FLYING HIGH: Princeton High girls’ volleyball player Naomi Lygas leaps to blast the ball in action last fall. Junior star Lygas has has piled up 30 kills this year as PHS has gotten off to a 3-0 start in regular season play. In upcoming action, the Tigers, who won the Williamstown High in-season tournament last Saturday, host Southern on September 11, Princeton Day School on September 12, and Notre Dame on September 16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Despite posting a 30-1 record last fall on the way to winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state title and returning a core of five stars from that squad, the Princeton High girls’ volleyball team isn’t resting on its laurels.

“The girls are definitely going to feel good, they know what they have got and what they are returning,” said PHS head coach Patty Manhart. “The focus is just not being complacent. Just because things look good for us on paper doesn’t mean that we don’t have to keep working for our season and into the postseason. I feel like that is the mood.”

In the first week of the season, PHS has produced some very good work, posting 2-0 wins over WW/P-South, Hopewell Valley, and WW/P-North in its first three regular season games and winning the Williamstown High in-season tournament last Saturday which featured a gauntlet of powerhouses.

For Manhart, prevailing in the Williamstown event was a breakthrough for the program.

“It was our third time at this tournament and the first time that we won,” said Manhart of the one-day competition in which teams play one set against the other eight opponents in pool play before getting seeded for the playoff round. “We had lost some of sets to Kingsway, Williamstown and Southern in pool play. They were very close matches. These are top teams, not just at this tournament but in the state. The girls had to figure out the adjustments, we haven’t been pushed like this yet this season. It was what do we need to do differently to be able to beat these teams. The changes happened between pool play and playoffs when they came back to beat Williamstown and Southern.”

PHS boasts one of the top players in the state in junior standout Naomi Lygas, who has piled up 30 kills in regular season action this season and now has 564 in her career.

“Something that stood out to me at the tournament is that Naomi is a great under pressure player,” said Manhart. “We were down in the semifinal against Williamstown going into the last couple points of the game and Naomi had three points for us with three kills right in a row. That got us over the hump. She is clutch 100 percent. She is so well-rounded, she can do anything. Other schools know who she is. Even when they try to put the focus on blocking her, she is able to just go right through it. That is something else she does really well. She is fearless being matched up. She knows she has the power to win those points.”

Another junior, Kaelin Bobetich, forms a potent one-two punch with Lygas at the net.

“Kaelin is someone you can rely on all around,” said Manhart of Bobetich, who has 16 kills this year and 280 in her career. “To me, her hit just looks harder. There is just more power than last year. With her blocking being on the right side, she is usually against the other team’s best hitter so she is already tallying up blocks for the season. She is also focused on a post-PHS career so she put in all of the work in the offseason, not just to come back in September and have a good season but she is looking long term too. She is highly motivated.”

A third junior, Charlotte Woods, has emerged as a star in her own right.

“Charlotte is not our tallest player but she can also be so big,” said Manhart of Woods, who has 12 kills this year and a career total of 183. “She had an amazing block in our final against Southern which hyped the team up. She was putting the ball away on offense and she plays wonderful defense. Her serving game was really consistent. It is so nice to have these girls that aren’t just big hitters but they can do the job all around too.”

It is nice for PHS to have senior Lois Matsukawa setting things up for the squad’s big hitters. Matsukawa has accumulated 59 assists so far this season and has 1,205 in her career.

“Lois has really great coaches in the offseason and is even better and stronger and more confident in her setting ability,” said Manhart. “I know she puts a lot of pressure on herself but the girls always have so much faith in her. I only ever see her give 110 percent. We are unable to do what we do without Lois.”

At libero, senior Pearl Agel brings a lot of grit for the Tigers.

“It is Pearl’s senior year so I know that she wants to finish on that high note,” said Manhart of Agel who has 17 digs in 2024 and 597 over her time at PHS. “She puts so much heart into this team. Being a senior, she is someone the underclassmen look up to.”

Two other seniors, Zoe Nuland and Anya Haeberli, have inspired their teammates as well.

“Zoe has got a really important role as a passer,” said Manhart. “She worked really hard on serve receive, defense in the offseason. She is so reliable and clutch when she comes into serve. She is another person that the girls look up to as a senior. Zoe is one of the hardest working people on this team. Anya was someone who was pretty consistent last season, she is good at blocking and hitting in the middle position. She looks even more powerful than last year and has really worked on blocking form, technique, and timing. That definitely makes a difference for our defense.”

With PHS hosting defending Group 4 state champion Southern on September 11 in its home opener for a 5-set matchup, Manhart believes her players will up for the challenge.

“I am sure the girls have already watched the Southern film, we will be watching it as a team,” said Manhart, whose team will also be hosting Princeton Day School on September 12 and Notre Dame on September 16. “The girls did a lot of work on conditioning in the offseason so I think physically they are ready to go.”