Morris Knollshead volleyball coach Dave DeNure (right) and assistant coach Terry Reilly watch the action during the Lady Eagles' 2-0 (25-20, 25-18) victory over Morris Hills at Morris Hills on Wednesday, Sept. 15.      Photo by Vince Zvolensky

MK's strong late play
beats Morris Hills, 2-0

      ROCKAWAY - It was Morris Knolls vs. Morris Hills ... teacher vs. pupil ... friend vs. friend ... established high school volleyball program vs. new program.
      In the end, Morris Knolls won, 2-0 (25-20, 25-18) in front of a crowded Morris Hills gym on a Wednesday (Sept. 16) afternoon that brought out one of the biggest crowds of students Knolls coach Dave DeNure has seen at one of his high school matches.
       Knolls closed both sets with strong runs to win its fourth in a row after an opening day loss; Hills is now 0-3.
      "We usually get a lot of family but this match brought out a lot of the girls friends - on both teams - and there was a lot of good-natured heckling going on," Denure was saying the afternoon after the match. "The girls noticed it, too ... they told me later they were afraid to make a mistake because they knew they would get called on it and laughed at by their friends who went to Morris Hills."
      That was what made the match special - the friend vs. friend part. 
      "A lot of these kids grew up together, went to school together, played on the same team," DeNure said. "And now they are playing against each other."
      Most of the girls on both teams attended summer volleyball camp, a camp run by DeNure and Hobson. Hobson was DeNure's assistant at Knolls for five years before taking the job at Hills. Hobson still teaches at Knolls, where she runs into DeNure daily.
      "I wish her the best and I hope her team does well ... just not against us," DeNure said with a laugh. "I told her after the match that her team has a nice defense - and I meant it."
      Hobson, in turn, thinks that DeNure is a "... very talented coach, someone from whom I learned a lot about the sport.
      "Having the chance to take what I learned from him at Knolls and create my own program at Hills has been extremely rewarding," Hobson added. "I love coaching here ... the girls give me their all day in and day out and I couldn't ask for more from them."
       Morris Hills is a second-year varsity program that finished 10-10 playing an independent schedule last year last year. The Lady Eagles are in the National Division of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) this season.
      This is the seventh season for Morris Knolls'  volleyball program - all under DeNure - and the Lady Eagles are in the big school American Division of the NJAC this season. Knolls was 5-15 last year, its first losing season.
      The loss to Knolls was the third in as many matches for the Lady Knights this season. Morris Hills lost each of its first two matches in three sets and was in each of the sets against Knolls - the teams were tied at 20-20 in the first set before Knolls closed out the set with a five-point run and Hills held a 16-14 lead in the second set only to see Knolls close with a 11-2 burst.
     "Last year's team might have lost both of those sets," Denure said. 'We were pretty new last year and we didn't do as well as I thought we should do and the kids felt the same way."
     Knolls lost its best offensive player - Kaylee Monga - to graduation but has everybody else back. And they are playing better.
     "This year, we're winning matches at the end," DeNure explained. "Last year, we were losing them."
      Hobson was pleased with her team's effort and feels it's just a matter of time Hills will start winning, in spite of its more demanding NJAC schedule.
      "The girls give me their all day in and day out," Hobson said. "I couldn't ask for more from them.
     "They came to play against Knolls and it was a hard-fought match ... no points were easy. Both side played well."
     Morris Knolls junior Veronika Todd certainly played well when it counted as her back-to-back kills sparked a six-point run that gave the Lady Eagles the lead for good in the second set.
      Todd finished with six kills; senior Nicole Mallotides had four kills and four aces; and senior Cara Otten finished with three kills and three aces.
      For Morris Hills, junior Alexis DeSa had four kills and one block; senior Bethany Young had three assists; senior Colleen Monahan had three kills and one block; and junior Taylor Jozwiak finished with three kills.
      NOTES: Terry Reilly is DeNure's assistant ... the rest of the Lady Eagles roster includes Chelsea Ambrosi, Becky Hedden, Chelsea Williams, Keri Bongo, Julia Coccia, Maria Faubert, Lauren Jackson, Angela Maioran, Meghan Martinsen, Mary Ninivvaggi, Caitlin O'Connor, Vanessa Pulice, Alexis Seijas and Michelle Williams ... Hobson's assistant coaches are Danja Wilpert and Shelley Streed ... the rest of the Lady Knights roster consists of Daniela Chavez, Shelby Clark, Casey DeSa, Stacy Fremeth, Emily Gallagher, Dominique Lopez, Veronica McClain, Shana Pearson, Zeno Sulejmeni and Chelsea Talbot.

Knolls wins third in a row

     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team won its third straight match by beating Roxbury, 2-0, at home Monday, Sept. 14.
     Both games were close as the Lady Eagles (3-1) won the first 25-23 and then held off Roxbury (0-2) to win the second, 25-20, to wrap up the match.
      Cara Otten had seven kills, Veronika Todd added five and Nicole Mallotides had four to lead Knolls.

---

MK wins first 'Battle of Denville'

      DENVILLE - Morris Knolls won the first "Battle of Denville" as the Lady Eagles beat Morris Catholic, 2-0 (25-10, 25-10), and stopped Morris Tech, 2-0 (25-3, 2-10) in high school volleyball Saturday (Sept. 12) morning in the Knolls gym.
      Cara Otten had five aces and three kills for the Lady Eagles (2-1); Julia Coccia also had five aces; and Veronika Todd finished with four kills.
      Morris Catholic (1-2) took both games from Morris Tech (0-3), winning the first 25-11 before outlasting Tech 25-22 in the second.

Lady Eagles lose season opener

     DENVILLE - The schedule-maker wasn't too kind to the Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team, putting the Lady Eagles against county power West Morris in their 2009 season opener.
     Come to think of it, West Morris wasn't too kind to the Eagles, either.
     West Morris Central, which reached the finals of the county and group tournaments last season, beat Morris Knolls, 2-0 (25-17, 25-14) in the season opener for both squads at Knolls on Friday, Sept. 11.
     Becky Hedden had five kills for the Lady Eagles while Nicole Mallotides had three aces and one block.
    Mary Ninivaggi and Caitlin O'Connor each had one ace and Veronika Todd got in the scorebook with one block.

In photo above, the Lady Eagles' Cara Otten rises to the occasion. Below, Kari Bongo serves one up for Morris Knolls.
Photos by Vince Zvolensky

Lady Eagles
lose, 2-0, in
state tourney

    DENVILLE - Morris Knolls, seeded No. 22 in the 33-team Group 3 field in the 2009 NJSIAA Girls Volleyball State Tournament, fell to No. 11 Colts Neck, 2-0, at Colts Neck on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
    Colts Neck won the first game, 25-20, and completed the sweep with a 25-19 victory in the second game. Morris Knolls is now 15-12 for the season while the victory boosted the Colts Neck record to 24-5.

Lady Eagles edged by Randolph, 2-1
    DENVILLE - Morris Knolls and Randolph squared off in a closely fought high school volleyball match at Randolph on Monday, Nov. 2, and the Lady Rams rallied for a 2-1 victory.
    Morris Knolls (15-11) won the first game, 25-23, but Randolph (16-10) came back to win the next two games, 26-24 and 25-21, for the victory.
    The Lady Eagles will take a 15-11 record into their state tournament game against Colts Neck on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The win improved Ranolph’s season record to 16-10.

MK seeded No. 22
    DENVILLE - Morris Knolls drew the 22nd seed in the 2009 NJSIAA's Group 3 Girls Volleyball Tournament  and will play No. 11 Colts Neck at Colts Neck in a 4 p.m. match on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 4 p.m.
    The winner will go on to face the winner of the game between No. 6 Paramus and No. 27 Freehold Boro at the site of the better seeded team on or before Friday, Nov. 6, at a time to be determined.
    The semifinals of the 32-team tournament will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12, at West Orange High School at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The championship game will be held at William Paterson University on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 4:30 p.m.

Knolls tops Mo-Beard
    DENVILLE - Chelsea Ambrosi had 17 service points - eight of them aces - and three kills as the Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team defeated Morristown-Beard, 2-1, (25-11, 25-13) at Knolls on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
    The victory was the 15th in 25 matches for the Lady Eagles and came the day after they lost to Morris County Tournament runnerup Mendham, 2-1. Against Mendham, Becky Hedden had seven kills; Angela Maioran had 12 digs and three kills; Nicole Mallotides had eight kills and two aces; Caitlin O'Connor had two kills and three aces; Chelsea Williams had 10 assists and two aces; and Ambrosi finished with two kills and two aces.
    Knolls is now 15-10 with the split; Mendham improved to 16-2; Mo-Beard slipped to 3-21.

   Mo'town beats MK
DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School volleyball team lost a 2-0 (25-18, 25-14) decision to county power Morristown to break a two-match winning streak at Morristown on Friday, Oct. 23.
    Becky Hedden had six kills and two aces for the Lady Eagles (14-9) while Nicole Mallotides had four kills and two aces and Veronika Todd finished with four kills and a block.
    Morristown improved to 17-4 with the win.

Hedden lifts MK
    DENVILLE - Becky Hedden had 18 kills, nine digs and one ace as the Morris Knolls volleyball team defeated Mount Olive, 2-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-21) in high school match at Knolls on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
   Chelsea Williams finished with 19 assists and two aces; Nicole Mallotieds had eight kills; and Veronika Todd had five kills and one block as the Lady Eagles (14-8) won their second match in a row.

Losing Streak Ends
    DENVILLE - Morris Knolls broke its three-match losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Whippany Park in a high school volleyball matched played at Whippany Park on Monday, Oct. 19.
    Becky Hedden led the way with eight kills and two aces; Angela Maioran finished with two kills and two aces; Nicole Mallotieds had four kills and an ace; Caitlin O'Connor had two kills and two aces; and Veronika Todd finished with three kills and two blocks.
    Whippany Park fell to 9-9 with the loss.

Losing Streak Hits 3
    DENVILLE - Nicole Mallotides had 10 kills and two blocks as Morris Knolls lost a 2-0 (25-23, 25-22) decision to Vernon in a high school volleyball match played at Vernon on Friday, Oct. 16.
    The loss was the Lady Eagles third in as many days and saw their record dip to 12-8; Vernon improved to 12-6 with the win.

Lady Eagles fall
     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls and Roxbury High School girls volleyball match went right down to the wire on Thursday, Oct. 15, with Roxbury winning the final set, 26-24, to pull out a 2-1 victory at Roxbury.
    The teams split the first two sets with Roxbury winning the first 25-21 and Morris Knolls winning the second by the same score.
    Becky Hedden finished the match with 11 kills for Morris Knolls (12-7) while teammate Nicole Mallotides had eight kills.
    Roxbury improved to 5-9 with the win.

Kinnelon tops MK
   DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team suffered a 2-0 (25-16, 25-21) loss at the hands of Kinnelon in a match played at Kinnelon on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
    The loss puts the Lady Eagles season record at 12-6; Kinnelon improved to 11-4.

MK wins No. 12
    DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team improved its season record to 12-5 with a 2-0 (25-7, 25-7) victory over Montville at Montville on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
    Mary Ninivaggi had 12 digs, 18 service points and five aces; Becky Hedden finished with eight kills and three aces; Caitlin O'Connor had four kills; and Nicole Mallotides had three kills for the Lady Eagles.
    Montville's record slipped to 7-6 with the loss.

 Knolls bows in MCT
     (Point to "MCT Seeds, Skeds" icon on menu bar and click on "MCT Volleyball" when the sub-menu pops up.)

MK bows to WM     
     DENVILLE - The Lady Eagles traveled to West Morris on Thursday, Oct. 8, and came back on the short end of a 2-0 score with West Morris winning each game by double-digit margins, taking the first 25-10 and winning the second 25-15.
     Morris Knolls is now 11-4 for the season; West Morris improved to 11-2.

MK wins No. 11
      DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team improved its season record to 11-3 with a 2-0 (25-15, 25-10) victory over Pope John in a match played at Pope John on Monday, Oct. 5.
     Chelsea Williams had 16 assists and two aces; Becky Hedden finished with six kills; and Nicole Mallotides had five kills for the Lady Eagles.
     The loss was Pope John's 10th in 12 matches.

Knolls wins in MCT
     (Point to "MCT Seeds, Skeds" icon on menu bar and click on "MCT Volleyball" when the sub-menu pops up.)

MK loss second in row
      DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls girls volleyball team lost a 2-0 (25-15, 24-26, 25-21) decision to Randolph in a match played at Knolls on Friday, Oct. 2.
 The loss was the second straight for Morris Knolls and leaves the Lady Eagles with a 9-3 season record; Randolph moves to 5-4.  

Knolls falls to Mo'town
     DENVILLE - Two of the top seeds in the 2009 Morris County Girls Volleyball Tournament met on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and for that day and that particular match, the tournament seedings held.
      Morris Knolls, seeded No. 6 in the 19-team field, lost to No. 3 seed Morristown, 2-0 (25-15, 25-18) in a match played at Morristown.
      Morris Knolls? leaders were Becky Hedden with eight kills and Nicole Mallotides with three kills.
     The loss was only the second of the season against nine wins for the Lady Eagles; Morristown improved to 8-1.
     Morris Knolls will face No. 11 Mount Olive in a first-round match at Knolls on Saturday, Oct. 4. The match is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
     For a complete look at the seeds and preliminary-round schedule, please visit the "MCT Seeds, Skeds" page on this site.

Knolls wins 9th in row
     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team won its ninth straight match by defeating Parsippany Hills, 2-0 (25-16, 25-23) at Knolls on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
      Becky Hedden led the way for the Lady Eagles with 12 kills and Veronika Todd added five. Parsippany Hills is now 1-6.
      Morris Knolls was seeded No. 6 in the 21-team field that makes up the 2009 Morris County Girls Volleyball Tournament. For a complete list of seeds and the tournament schedule, please return to the Home Page and click on the newly created "MCT Seeds, Skeds" Page.

Knolls wins No. 8
     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls volleyball team won its eighth straight match by beating Mount Olive, 2-0 (25-23, 25-16) at Mount Olive on Thursday, Sept. 24.
      Becky Hedden had two aces and seven kills for the Lady Eagles; Nicole Mallotides finished with five kills and one block; Caitlin O?Connor had four aces; and Veronika Todd had four kills.
     Morris Knolls is now 8-1; Mount Olive is 1-5.

MK beats Vernon

   DENVILLE - Becky Hedden had 13 kills as once-beaten Morris Knolls defeated Vernon, 2-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-17) in a high school volleyball match played at Vernon on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
    Nicole Mallotides finished with seven kills and three aces and Cara Otten had six kills and four aces as the Lady Eagles improved to 6-1 with the victory, their sixth straight after an opening-day loss.
    Vernon slipped to 4-2.
 
MK nips Sparta, 2-1
     DENVILLE - Becky Hedden had 11 kills and Caitlin O'Connor finished with 11 service points as Morris Knolls held off Sparta, 2-1, in a girls high school volleyball game played at Sparta on Thursday, Sept. 17.
     Knolls, now 5-1, won the first game 25-20, lost the second game 15-25, and then came back to win the third and deciding game, 25-22.
     Chelsea Ambrosi finished with four kills and three aces for the Lady Eagles.
     Also for Knolls, Nicole Mallotides and Veronika Todd each had six kills; Hedden added three aces; and O'Connor had four aces.