CHS freshman girls volleyball tam poses after winning the Payne Tech JV Tournament
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School freshman girls volleyball team, coached by John Trieu, stunned the competition by winning the inaugural Payne Tech Junior Varsity Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Maplewood team defeated Passaic High School, 25-17, 25-21 in the final. Entered as a JV ‘B’ Team, the CHS freshman squad won all of its pool games, 6-0, against hosts Payne Tech, Newark Tech and Passaic.
The CHS JV team also won its group, going 5-1 against Hackensack, Oak Knoll and Hudson Catholic. It could’ve been an all-Columbia final, but Passaic prevented that to set up a rematch of its pool match against the Columbia freshmen.
Of the CHS freshman team, JV coach Dave Crouch, who is also a varsity assistant baseball coach at CHS, said, “This freshman group is the strongest class we’ve had since we started the freshman program three seasons ago. They’re 10-0 right now and show the potential of Columbia volleyball in seasons to come.”
The varsity team had a recent 9-2 overall record and 8-0 in the Colonial Division of the Super Essex Conference.
The CHS freshman team is made up of Franny Behaylo, Maddie Casto, Audrey Herley, Lucy Hummel, Maddie Kaplan, Neve Koonyevsky, Libby Kosik, Ava Lee, Coco Manjos, Sinikka Reynolds Vickberg, Gabrielle White, Maya LoPrete, Arielle Franklin, Malia Doyle, and manager Lily Philleo.
Photos Courtesy of Dave Crouch
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