Vikings defeat Snyder in volleyball

Pearse Esposito totaled 18 assists, two kills, two aces and a dig; Ben Jurewicz collected seven kills, seven digs and one block; and Cyrus Cruz added four digs, three kills and two aces to lead the fourth-seeded Vernon Township High School boys volleyball team to a 25-11, 25-14 over 13th-seeded Snyder in the opening round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey, Group 2 tournament at home Thursday, May 23.

Vernon is scheduled to play host to fifth-seeded Summit in a sectional quarterfinal Wednesday, May 29. The sectional semifinals are set for Friday, May 31 with the championship game Monday, June 3.

Other standouts in the decision included Tristan Santiago (five digs), Kenny MacPherson (two kills), Caden Krzyzak (six kills, one block, one dig, one ace), Mike VanBenschoten (two assists, one block), Victor Silva (four kills, two digs, one assist, one ace) and Dan Decker (one dig).

Here’s how other Vernon teams fared last week:

Baseball

Vernon’s season came to an end with an 8-1 loss to fifth-seeded Indian Hills in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament Friday afternoon, May 24 in Oakland.

Vernon, which was the 12th seed, finished 10-7 this spring and was 8-2 in the Freedom Division of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference - good for a second-place finish.

Jake Stauffer (22 RBI, three doubles, two triples), Dustin Wagner (15 hits, 10 runs), Chris Perrotta (12 runs, nine walks, home run), James Curry (15 hits, 12 runs), Matthew Baumann (13 runs, nine RBI, four doubles, 10 stolen bases), Colin Dignan (14 runs, home run), Gavin Bruno (14 hits, 10 runs, nine RBI) and Michael Pecoraro (48 strikeouts in 41.2 innings) led the team.

Softball

Hailey Hanshaw was 3-for-3, but 12th-seeded Vernon bowed to fifth-seeded High Point, 3-0, in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament there Wednesday, May 22.

Miranda Ebbinhausen scattered eight hits and allowed two earned runs in absorbing the loss for the Vikings (9-11).

Maryanna Cova-Gomez (.506 batting average, 36 hits, 21 runs), Madigan VanBlarcom (.394 BA, 26 hits, 14 RBI, 13 runs, seven doubles), Hanshaw (.404 BA, 23 hits, 17 RBI), Abigail Mundhenk (.351 BA, 20 hits, 16 runs), Ebbinhausen (.333 BA, 20 hits, 13 RBI, 125 strikeouts in 126.2 innings) and Elizabeth Peek (.404 BA, 19 hits, 13 RBI, 11 runs) guided the team this spring.

Boys lacrosse

Ty Holden had three goals; Ketchell Terzakis added two goals and an assist; Gavin Wilczewski had a goal and an assist; and Will Wesloske also scored, but 12th-seeded Vernon bowed to fifth-seeded West Essex in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 2 tournament there May 23.

Terzakis (32 goals, 14 assists), Holden (30 goals, eight assists) and Kane Lynch (19 goals, 19 assists) keyed the offense for the Vikings (6-12) this season.

Girls lacrosse

Abby Bonnema, Makenna Thomas and Sidney Van Tassel each scored three goals for ninth-seeded Vernon, which bowed to eighth-seeded Voorhees, 13-9, in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 2 tournament there May 23.

The Vikings finished 10-8 this spring. They were 6-1 and in second place in the NJIGLL Independence Blue standings.

Van Tassel finished her senior season with 75 goals and 18 assists and 230 goals and 68 assists for her career.

Thomas (41 goals, four assists), Bonnema (29 goals, 35 assists), Kaitlyn White (19 goals, 12 assists), Grace Dobrzynski (16 goals, eight assists) and Abby Cawley (11 goals, four assists) also keyed the offense this season.