Newspaper Clipping March 29

From the WESTERVILLE THIS WEEK newspaper on 3/29/07

Boys Volleyball
WARRIORS TO DEPEND ON SENIOR LEADERSHIP

By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor


Westerville North High School boys volleyball coach Matt Grimm endured the pains that can come with being a first-year coach last season.

The Warriors had little experience and a number of first-year players, which translated to a 7-14 overall finish after a 25-16, 25-22, 25-14 loss to Delaware in the first round of the East Region tournament. Along with that, by the end of the season North was lucky to have enough players to fill the starting lineup.

But Grimm is excited about this season as the Warriors return a solid nucleus of senior leadership.

"Our goal this year is to flip flop our record," said Grimm, whose team will play Dublin Scioto on April 10. "The team seems on board with that. We don't have a lot of depth, and with that keeping people healthy is going to be a premium. We just want to be a fundamentally sound team."

Those seniors include Andrew Lee (outside hitter/middle blocker), Scott Nufer (opposite side hitter/outside hitter), Geoff Peterfy (outside hitter/middle blocker) and Andrew Woodard (setter).

Peterfy was honorable mention all-region and second-team all-OCC-Ohio last year as he played in every game and led the team in kills (159), digs (118) and blocks (41).

"He's the strongest we have back," Grimm said.

"He's played volleyball all four years. The kid is just an athletic freak, if you will. He plays through pain and goes after every ball that he can. His work ethic is something a lot of the kids look to and he's a big part of how far we're going to go this year."

The offense will go through Woodward, who led the team in assists (754) and finished with 19 blocks and 17 block assists.

"He's kind of like the quarterback of the volleyball team," Grimm said.

"Last year was his first full year. One of the most important things for our team is making sure our hitters get comfortable with the setter."

Nufer finished with 35 assists and 49 kills, and Lee is likely the most-improved player from last season, Grimm said.

"We're a very good serving team," Grimm said.

"That's something that's going to help a lot because we're going to be able to run a number of offensive sets. Our ball control and being able to dictate the pace of the game will be among our strengths this year."

The Warriors also expect more consistency.

They finished 2-8 in the OCC-Ohio behind Hilliard Darby (9-1), Gahanna (7-3), Dublin Coffman (6-4), Thomas Worthington (3-7) and Upper Arlington (3-7).

North now is in the OCC-Cardinal with Hilliard Davidson, Pickerington North, Worthington Kilbourne and Scioto.

"I know a lot of teams that we competed against last year were senior-driven and that made it tough," Grimm said.

"I think this year we'll be right there night in and night out. I know we're right on track with everybody else."