Lancers Spike Bloomfield, Again

LIVINGSTON - The Lancers boys volleyball team made it two-for-two over the reigning Essex County Tournament champion, Bloomfield, with a 25-19 and 25-16 win at home on Thursday.  

Yesterday's win was the second time the Lancers beat the Bengals this season and raised Livingston's overall record to 12-1.  

As in the first contest against Bloomfield, Livingston's plan was to attack in the middle of the Bengals' defense.  The Lancers indeed hit the middle yesterday, being led by M.J. Vincent with 11 kills and two solo blocks.

"The coach said go to the middle as much as possible," said J.P. Tirone a senior who had seven digs, five kills and a solo block.

Also scoring for the Lancers were Billy Williams with eight kills and Jake Delman with seven kills. Justin Delman led the team with 30 assists while Ed Jung led the team in digs with 17.

"We knew that we had to go to MJ and Kyle in the middle that was the game plan," said head coach Al Partelow, referring to Vincent and Kyle Rulka, whom he noted were also instrumental in the victory. "We were successful with that the first time."

In addition to attacking the middle, Livingston kept the ball away from Bloomfield's big hitter, Andrew Caprio, who was mainly on the right side.

In the first game, Bloomfield stayed with Livingston for the first half when the Bengals tied the game at 14.

But the Lancers went on the offensive, with help from Vincent and Jake Delman, who scored eight of the next nine points for a 22-17 lead. Bloomfield never was able to rebound from that run.

In the second game, Bloomfield put on more pressure and it seemed that the match might go a third game as the Bengals took 3-1, 6-4 and 7-5 leads.

But between a Livingston attack — and an error from Bloomfield —  Livingston rebounded.  Delman tied the game at seven and then the Lancers scored to take a8-7 lead. Livingston then  scored five of the next seven points to take a 13-9 lead.

Despite two wins over the Bengals this season, the Lancers know that Bloomfield may be looking for revenge in the Essex County Tournament (ECT), where it's likely the two teams will meet in the final.  Before then, though, the Lancers will host Barringer next  Wednesday in the quarterfinals of tournament.

This year, the Lancers received the top seed and Bloomfield the second seed in the tournament. Last year, both teams faced each other in the final with the Bengals coming out on top.  The Lancers are continuing to work hard so that they can keep their winning record against the Bengals for this season.  

But regardless of how the ECT turns out, Livingston is close to reaching an important milestone:  the Lancers are four victories away from reaching 200 wins.

Livingston Boys Volleyball
(Games at 4 p.m. unless noted)


May 4        Science Park
May 5        Barringer, Essex County Tournament quarters
May 6        at East Side
May 8        ECADA Semi-finals, Noon
May 10        at Barringer
May 12        Belleville
May 14        at Garfield
May 17        at West Essex
May 18        at East Orange
May 19        Millburn, 4:30 p.m.