No Dajah Williams, no problem.
Complete Box Score »
The Williamstown girls volleyball team just doesn’t want to be missing its best player for the next tournament on the schedule.
The Braves, No. 3 in the NJ.com Top 20, got big contributions from the entire lineup, including tournament MVP Gab Titus, as they captured their fourth straight Gloucester County title with a 2-0 win over Washington Township in the final on Thursday at Williamstown.
With Williams, the reigning South Jersey Times Player of the Year and a Connecticut commit, sitting out with a shoulder injury, Williamstown improved to 22-3 and took home the county crown for the seventh time in the eight seasons it’s been contested since 2015.
“It’s tough because usually when we’re in tough points, she’s our bread and butter,” Titus said of Williams. “If you get it to her, she’s scoring. When we’re in a tough situation, we can go to her for anything. We have many players like that, but she’s our No. 1 option. So it was weird without her on the court, but we held it together.”
For Williamstown coach Chris Sheppard, it was a no-brainer to sit Williams down with the playoffs approaching. Even if she has to miss the first round, the hope is that she’s healthy and ready to go in time to help the Braves make a run at another sectional championship.
“Yesterday in practice her shoulder was bothering her, so we tried to put her on a pitch count and limit her swings,” Sheppard said. “She came in today and was having trouble lifting (her arm) past her shoulder. So we talked to the trainer and decided to sit her down and get her some rest. If we got beat, we got beat, because the end goal is the biggest thing that matters.”
Williams’ absence made for the perfect time for Williamstown to follow its new team motto of “We got we.” Originally, the team gave out a shirt to the player of the game that said “We got me,” but that rallying cry was changed recently at the urging of Williams and Gab Bottino.
“Dajah couldn’t go, so in the pregame speech we said this was a great opportunity for ‘We got we,’” Sheppard said. “We rode the D train a whole lot over the last couple of years, so now it’s a chance for her to hop on and for the rest of us to pick up the slack. We went out and played well.
“Bella Elentrio stepped in and played well, Stella Eberly moved into the Dajah spot and did well, and both of our middles, Titus and Kara (Gaskins), were huge for us today. Bottino and Callie (Kozenewski) had some great service runs for us in addition to making big plays. (Washington Township was) down one of their really good players as well, but it was really gratifying to see other people able to rise to the occasion when given the opportunity.”
Titus was at the top of that list as she helped the Braves win by set scores of 25-19 and 25-16. Williamstown led by just 15-13 in the second set, but Titus had three kills as the Braves went on a 10-3 run to close out the match.
“I try to step up every single day,” said Titus, a junior. “It was kind of a shock, but it’s pretty cool to get MVP of the Gloucester County Tournament. It’s a big thing.”
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday.
Washington Township coach Jeff Hood had nothing but Praise for Titus.
“Williamstown didn’t have their best player, but Gabbie Titus is so good,” he said. “She’s a great player too. The game plan is try to get a block up on her and don’t let her beat you, but she’s just so good at the net. And it wasn’t just her, it was a complete team effort from that program.”
Although the Minutemaids (16-7) suffered their third loss to Williamstown this season, Hood was pleased with the effort throughout the day, especially in a semifinal win over Kingsway, a team it split with during the regular season. As Sheppard noted, Washington Township was without a key player as well, senior Ciana Bonatara, who was on the bench in a walking boot.
“She’s been out a while and it’s given us an opportunity to move some people around and get valuable reps for some younger kids who are contributing and making plays,” Hood said. “Shanely (Colon) has moved to the right side and done a great job. Nina (Cleary) and Bryn (Bautista) are as steady as ever, and the back row of McKenna (Quinn), Kenna (Hagerty) and Mia (Larrea) are just doing an outstanding job. Ally Johns is a different player than she was to start the year in the middle, and our freshman Campbell (Basu) has done a nice job.”
Bautista’s offense kept the Minutemaids within striking distance in the final, and Quinn had several remarkable digs.
“McKenna Quinn came up with one of the best digs I’ve ever seen,” Hood said. “She was just all over the place today. I always tell people, if I only had her in this senior class, it would have been a great class. Nina and Bryn get a lot of publicity, and deservedly so, but that kid is as good a volleyball player as anybody and I’m thankful to have her.”
Washington Township is likely to be around a fifth seed when the South Jersey, Group 4 playoff seedings are released next week. Williamstown is currently first in power points, but Sheppard expects Southern to leap over the Braves for the top seed based on its win over the Braves. Washington Township got seeded higher than Williamstown last season in a similar situation.
That could set up a scenario of Williamstown heading to Southern for the sectional final just like last year, but the Braves know there are other talented teams in the bracket, and that they’ll need Williams at some point.
“Lenape is good, Cherry Hill East is good, we could see Washington Township again,” Sheppard said. “But if the seeds hold, we’d be going up there again. We went in their building last year and won, so we’ll see. They’re really good, but — this is a ‘Rocky’ reference — they bleed too.”
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now!
856-574-4308
Service Areas
