The third-seeded River Dell girls volleyball season defeated Lakeland in two games, 25-11 and 25-14. They cruised to victory with the only challenge coming in the second match when Lakeland ran off a stretch of five straight points.
“It could have been 13-12. Their kid hit the ball that hit the top of the net and fell over,” said Lakeland Head Coach Russ Kniewel. “It would have given us a little bit of hope but instead it went to 14-11.”
With the loss comes the end of Kniewel’s career. After 49 volleyball seasons, two a year as he coached both the boys and girls teams, countless wins, and a dozen county titles, he will step down as he did following the boy’s season in 2009. While a state championship has eluded him, Kniewel leaves with no regrets, other than how the last game he will coach ended.
“We came close with the girls to a state title a couple of times,” said Kniewel. “I remember a game against Paramus Catholic where we were winning in the third game and I ran out of subs and had to have a smaller player in the front row. They hit one off her arm, and then go on a run.”
A credit to the coaching profession, Kniewel was able to transfer his love of the game, the simplicity of his offense and the importance of the constant moving of one’s feet on defense, to what has become a Hall-of-Fame career.
“There are so many memories, I can’t pick anyone out,” said Kniewel. “When I coach, I don’t look at faces. I see body parts doing things the right way and when you see that, it’s really enjoyable as a coach.”
His team this year started out slow but managed to pull itself together and win the Passaic County Title last weekend. He had hoped for a better seed in the state tournament, how an 18-6 team get’s seeded 14 out a 16 remains a mystery. Facing a team of River Dell’s stature is usually a second round matchup.