Elmwood Park entered The Record/NorthJersey.com girls volleyball Top 20 on the strength of a 4-0 week, which featured a three-set win over a then-ranked Midland Park team.
On Monday, the Crusaders pushed their win streak to five as they began defense of their NJIC Tournament title with a 25-11, 25-16 victory versus Wallington.
“I told them it takes a really special team to repeat a championship,” coach Elke Voigt said, “so we’ll see.”
Elmwood Park’s roster of 13 is all seniors. Setter Taqwa Ali had 320 assists through 21 matches and has been serving well, recording eight aces against Wallington.
Nicole Tofil (119 kills) is the top hitter and averaged nine kills per match during the win streak. The other main OH, Alyssa Barrios, played libero on Monday in the absence of defensive specialists Maria and Rosemary Coello, one of the Crusaders’ two sets of twins.
“Alyssa is versatile, and her liveliness is always appreciated out there,” Voigt said. “And Nicole has really turned it on in the last half of the season.”
The other twin tandem, Chantel and Charelle Charles, have combined for over 120 kills at middle hitter.
“They’ve played with me since [2014],” Voigt said. “Four of them are four-year varsity players, and all of these ladies have had varsity experience since their sophomore year.”
Other news and notes…
Cresskill (9-7) followed up six straight losses with a six-match winning streak. During the run, senior setter Jenna Alvarez Alvarez recorded her 1,000th career assist and keyed a 25-13, 25-14 victory over North Arlington in the NJIC Tournament. Alvarez had had 1,068 assists through Friday’s 2-1 loss to Midland Park, which interrupted the streak.
Senior Ali Baric had a busy week in the back row for Ridgefield. The Royals picked up a pair of wins – including 25-19, 25-13 versus Hasbrouck Heights in the NJIC Tournament – and also dropped a trio of three-setters. Baric averaged 19.5 digs per match with a high of 26 at Memorial (West New York), while Lola Jeremie had 33 digs against Harrison.
