Belleville Volleyball Gets Eighth Win

The Belleville boys volleyball team did not waste any time bouncing from their third loss of the season, knocking off a good Harrison team in a close 2-0 win. Belleville was able to fend off Harrison in the opening game, 25-23, and had to rally from behind in the second game, winning 25-22, on Thursday at home.

After hanging on for a win in the opener, Belleville fell behind early on in the second game, and could not get any rhythm going, because of faults and errors. The boys were down by as many as six points on four different occasions in the final game, with the last one following a Buccaneer service error, putting the locals down 16-10.

It was all Belleville after that.

"I was certainly scared. I pulled them in on a timeout and I said we have to pass better and we have to set the ball higher," said Belleville Head Coach Paul Aiello. "They started to do that, then we were down by four, he [Harrison head coach Nick Landy] called a timeout and we got a couple of more points."

The Bucs mounted a 9-1 run to take their first lead of the second game, 19-18, and in total closed with a 15-6 run to improve to 8-3 on the year.  After falling behind 21-18, Harrison battled back to draw within one, at 22-21. But the Bucs played mistake free over the final points, while Harrison gave Belleville two points, including the match-winner, on errors.

"The difference really at the end is serving," Aiello said. "You have to serve the ball in. Last year, we lost a lot of close ones due to serving. They know how badly that hurts and we're not going to let that happen again this year."

Belleville's big hitters had a huge impact on the game, both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Opposite, Julian Rodriguez, led the way for Belleville with 10 kills, two blocks and an ace. Other contributors included outside hitters, Tommy Rosario and Justin Remollino, who combined for seven kills and four blocks.

"Tommy and Julian are our strongest players and they're who we're looking to go to when we're down, when we need a hit, when it's a tight area," Aiello said. "But we're lucky in that we also have Justin, who can block and hit on the outside and little number one, Emil [Amparo]."

In the opening game, Belleville jumped out to an early 14-9 lead, but following a Harrison timeout, the visitors fought back to make things interesting, nearly giving Belleville a scare. Harrison tied the score on a quick 6-1 run, featuring three Belleville errors. With the score tied at 15, Belleville never trailed afterwards, but never led by more than four.

On Wednesday Belleville lost to Bloomfield, 2-0, on the road, which may have knocked the Bucs out of the top 20 state rankings. In either case, Aiello was very pleased with the way his team bounced back on Thursday to get the win against a Harrison team which came in 6-2.

"Harrison is always strong, and to play them close and come out with the win has to make the boys feel good," Aiello said. "It also shows good maturity and experience. Coming back from that loss yesterday was huge."

Belleville is in action again on Monday, at home against North 13th St. Tech.