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OLD TAPPAN - "Back-to-back - it's very exciting," said Golden Knights senior outside hitter Julia Whaley after Old Tappan defended its Bergen County Volleyball title with a 3-1 victory over Immaculate Heart Academy Nov. 1. "It was a really good game, very competitive."

Whaley was instrumental in the third set when she tallied 6 of her game-high 18 kills to bring the Knights back from a 21-16 deficit to a 26-24 victory, which turned the momentum squarely back in Old Tappan's favor.

Junior setter Joley Giordano broke a 23-23 tie with one of her 4 kills to give OT a set point. She also had 2 blocks to go along with the 40 assists she distributed and the 9 digs she scooped.

"We've been working on it in practice," Giordano said of her scoring prowess. "On offense I can jump high and get points like that."

An errant serve by the Knights knotted the score 24-24 but sophomore middle blocker Nadine Whaley and junior outside hitter Bianca Benasillo blasted back-to-back kills to give Old Tappan a 2-1 advantage in sets.

"When we were down it's really easy to get sucked into negative emotions," senior opposite hitter Eva Curko said in a published report. "But as a team we did a really good job of staying positive on the court, keeping our energy up … and playing for each other. That's ultimately what helped us succeed."

In the fourth and final set Old Tappan shook off an early 3-0 Immaculate Heart Academy advantage to grab its largest lead of the set, 19-11, on a kill by Nadine Whaley, who finished with 8 kills and 3 blocks in the match.

A block by Julia Whaley gave Old Tappan a match point, 24-16, but an errant serve and 2 attack errors closed the gap, giving IHA some life at 24-19. But a thunderous kill by senior middle blocker Gaby Paltag ended the set and the match, 25-19.

"It was very tough," Julia Whaley said. "Going in we knew it wasn't going to be easy even though there was a difference between No. 2 and No. 9 [seeds]. But we didn't let that affect what we thought was going to happen in the game. Both teams have had on-and-off seasons - no one is undefeated - but we had confidence. We knew all we could do was control what we could do on our side. Our motivation was to get to every ball."

The two teams split the first two sets with Old Tappan leading for the entire first set in a 25-17 win.

The Golden Knights led 16-10 in the second set when the Blue Eagles caught fire. An errant serve by Old Tappan was followed by a pair of service aces by junior Emma Fowler. After an attack error by the Knights, Fowler tallied another ace and freshman Anabelle Albano blocked a shot to tie the set 16-all. Sophomore Adrielle Crump gave IHA a 17-16 lead, but a kill by Benasillo and service ace by Giordano put Old Tappan up, 18-17.

From there the lead changed hands back and forth and the score was tied at 19 and 20. Kills by Paltag and Julia Whaley sandwiched around an IHA attack error gave the Knights a 23-20 lead, but 2 OT attack errors trimmed that lead to 23-22. Then IHA committed an attack error to give Old Tappan a set point at 24-22.

But an errant Knights serve, a block by Eagles sophomore Sophia Mahon, followed by 2 more OT attack errors gave IHA the second set, 26-24.

Julia Whaley, in addition to having the most kills in the match, also contributed a game-high 23 digs and added 3 service aces. Benasillo blasted 14 kills and had a block. Senior libero Adriana Bryan scooped 19 digs and Curko had 7 kills, a block, 7 digs and 4 assists.

Crump (14 kills, 3 service aces) and Mahon (7 kills, 4 blocks) led Immaculate Heart Academy scorers.

Last year Old Tappan finished 25-0, with county and state tournament titles. Although at 17-4 they are not undefeated this year, they are again county champs and have a good shot of earning a state title too.

"We started the year without three starters, and at one point, we were down four starters," Old Tappan coach Melissa Landeck said in a published report. "So we had a lot of work to do to compete in September with younger kids doing an outstanding job pitching in. Then, we had to work on jelling as kids came back, so this has not been an easy road, by any means."