Lancers Spike Roadrunners

LIVINGSTON - When the Lancers boys volleyball team recently defeated Old Bridge, considered one of the top teams in the state, competitors took notice of what Livingston already knew: that it, too, is among the best teams.  The Lancers are looking to win state and county titles.

But even with their confidence, the Lancers know that with every opponent — even lesser ranked ones like the Solomon Schechter Roadrunners — they have to play hard to keep their solid reputation in tact.

That's what they did on Wednesday when the routed the Roadrunners in two straight sets, 25-13 and 25-10.  The Lancers raised their record to 8-1 on the season.

Senior Billy Williams led the attack with 10 kills while four different Livingston hitters collected four kills each: Jake Delman, Kyle Ruika, J.P. Tirone and Dan Smith.   Lancers' setter Justin Delman led the team with 18 assists while libero Ed Jung headed the list of digs with 11.

Coming into the Schechter game, Livingston had gone 2-1 against some of the top schools in the state including Old Bridge, Eastern and Fair Lawn last Saturday when Livingston hosted a quad meet.

The Lancers took care of Old Bridge at 25-20 and 25-20 and they also defeated Eastern in three games, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-20. Livingston lost to Fair Lawn, though, 27-25 and 25-18.

"We were riding a pretty good wave coming in," said Williams on Wednesday, who added about facing Solomon Schechter "we need to keep the momentum going. You have to be ready every day."

On Wednesday, when the rain started to come down outside, members of other teams (whose games were postponed) started to trickle into the gym where volleyball was playing.

"We wanted to put on a show and you are performing in front of all the other students," said Williams, who will be playing volleyball next year at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

Although Livngston was favored against the Roadrunners, the team knew that it still couldn't take the win as a guarantee. 

"We have a target on our back and every point that another team scores is considered a win," said head coach Al Partelow about teams that have a below .500 record like Solomon Schecter. "The key is to play consistent volleyball. You don't want to develop bad habits because they become habitual."

Against the Roadrunners, Partelow's Lancers did not let Solomon Schechter in the game.

Against Fair Lawn, it was a little different.

"We couldn't shut them down," said Williams about the Cutters, a team with good  outside hitters.  

It should be noted that Delman was out — he was battling the stomach flu — when the team faced Fair Lawn.

While Partelow did not want to use it as an excuse for the loss, it did hurt the team.

"He is our quarterback," said Partelow about Delman.

Despite the one loss, Livingston still had a big day on Saturday, which certainly helped their chances for earning a higher seed in the State tournament at the end of the season.

Seedings for the Essex County Tournament are expected in the next day or two and Livingston's success in wins over Eastern and Old Bridge will put them as the top seed. The Lancers hope to win their first county title in five years.

Before the start of the county tournament, Livingston will host the 10th annual Livingston Invitational Volleyball Tournament with 16 schools on Saturday (starting at 8:30 a.m.).  Old Bridge, Eastern, Bloomfield and Garfield —some of the top volleyball teams in the state — will play.  The matches are two 21-point games with the score started at 4-4.