The Lyndhurst girls volleyball team has been building up to this moment for the past four months.
Now the Golden Bears are on the brink of not only fulfilling the goal that they’ve been working on since the start of summer league, but doing something no Lyndhurst team has done in 34 years.
On Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., Lyndhurst will host Mendham in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 final. At 23-3, it’s been a dream season for the Bears and with one more win, they’ll be sectional champs for the first time since 1990.
But despite all that is at stake, head coach Steve Vahalla doesn’t see a team that’s nervous of the big stage, but rather is ready after the last four months.
“The girls are focused. They know what’s in front of them and have been working hard to take one point at a time and one game at a time,” said Vahalla. “We have worked hard all season to be right where we want to be – a sectional final, in front of our home crowd and we’re ready for whatever comes our way.”
After earning a first round bye, Lyndhurst started its tournament run with a 25-19, 25-10 victory over Parsippany Hills on Thursday. Kiana Marizan had 21 assists, while the three-headed attack of Asya Akar, Yasemin Ugurlu and Sofia Hechavarria all had big days offensively. Akar had nine kills and six digs, Ugurlu eight kills with seven digs, and Hechavarria added seven kills and three blocks. Sophomore Gabriela Kalisiak added a career-high seven digs.
Two days later, the Bears took down what has historically been Morris County’s top program when it defeated West Morris, 25-20, 25-20 in the semifinals. Hechavarria dominated defensively with seven blocks as she, Akar and Ugurlu recorded five kills apiece. Ugurlu added seven digs, Marizan had 16 assists and Gianna DeCoro had a season-best three kills.
The two victories showed that there were no ill-effects from a rare nine day break following its three set victory over state ranked Secaucus to close out the regular season.
While arguably not ideal, it did provide an opportunity to offer a reset after 24 regular season matches.
“Although we did have a little over a week off with no games, the girls had a couple well deserved days off,” Valhalla said. “I reminded them that our ‘new season’ started on Monday and they responded well. Leading up to our quarterfinal match, we watched film, held a ‘scrimmage’ in practice the day before to get us back in the swing of game mode and worked on adjusting and shutting down our opponent’s strengths.
“These girls love volleyball and it shows with every practice and every game. They are not only impressive athletes, but they listen carefully to what needs to be done to win matches. They want to get better to fix mistakes and that’s all a coach can ask for. They all respond well to challenges and step up in high intensity games.”
None will have the intensity of Tuesday’s against Mendham.
This season has seen Lyndhurst make a name for itself in Bergen County and turn heads by making the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals. Even more took notice after the victory over Secaucus. Now comes a chance to truly put itself on the map.
“The state is starting to find out about Lyndhurst volleyball,” said Valhalla. “We earned that No. 1 seed and we’re continuing to prove it. We’ve been making a name for ourselves for some time with solid wins.
“I am beyond proud of how hard these girls worked all season and hosting Tuesday’s sectional final is a testament to all of the incredible work they put in these past four months.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)