Anthony Sabia has seen interest in volleyball grow by leaps and bounds since the Harrison Recreation Summer Volleyball Leagues began in 2017. Perhaps the biggest proof of the increased popularity in the sport comes from who isn’t in this year’s leagues.
This summer, the ninth of the leagues, Sabia got a record number of teams looking to join. Unfortunately, with court space limited, it meant a record number of rejections as well.
“There was definitely a lot of interest this year on the boys side, I think more than we’ve ever had,” said Sabia, who recently completed his first season as the head boys volleyball coach. “We have 10 teams and honestly, I probably could have done a 20-team boys league this year with all the different teams that reached out and I had to turn away. We had to turn away a few girls teams as well.
“It’s great for us to know that the league is secure and that we’ll always have teams to play and that’s great for our kids. But at the same time, it’s frustrating since you wish you’d be able to have a bigger league and be able to do more.”
Even so, with 10 boys teams and 10 girls teams, the Harrison leagues are among the biggest summer leagues for volleyball in the state.
Each team gets 13 two-set matches during the regular season, which started on July 8 and goes through August 7. Playoffs for the boys are held on August 12 and playoffs for the girls are two days later on the 14th.
Getting that much time together is invaluable, especially on the girls side as it leads right into the high school season, which begins with tryouts the following week.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity for the girls to get the jitters out and put themselves to the test without the pressure of it really counting (like in the fall),” said Harrison head girls coach Madison Lucas. “We’re still competitive, we want that trophy in the end don’t get me wrong, but it’s a great space for them to get out of their comfort zone, try to bond with their teammates before really getting the season started.”
Last fall, Harrison’s girls won 11 matches, its most in a season since 2017 when she and her cousin Kierrah Lucas were seniors.
This summer has shown even more promise both in the short and long term. Through the first two weeks, the Blue Tide girls have won 10 of 12 sets to lead the Blue Division standings, highlighted by a win over perennial Hudson County contender Bayonne. In addition, Madison Lucas has seen record numbers for their open gyms this summer, sometimes with more than 50 girls showing up.
“When those first numbers showed up, I was like, ‘are we sure we counted all those names?’” said Madison Lucaas, who has older sister Rayven and cousin Kierrah as assistant coaches. “This is amazing and I think that it’s really showing that we’re in the building stages, but that we’re also something that’s coming that is going to be good this season too.
“This is my fifth year coaching and it’s been really fun trying to build it up. Seeing this program grow from when we were playing all the way up until now and seeing it kind of paying off has been absolutely phenomenal.”
Also highlighting the girls field is two-time defending champion Lyndhurst, who is also off to a strong start, winning its first 10 sets in the White Division. Kearny, Hoboken, a Group 1 sectional finalist the last two seasons, as well as St. Dominic and Payne Tech are also among the teams in this year’s girls league.
On the boys side, Harrison is once again off to a strong start, winning 9 of its first 12 sets, to lead the Blue Division. West Caldwell Tech, which has had Harrison’s number of late both in the summer and high school seasons, leads the White Division standings at 6-2. Kearny and Belleville, as well as Bayonne, St. Peter’s Prep, Hoboken and Payne Tech are among the other notable teams in the year’s boys league.
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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.)