IS EIGHT ENOUGH?: The Southern Regional boys volleyball team gathers around the NJSIAA Group 3 championship trophy and banner after defeating Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23 on June 12 in South Brunswick. (Photos by David Biggy)

Two years ago when the Southern Regional boys volleyball team defeated Bridgewater-Raritan for the NJSIAA Group 4 championship, Yeferson Figueroa had a chance to hold the trophy, but he didn’t have much of a part in the Rams’ success other than being a rah-rah guy from the sideline.

This season, as a senior, he finally occupied a roster position and actually played at various points of 12 sets. On June 12, he didn’t get into the Group 3 championship match against Scotch Plains-Fanwood, but he didn’t care.

“My mentality has always been that if I can’t be on the court, I have to help my people somehow, some way, whether that’s by being the loudest on the bench or encouraging them wherever they are,” Figueroa said after the Rams captured the title with a grueling, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23 victory in South Brunswick. “I love these guys, and I’d do anything for them. I told them before the match, ‘We’ve had so many great experiences, so why not end it all with one great note?’ And it feels amazing. It’s been a pleasure playing with all these guys.”

The Rams (30-1) didn’t play amazing volleyball against the Raiders – at times, they were downright sloppy – but they scored points when they mattered most.

SECURED: Southern Regional junior Van Miller delivers the winning kill in the third game of the Rams’ grueling title victory over Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

“We didn’t play well, but this, tonight, went way beyond volleyball,” said head coach Eric Maxwell, whose Rams now have won 11 state titles, including eight with the boys. “It was about toughness, sticking together, just keep fighting. A lot of it wasn’t pretty, but they just kept battling. Our guys know how to play volleyball, but the fight is what mattered tonight.”

With the first game tied 4-4, junior David Bruther delivered an ace to help set off a 7-1 spurt that gave Southern an 11-5 lead that SPF eventually trimmed to a point, 18-17. But after an Aiden Krinic kill to make it 19-17, Scotch Plains-Fanwood mixed in several points with several errors to remain behind by two, 21-19.

Southern middleman Van Miller hammered down a shot to make it 22-19 before the Rams closed out the set with kills from Jonah Krinic, Miller and Aiden Krinic.

The Raiders took a 5-1 lead in the second game, but it became more of a back-and-forth mess of mistakes by both squads. After Jonah Krinic scored on a block to tie the set at 22-22, Scotch Plains-Fanwood grabbed the lead with a kill, only to make a passing error that again knotted the set. SPF regained the lead on the next play; then Southern’s Jack Malandro hit a ball out of bounds to seal the second set for the Raiders.

SET IT UP: Southern Regional junior David Bruther winds up for a serve that dropped for an ace to give the Rams match point.

The third game was even more of a back-and-forth grind than the first two sets, with neither team going up by more than a point or two. After a net encroachment was called on Southern to give the Raiders (27-5) a 17-16 lead, Aiden Krinic bashed one of his 17 kills to tie the game, and the two teams traded punches from there.

Another net encroachment infraction by the Rams made it 22-21 in favor of Scotch Plains-Fanwood, but a passing error on the Raiders again created a deadlock before Aiden Krinic scored on another kill to push the Rams out in front to stay.

Then Bruther dropped the bomb – the delivery of a top-spin serve that fell between several Raiders, giving the Rams match point.

“I was nervous, so bad. I just wanted to get that ball in,” Bruther said. “I knew we could handle the stuff on our side, but I wanted to make them do something big to make a play on us. When that ball hit the floor, I was so joyful. All glory to God, but it was 100% the best ace of my life.”

Bruther served the next ball into the net to make it 24-23, but Miller hammered down a kill, his 12th of the contest, to the left side to secure the championship – the first in Group 3 after winning seven Group 4 crowns.

FIRED UP: Southern senior Brody Reynolds clutches the trophy as the Rams celebrate.

“This one is especially different because it puts us ahead of Bridgewater-Raritan for the most state titles ever,” Aiden Krinic said. “There was so much tension. I played against Old Bridge in the sectional final last year, and this had more tension than that. The crowd wasn’t heckling me, but I felt it.”

Jonah Krinic finished with four kills, 11 digs and an ace, while Jack Malandro added six kills, Brody Reynolds tallied 19 digs, and Logan Homme ended with 41 assists to go with 11 digs.

“We have a very special bond on our team,” Jonah Krinic said. “Every moment we’re on the court, we’re together, and yesterday in practice we talked about this. Maxwell said that no matter what happens, we’re a family and we deserve to win it. We stay close, and that’s the way we win these big matches.”

— David Biggy

biggy@thesandpaper.net