Dream undefeated season carries on, nabs 1st Bergen title since 2019

 

By PJ Potter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Winning the BCWCA Bergen County Tournament is a top priority for Old Tappan. Although it is one of the toughest brackets to carve out a championship win in all of New Jersey, the Golden Knights find themselves among the perennial contenders – particularly over the last 15 years.

On Saturday, Nov. 2 in Old Tappan, the No. 6 ranked Golden Knights faced a familiar foe in No. 10 Immaculate Heart. IHA has knocked Old Tappan out of the tournament two years in a row, including the 2023 championship bout. In an effort to cement their legacy with the North Jersey juggernaut, the OT senior class was not going to walk out of their own gym without a county title to their name.

This Old Tappan senior class has never beaten IHA, but knew Saturday’s contest would favor them if they jumped out to a tone-setting run. “These girls believe in our process every day. They’ve become prepared for whatever is thrown at them, so to win this match shows how special this group really is,” Old Tappan head coach Melissa Landeck said. “They were very calm early in the first set, which was a good sign that they would play within themselves.”

Senior outside hitter Samantha Kranzler pummeled a kill to make it 3-2 Old Tappan in the opening frame, which was the 600th kill of her career. With the milestone out of the way, Old Tappan kept chipping into their lead, eventually reading 16-9, then 22-12 scores on the board behind valued contribution from each player. “Winning the county tournament was No. 1 on everyone‘s list, regardless of individual milestones. I’m glad we can cross that one off,” Kranzler said. “This county trophy is what we all have worked for.”

Six different players logged a kill in the opening set, led by Eva Curko’s four. The junior southpaw racked up seven kills in the contest, including the match-winning point to send the Golden Knights into a frenzy at mid-court. Julia Whaley rammed six kills and a block while Bianca Benasillo and Gabriela Paltag generated a trio of kills each.

“We are just beyond excited by how we all competed. Every single player wanted to win this specific game so bad,” Gioffre said. Gioffre snuck a dump kill twice on Saturday, giving her three multi-kill performances in 2024 alongside 442 assists. She, like many of the other Golden Knights, were once elementary school students in the Old Tappan district just waiting on their moment to play for Landeck and be part of the Golden Knights’ winning history.

Saturday’s victory is all Gioffre and her teammates ever wanted. “There’s video of me and my dad sitting in the bleachers when Old Tappan won the title in 2019. So to go from that little girl looking on in the stands, to being a part of this storied team, means everything to me,” Gioffre said.

The second set was a bit more tense. IHA (22-4) and Old Tappan traded off 11 separate ties before Kranzler and Gioffre knotted a kill each to make it a 17-15 lead. Kranzler led the team with six kills in the final set and now has 227 this year. “Sam steps up for us time and time again. She is an amazing teammate, most importantly, but her career here has been one of the best we have seen at Old Tappan,” Landeck said. Curko, etching out her own stardom, released three kills in the final moments to give OT their 22nd, 24th, and 25th points of the last frame. She has 90 kills in 2024.

To have a spotless record through 20 matches calls for each player and coach to to execute on their game plan. Landeck and Co. have concocted the perfect formula to reach this point, but they know there is more at stake. The Golden Knights enter the NJSIAA state tournament as the No. 1 seed in the North 1, Group 2 bracket. N1G2 is one of the deepest sections among the 20 in New Jersey, but Old Tappan is visibly prepped for a deep run. They will enjoy the Bergen County crown, but won’t take their eyes off the prize of a sectional and state title. Both are well within reach.