Hunterdon Central boys volleyball to use last season's disappointments as motivation

Experience and an early first round exit from the NJSIAA Central Tournament will be the two elements the Hunterdon Central High School boys volleyball team will take away from last year.

Last year, the Red Devils (12-7) consisted of just four seniors and the inexperienced team saw its season end in straight sets in the first round of the state tournament against St. John Vianney with a 25-19, 25-15 loss.

Entering his sixth year as coach, Stephen Fenton believes the tough loss will be used as motivation this spring.

“The guys want to make a good run in the state tournament and see if they can get themselves a little further than we did last year,” Fenton said. “We only lost four seniors and we brought the bulk of our team back this year, so we should be very competitive and experienced this year.”

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Senior captains Gavin Spiegel and Daniel Peters are four-year varsity players that will lead the team both on and off the court. As an outside-hitter, Spiegel had a major impact on the offensive side of the net last year as he finished the season with 171 kills and 160 digs. At the center position, Peters looks to duplicate last year’s success as he led the team with 319 assists.

Off the court, the two seniors set the perfect example for their surrounding teammates.

“Being four-year varsity players they have the most experience in the game,” Fenton said. “They are good leaders to the other kids during practice, they work really hard and set a good example. Overall, they are great leaders.”

Senior Dean Gill and junior Jared Malave are also returning starters who will be impact players. As a sophomore, Malave had 137 digs while Gill racked up 94 kills.

All the returning starters will need to elevate their game in order to help the Red Devils accomplish their goals.

First on the agenda will be capturing the Skyland Conference title, but Hunterdon Central will have to keep up with conference heavyweights Bridgewater-Raritan and Hillsborough.

Last year, the Raiders and Red Devils needed three sets to decide who would meet the top-seeded Panthers in the final. Hillsborough handed Hunterdon Central a heartbreaking 25-20, 20-25, 25-22 defeat.

“The kids get real excited to play against Hillsborough and Bridgewater,” Fenton said. “When they come into town our boys play elevates and they play really hard.”

Despite the hard effort, Bridgewater-Raritan was able to sweep the Red Devils last year in their head-to head matchup.

When the Red Devils and Panthers meet, it isn’t just the players who get excited for the rivalry matchup. Fenton and Bridgewater-Raritan coach Corey Romanak have the ultimate respect for one another and consider themselves close friends.

“I don’t have a brother and Corey is one of the closest people I would consider a brother,” Fenton said. “He has my upmost respect when it comes to the sport. I would be proud to have my children play for him. As close as we are as friends we both play to win and if we lose, we both know we lost to a really good volleyball coach.”

The Red Devils will be immediately tested at the start of the season as they will meet Hillsborough in the season opener on April 1, and then travel to face off against Bridgewater-Raritan just three days later.

The Red Devils are looking to best the Panthers, who have graduated several starters from last year’s conference title winning team.

For Hunterdon Central, the first week of the season can be a preview of a future Skyland Conference Tournament matchup.

Coming off a 12-7 last year, the Red Devils are hoping for improvement from their two captains. Since Spiegel and Peters were contributing freshman, Fenton patiently waited for them to blossom into premier stars. Last year, both lettermen took the reigns as the team’s best players and now, Fenton is hopeful they will fully evolve into two of the best players in the highly competitive Skyland Conference.

“Since Gavin and Peters have been freshmen we’ve been building and grooming toward this year,” Fenton said. “There’s a lot of good pieces in the puzzle that I think they have a good shot to do well and make some noise in the state tournament this year.”