Sports
Board of Ed Honors Back-to-Back State Champion Boys Volleyball Team
The Fair Lawn High School Boys Volleyball team edged Southern Regional in the state title game earlier this month to repeat as New Jersey state champions.
Players, coaches and team statisticians from the back-to-back state champion Boys Volleyball team received plaques and t-shirts Tuesday during a brief ceremony at the meeting.
The Cutters on June 7 against Ocean County volleyball powerhouse Southern Regional in a dramatic three-set match.
“You’ve set a standard that all the teams below you are going to keep working to get to, and that’s what champions are built of," board member Ron Barbarulo said. "It’s something to be proud of, especially you guys that won it back-to-back. I think the world of what you guys have done. Great job.”
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The team's chances of defending their appeared to be on life support after the Cutters suffered injuries to two of their major players in an elite late-season tournament just days before the against red-hot Don Bosco.
Bosco beat Fair Lawn in the counties, but the Cutters regrouped for the state tournament with the return of star outside hitters Chris Nugent and Luke St. John to .
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“That was one of the better days we’ve had in my seven years on this job," athletic director Cory Robinson said Tuesday. "That was a great day in our building.“
The Bosco win propelled the Cutters to the four-team Tournament of Champions, where they and then knocked off top-ranked Southern for the second straight year to repeat as state champs.
ESPN ranked the team among the top 50 boys volleyball teams in the country.
“I think I can guarantee that after a few years this team is going to go into the ," said board member John Mancinelli, to a round of applause.
The Cutters graduate seniors Chirs Colomier, Brandon Pascua, Josh Sarna and Luke St. John, but return the rest of its lineup, including consensus state player of the year, Chris Nugent.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on you," Robinson said to the team after the ceremony, "but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to come back here next year at this time.”
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