3 produced arguably the best Harrison team in nearly a decade and was instrumental in winning three straight Hudson County titles and reaching the North, Group 1 finals.
“I know they’re still really hurting. I know that they really wanted to do this for themselves, for each other, for me, for the school, and they really could have,” said Sabia. “But I think given some time they’ll be able to look back and really understand the gravity of what they were able to accomplish together over these last two years,”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)