Senior Billy Williams had 12 kills as the Lancers advanced past Union City in the state tournament. Livingston defeated the Eagles 25-21 and 25-18 in the match on Thursday.
The Lancers, the second-seed in the tournament, started slowly by trailing the Eagles 0-3 before a kill by Williams put them on the board. Head coach Al Partelow attributed the slow start to "state tournament nerves."
Union City extended their lead to 8-4 before the Lancers rallied. With senior Jake Delman serving, the Lancers tied the game up 12-12.
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"You get the first couple hits under your belt, stuff like that," Partelow said of the Lancers hitting their stride, "and you get confidence, then things start to fall into place."
After surrendering a point to Union City, back-to-back kills by Williams gave the Lancers the first lead of the afternoon at 14-13. Senior middle blocker Shenyan Wang, who had three kills in the first game, added a block and a kill soon after to give Livingston an 18-15 lead.
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Union City cut the lead down to just one, but two straight net fouls by the Eagles gave Livingston a 22-19 edge. Williams recorded an emphatic kill to make the score 24-19 and the Lancers won on a ball hit out of bounds by Union City.
"I think it was just general with our serving," Partelow said of the game one comeback. "It became stronger and then we had a couple key digs."
Game two was not as close and the Lancers jumped out to an early 5-2 lead on a block by Wang. Union City scored five of the next nine points, but another kill by Williams, who had 12 on the day, made it 10-7 Lancers.
Union City took two of the next three points to cut the Lancers' lead to 11-9, but another kill by Williams brought the lead back to three at 12-9. After an ace by Justin Delman made the score 14-9, Union City called a timeout to try and regroup.
The teams split the next 12 points coming out of the timeout to leave the score at 21-15. Five rallies later, another net foul by the Eagles gave the Lancers match point at 24-17. Union City fought for one more play, but hit long right after and the Lancers advanced with a 25-18 win.
Williams starred with his 12 kills on the day but also didn't commit any errors in the second game, a statistic that pleased Partelow. Justin Delman led the team with 22 assists and also added two aces. Jake Delman had three kills in the second game and MJ Vincent had four of his five kills in the second game. Libero Ed Jung had a team-high 12 digs, as well as two aces.
Next up for the Lancers in the state tournament is Bayonne on Wednesday.
"They are a strong team, a hard hitting team," Partelow said about his team's next opponent. "We have some notes on them, we are going to try to pick out their weak passers again."
The Lancers have faced Bayonne twice this season, both times in tournament play, and have won both times.
Partelow is optimistic about his team's potential for the rest of the tournament.
"I think we can go to the finals if we play well, I really do," he said.
