A loss to Tenafly on Oct. 19 certainly caused the River Dell High School girls volleyball team to pause and reflect.
“We were just off completely,” senior co-captain Juliette Belger said the next day. “So in practice, we’re coming together. We realize each point [allowed] is a mistake, so we have to get together, and that’s what we’re trying to do now, to stay focused.”
The Golden Hawks drew plenty of attention while running off a succession of victories to start the season. And then came a loss to Mahwah, a solid team, and then the totally unexpected 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tenafly’s Tigers a week later.
Regrouping and coming together should not be too difficult for River Dell’s girls because, in this case, familiarity means togetherness.
“We’ve been playing together since eighth grade, so we’ve been family,” said Belger, who is the team’s right-side hitter. “There’s no hesitation on the court. But we know we have to step it up now and show what we’re really about.”
Defensive specialist Emily Fishbein, who also serves as co-captain of the Golden Hawks, further filled in the seniors’ place in local volleyball history.
“We were the first middle school team when we were in eighth grade,” she said. “We all knew we loved volleyball. That was the easy part. It took a while to learn the skills, but we did.”
The seniors who have been together for five years on the court are Belger and Fishbein, libero Melanie Rodriguez, outside hitter Molly Rivera and setter Rachel Gramuglia. The current juniors are middle blocker Kate Brock, outside hitter Emily Wilts and middle blocker Caitlin Gallagher, who had a good game against Tenafly. Also involved are sophomores Sara Recanati, Laura Oh and Mary Maccabee and freshman Collette DeMarrais.
The girls appear able to place their two losses behind them and appreciate their still-sterling 12-2 record and sixth position in last week’s North Jersey Top 15 in The Record. They also have much to shoot for, beginning with the Big North Conference’s Division VI championship, which still is in sight. They are in top position with only two losses in seeking that championship banner, with Mahwah running second with three losses.
“I wasn’t sure how we would do that first week of the season against Indian Hills, Mahwah and Rutherford, and I was surprised to come out of it 3-0,” said head coach Diane Furusawa, who is in her 15th season as River Dell’s coach. “This team can lose to anybody, or we can beat anybody. We distribute the ball very well.”
The girls feel they are in good hands with Furusawa as their head coach and her husband, Ichi, as JV coach.
“They’re amazing,” Fishbein said. “They’re our No. 1 supporters, and they encourage us so much.”
Diane Furusawa was a standout hitter in volleyball for Springfield College, and her husband was even more decorated, having led Rutgers to three NCAA finals and was All-Tokyo back home in Japan. Their daughter, Lisa, played for River Dell and was Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey in 2000.
The head coach had many nice comments about her players, beginning with captains Fishbein and Belger. “They’ve been starting for me since freshman year,” she said. “They’re very positive role models and are good at motivating the girls to do their best.”
The coach mentioned the top attributes of the others. Namely, Rodriguez normally has the most digs on the team each match, Gramuglia is recognized for being willing to do anything the coach asks, and Rivera has really stepped up to become the team’s strongest hitter. Brock is considered the team’s go-to player. Wilts hits and serves with great success.
Photo Credit: Bergen Record