FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — Mike Decio believes in heart.
The St. Mary volleyball coach didn’t mince words when he said that he’ll always take heart over talent any day of the week.
Including twice on Saturday.
Decio’s Gaels leaned on heart and determination to score the biggest win in program history, defeating defending champion Rutgers Prep, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19 in the NJSIAA Non-Public B final at Franklin High School.
“It’s overwhelming. Everything is in the moment right now. It’s all heart,” Decio said. “I don’t believe in the superhero perspective. That’s why I really believe that talent doesn’t always win. You have to believe in each other. We promised each other we’d get back here. It feels so good to finally have the wave come back our way.”
St. Mary (19-7), playing in its second straight state final, shook off a slow start and came out firing in the second set to force a deciding set.
The Gaels raced to an early lead in the tiebreaker, but the Argonauts managed to stay within distance and even the score at 16-16 behind outside hitter Ava Ballard.
But the Gaels senior trio of Sara Griesbauer, Noelle Savonije and Autumn Samek proved to be the difference in the third set. Griesbauer came up with two aces and five kills and Savonije had two kills.
“The goal was to get back to where we were last year,” said Griesbauer, who finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and three aces. “We were excited when we found out it was going to be Rutgers Prep again. We wanted our revenge.”
Samek tallied 10 digs, four assists and an ace.
The Gaels scored the final four points to seal the victory.
“We had the potential last year but didn’t succeed. We pushed through it this year and got it,” Samek said. “We’re a small school. We’re different. There’s not a lot of girls to choose from. You really have to be determined and you have to want to play. You need heart.”
St. Mary closed out the season on a four-game win streak and won seven of its final eight.
“We have so much love for each other. We love playing together,” Savonije said. “All we wanted to do after last year was to come back and prove to everyone we could win the first title for our school.
“We’re going to have a banner in our gym that we’ve never had and a trophy in our trophy case. We wanted something for volleyball. I couldn’t be happier for our team.”
Rutgers Prep finished with a 17-11 record.
