As the winter sports season is coming to a slow end, spring sports at CHS are excited to begin. Some teams, such as boys volleyball have been training, with hopes of a state ring for the 2020 season.
2019 Season
The Colonia High School boys volleyball team had quite a season during the 2019 spring season. The boys ended with a 22-8 overall record, with an 8-0 undefeated record in the white division. After an 11 game winning streak, the team entered the Greater Middlesex Conference tournament, where they lost in the semi-finals to Old Bridge.
The team proved their hard-work and determination through many tough games. In a three-set thriller against J.P. Stevens on 4/5, the team perseveres against being down 11 points, and brought enough momentum to win two sets.
The boys went onto the state tournament, where they lost the first round to Howell, in a three-set thriller.
The 2019 was a season of experience, as the team had been made up of mainly juniors, and underclassmen. After winning the GMC white division, there has been a lot of hype in training the team for this coming season. With a young team, it is beneficial for the team to train for future seasons.
Goals for the 2020 Season
After a successful 2019 season, the team wants to continue on the success onto the 2020 season.
Raihaan Rizwan, a senior on the varsity team, comments on many of the goals for this season. “Making it to the Greater Middlesex Conference championship is a big goal for us this year. We also really want to do well in the state tournament, as it would be amazing to finish out our high school careers by winning rings”.
“One of the biggest team goals is to have a ranking this year. We’ve never been state-ranked before and we’ve been working towards it for a while so hopefully our hard work plays off”, Andrew Lukaszewski, a returning junior says.
Preparation
Head coach Drew Biri, is preparing the boys for a tough year, as he is scheduling many games for this season.
With the most games played in the season, the Patriots are preparing for 30+ games. “The schedule will be very challenging, with a multitude of teams that have high rankings”, Coach Biri comments.
As many of the boys on the team play club volleyball, outside of a school league, they have been preparing all year. The team has been preparing physically and mentally, for this upcoming year.
“We are so excited this year to put the team in a position to have county and state success, and to potentially do something that has never been done before”, Coach Biri says.
A Senior Team
As the 2020 season approaches, the team has been working on and off the court to prepare. The team will be made up of mainly seniors, as there are six returning seniors, and starters.
“Having underclassmen on our team prepare for the future so that they can become leaders when the seniors go. The underclassmen have prepared and improved a lot, so they’re going to play a big role in our team this year”, says Rizwan.
Returning junior libero, Andrew Lukaszewski and junior setter, Sneh Shah have two years of varsity experience.
“Being an underclassman on the team, it prepares me to not be shy on the court and to be able to help and control the team. One of my personal goals is to get top 3 in the state for digs. Last year I got 8th and this year I plan to beat that. I can’t wait to play with this team again, since most of the team is returning from last year”, Lukaszewski comments.
“The last four years have been insane and all of us have been friends since middle school. We have great bonds with each other on and off the court, and we just want to go hard this year”, Rizwan says about his senior year.
