Falcons fall in GMCT final to (who else?) Bears

ERIC SUCAR staff St. Joseph's Steve Bradenburg (l) and Drew Colon try to block an East Brunswick spike during the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final against the host East Brunswick Bears on May 23.

The St. Joseph High School volleyball team knows what it takes to be the top team in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

You have to beat East Brunswick.

The Falcons got yet another chance to unseat the four-time defending GMCT champs on May 23, only to fall a bit short once again.

The top-seeded Bears (24-2) came out aggressive against the second-seeded Falcons (23-9), providing the hometown fans with plenty of early excitement in taking the first game, 25-16.

Needing to up their level of play, the Falcons did just that to start the second game, taking a pair of early leads. However, the Bears responded and took a 5-4 lead, then methodically outscored St. Joe's en route to the 25-19 win, and their fifth consecutive conference title.

St. Joe's was led by junior outside hitter Marcin Midura (four kills, four digs, three blocks and one ace), senior middle Drew Colon (five kills, two blocks) and junior middle Paul Konopacki (four kills, two blocks), while East Brunswick got strong performances from throughout its lineup, led by senior opposite Travis Heilman (eight kills, three blocks and two aces).

While disappointed with the loss, the Falcons showed their resiliency the following day when they dominated West Windsor South, 25-18, 25-10, in the second round of the NJSIAA South tournament.

St. Joseph, the third seed, advanced to take on Washington Township yesterday in the quarterfinals. Washington, the sixth seed, beat Moorestown, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, to advance.

The winner of yesterday's match will likely get second-seeded East Brunswick in tomorrow's semifinal round. The Bears took on seventh-seeded Williamstown yesterday in their quarterfinal.

St. Joe's would like nothing more than to get another shot at the Bears. It seems that no matter what tournament you're talking about (at least as far as St. Joseph's is concerned) - sooner or later, you're going to have to beat East Brunswick.