Harrison wins Hackensack Volleyball Tournament; first-ever in school history
By Jim Hague
When the Harrison High School boys’ volleyball team won 19 matches a year ago and advanced to the second round of the NJSIAA state tournament, it was believed to be a one-shot deal.
After all, the Blue Tide was scheduled to lose Rahim Douelfakar to graduation and Krzysztof Osiecki to age limitations. Those two were the center of the Harrison front line.
“It’s hard with Krzysztof still being in the hallways,” Harrison head coach Nick Landy said. “But he’s ineligible because he’s too old.”
Even after losing those two standout players (Douelfakar is at Rutgers-Newark), Landy wanted to make sure that the Blue Tide continued the winning ways.
“We had been doing well lately, winning 15 matches two years ago and 19 last year,” Landy said. “We needed a bunch of guys to step up, but we had high hopes that we could be able to continue what we were doing, keep the same winning ways. For us, it was about maintaining status quo. We may have lost some good players, but we wanted to keep moving in the right direction.”
The Blue Tide won nine matches before last weekend and competed in high quality tournaments in Passaic Valley and Bloomfield earlier in the season to prepare for the Comets Volleyball Classic at Hackensack High School last Saturday.
The tourney at Hackensack provided quality competition, with a solid field of eight teams.
“I think participating at Passaic Valley and Bloomfield got us ready,” Landy said.
The team competed in those tournaments without senior middle hitter Matthew Muchowski, who had to return to Poland after the untimely passing of his father.
“We certainly missed him when he was away,” Landy said of the 6-foot-7 Muchowski, who was also the goal-tender on the Blue Tide soccer team in the fall.
Muchowski has since returned to the lineup and was ready to lead the Blue Tide at the Hackensack tourney. But no one could have ever anticipated what would transpire.
The Blue Tide won all three matches in the tourney, defeating Dover and host Hackensack to get to the fi nals, where they faced neighboring rival Kearny.
In the championship round, Carlos Gutierrez had six kills, Varinder Singh added three and setter Victor Narvaez added to his school record total of assists with 13, as the Blue Tide defeated Kearny, 26-24, to capture the tournament title.
It marked the first time ever that Harrison won a boys’ volleyball tournament title.
Needless to say, it’s another successful season for the Blue Tide, which owns a solid 9-4 record thus far.
“That was a great win for us,” Landy said. “The kids were defi nitely ready for it. They played well.”
Muchowski has been a force in the middle.
“He’s gotten better and he’s more mature mentally,” Landy said of Muchowski. “He’s become a big player for us.”
Singh, a junior who played for Landy during the basketball season, has also become a top player.
“When he first started, he didn’t know the sport at all,” Landy said. “He’s long and lanky and has grown to love the sport, maybe even more than basketball. He’s really come along for us.”
Gutierrez, a junior outside hitter, is devastating with his power.
“He’s probably one of the hardest hitters I’ve ever seen,” Landy said. “When he’s on, he’s on.”
Senior Andreas Economou has been a member of the Blue Tide varsity for three seasons.
“He has a lot of experience and that has helped us,” Landy said.
Tijani Rezki, another junior, is another outside hitter.
“With our junior class, the future looks very bright,” Landy said.
Narvaez is the team’s setter who eclipsed the 1,000 assist plateau earlier this season.
“It shows how long he’s been playing with us,” Landy said. “He’s a big leader.”
Senior Lucas Nogueira has been the team’s libero for the last two seasons. Nogueira, also a soccer player, missed the Hackensack tourney because he had to take his college placement tests. Freshman David Penaherrera stepped in for Nogueira and did a sensational job.
“He’s also played setter when Narvaez can’t play and he’s never played setter before,” Landy said of Penaherrera. “He’s played wherever we need him.”
Luann Oliveira and Matt Oliveira (not related at all) are also solid backline players for the Blue Tide. Luann Oliveira was also a member of the highly successful soccer team.
Needless to say, the fi rst-ever tournament victory is going to help the Blue Tide as they move towards the Hudson County Tournament and later the NJSIAA state tournament.
“It’s definitely good experience,” Landy said. “I’m not totally surprised about what they’ve been able to do. We knew we had some talented kids. They all played together and they played with Rahim and Krzysztof last year. They just had to step it up and do it on their own. We knew we couldn’t replace those two, but we also couldn’t cry about it. We had to move forward and I think we’ve done that.” Winning in Hackensack, beating the host team, then the neighboring rival, certainly goes a long way to proving that.
