NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School boys volleyball program is moving in the right direction.
In its third year of existence, the program had a 7-3 record through Friday, April 19, including being in second place in the Super Essex Conference–Colonial Division with a 5-2 divisional record.
Kevin Reilly, who has been the head coach since the program’s inception, has been elated for his team’s success.
“I’m incredibly proud of the way our guys have started this season,” said Reilly, whose team enjoyed a stellar 20-5 season last year after going 10-10 in its inaugural season. “After graduating seven seniors, we’ve had some really good internal competition for playing time, as we continue to re-tool and find our strongest rotation. We have five great seniors who help to set expectations for the program, we’ve received some really strong play from our juniors and we have an underclassmen group that we couldn’t be more excited about.”
Here are the stat leaders for the team:
Kills – junior Gavin Warburton – 89.
Blocks – senior Saman Hashemi – 19.
Digs – Warburton – 52.
Assists – freshman Evan Petrov – 175.
Aces – Warburton – 24.
Senior captain Ilhan Ilhan also is in the top-three in kills, digs and aces.
Reilly talked about the three losses.
“Dropping three matches is always tough, but knowing that one was a rivalry game against a strong (SEC–) American Division team in Belleville, and the other two were both in three sets against the undefeated, division-leading Newark Tech Terriers, reminds us that we’re still an ascending program in its third year,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to the second half of this season.”
NHS last season captured the SEC–Colonial Division title with a 10-0 divisional mark, won in the preliminary round before losing in the first round of the county tournament, and won in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals of the North Jersey, Group 2 state tournament.
Photos Courtesy of Kevin Reilly
Nutley HS boys volleyball team hitting the mark this season added by Joe Ragozzino on
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