Photo Credits:
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — The first tournament title that Old Tappan earned this girls volleyball season helped fuel the belief that something rare was possible.
The Bergen County champions fully believed they could add a state crown, which they did with Sunday’s 25-20, 25-11 win over Governor Livingston in the NJSIAA Group 2 final.
Besides the hardware, the Golden Knights headed home from Somerset County with a 25-0 record – marking the second unbeaten season in program history.
“Going undefeated is not something you talk about or set as a goal,” Old Tappan coach Melissa Landeck said. “It’s one of things that takes on a life of its own. And I think once we got through the county tournament, our eyes were really wide open, like, this could be something.
“But,” she added, “following all sports superstitions, we never talked about it. [I’m] real proud of them, it’s a very special accomplishment.”
What it means
Landeck also led the 2015 team squad that went 26-0, and she has guided the Golden Knights to six of their 14 state championships all-time. The previous 13 all came in Group 3.
This is the 10th time a Bergen County program has authored a perfect season and the seventh time it has been done in North Jersey since the turn of the century. Hawthorne (31-0), Demarest (26-0) and Secaucus (25-0) all went unbeaten in 2001, and Demarest followed up with a 28-0 campaign in 2002.
The most recent occurrence came when Bogota finished 10-0 with a sectional title in the COVID-affected Spring 2021 season.
“What it really came down to is this team working hard every day, and never believing we were a finished product,” Landeck said. “Until the last practice of the season, these kids put in the work.”
More milestones
Old Tappan setter Addison Gioffre put up 23 assists in the final to finish with 1,011 for her varsity career. The senior set up classmate Samantha Kranzler (12 kills) for the winning point in the first set and junior Julia Whaley (7 kills) on the championship point.
“It’s just the cherry on top,” Gioffre said. “There’s nothing better I can wish for my senior season – perfect season, and now 1,000 assists. I had some injuries last year and the year before, so this was never really on my radar.”
The match was tied twice in the first few rallies, but Old Tappan took control of the first set and never allowed Governor Livingston (24-6) to get a lead. The Highlanders led by a point three times early in the second set, but the Golden Knights pulled away with a 5-0 run spurred by two aces from Kranzler.
Old Tappan was strong at the net as always, and the back-row defense led by senior libero Jamie Kim was able to dig up most of what got through.
“We always say, ‘It starts with the pass’,” Kim said, “but it’s always our front row really finishing the job. We’re so proud of them. It’s a big team effort.”
They said it
With multiple unbeaten campaigns to her credit, Landeck joined a club that includes retired coaches Beth Powell of Demarest (two unbeaten seasons) and Maria Nolan of Secaucus/Immaculate Heart (eight) – both of whom were in attendance Sunday.
“It’s a credit to the kids, and I’m sure they would tell you the same thing about their seasons,” Landeck said. “This is homegrown talent from Old Tappan that got this done.”
By Greg Tartaglia NorthJersey.com
