H.S. girls volleyball: Sorrow to joy for Glen Rock – NorthJersey.com

GLEN ROCK – The week began with Glen Rock facing the grim prospect of forfeiting its trip to the state girls volleyball tournament.

The week could end with the Panthers winning two home matches and a trip to next week’s state Group 1 quarterfinals.

“We were all really worried that we weren’t going to get a chance to play,” senior hitter Abby Strassberg said following Glen Rock‘s 25-19, 25-19 first-round victory Thursday over Leonia.

Glen Rock‘s fall athletic teams were worried because superstorm Sandy knocked out power in the building and a school policy of “no-classes, no-sports” put the games in doubt.

All is well at Glen Rock after the Board of Education announced Tuesday that teams could play. Power returned later Tuesday and school reopened Thursday, allowing the Panthers to play at home instead of traveling to Leonia.

“It’s good for the girls, and I’m glad that we were able to play and continue on with the great season we’re having,” said first-year coach Matt Kingsley.

“When you’re the higher seed, you deserve to be playing at home,” said Leonia coach Cynthia Corn. “It’s good that the Board of Education approved that, so the kids don’t lose the chance to play because of something they can’t control, like a hurricane.”

As it turns out, the NJSIAA announced Wednesday that teams now have until Tuesday to play their first-round matches.

Glen Rock (20-2) is enjoying one of the finest seasons in program history. The fourth-seeded Panthers will host No. 13 Hawthorne in the next round today at 4 p.m., a team they beat twice this season en route to the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Colonial Division title.

It’s been quite a week, and it began Monday with Kingsley emailing his team the bad news that the Panthers might have to forfeit their first-round game.