'We're here to win and we're hungry': Vernon captures first NJAC boys volleyball title
SPARTA — Caden Krzyzak had a lot on his mind.
He'd been thinking about the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference volleyball final since preseason started, about six weeks ago. But Krzyzak was determined to help Vernon come out on top this time.
Krzyzak had 14 kills as the Vikings outlasted Jefferson to claim the third annual NJAC volleyball championship.
Top-seeded Vernon won 33-31, 18-25, 25-19. The Falcons had gone to three sets to topple two-time defending champion Randolph in the semifinal, then had about 40 minutes to reset and warm up again before the championship match.
"It didn't feel real when I was playing," said Krzyzak, a Sussex Tech junior who lives in Vernon. "I'd get a kill, and I'd forget about it, like it never happened until that last point. ... I wasn't going to give up. I had to make an impact."
Randolph athletic director Dave Hutchinson presented the plaque to the Vikings. Libero Tristan Santiago passed it to head coach Jeff DeYoung, a Vernon alumnus who helped launch the boys volleyball program in the spring of 1998.
DeYoung held the plaque up high in the air as the Vikings (13-4) celebrated around him.
"We proved ourselves here, playing five vintage sets," said junior Josh Jean, who had seven kills. "We're here to win, and here to play, and we're hungry. States is up next."
Afterward, players from Vernon and Jefferson who also train at Garden State Elite Volleyball Club posed for a photo together. The Falcons also celebrated junior libero Andrew Mohlenhof, who broke the school record for digs in the second set of the final.
This was also Jefferson's second time playing for the NJAC title in the three-year history of the tournament. Senior Jeff Merkin led the Falcons with 11 kills, two blocks and six digs. Jefferson senior Kyle Kepler added 11 kills and 11 digs.
"We put a lot of hard work in and we deserved it," said Mohlenhof, who had 24 digs. "The chemistry was there, and we kept our energy up, which enabled us to get to the final."
Vernon volleyball blazed trail, set standard
This is another successful chapter in Vernon's long volleyball history.
The Vikings were the first boys volleyball team in Morris or Sussex counties, going varsity in the North Jersey league alongside Bergen, Essex and Passaic competition in the spring of 1999.
More: Boys volleyball finding a home in North Jersey with launch of NJAC Tournament
There were 180 boys and 317 girls volleyball teams in New Jersey in 2022-23, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations' data. That places the state sixth behind California (1,078), Florida (232), Illinois (229), Pennsylvania (216) and New York (191).
The NJAC, which began sponsoring volleyball in 2018, is the ninth conference or county with a boys volleyball tournament, joining the Greater Middlesex Conference and Passaic and Hudson counties. The NJSIAA has sanctioned a girls volleyball tournament since 1981, and boys since 1988 – the same year Vernon's team was born.
New Jersey's boys volleyball participation has doubled since 2005-06, and mushroomed to 202 teams this spring. NJAC newcomer Mount Olive is among 16 NJSIAA-affiliated teams making their debut.
More: Why isn't boys volleyball catching on in Morris County?
Then-Dover athletic director Sean Bullock originally pitched the tournament to his NJAC colleagues after the 2019 season. It was unanimously approved, but they had to wait out the COVID pandemic to launch it.
"We got into a room and all talked about our goals. This was first on the list," said Vernon senior Ben Jurewicz, who had 11 kills in the final. "It's something we talked about since last year. We really saw at the start of the season, we weren't where we could be. It's playing together, building chemistry, being together every day after school. ... It's a year I won't forget, and we don't want it to end."
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ volleyball: Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference boys final
