Cherry Hill East Boys Volleyball Defeats West in Playoffs

Cherry Hill East outside hitters Nick DiVito and Gary Hettinger came up big for the Cougars in the quarterfinals of the South Jersey tournament, combining for 26 points to help East get by cross-town rival Cherry Hill West in straight sets Thursday.

Hettinger had the biggest afternoon, driving 12 kills, coming up with two aces and twice scoring blocks against West, but DiVito, one of the top outside hitters in the state, wasn’t far back in the stats column, dropping 10 kills against West. Austin Billig came up with five digs and Liam McIntyre put up 21 assists.

No. 5 East won the first set handily, 25-15, then followed that with a 25-19 victory in the second to take the match.

The Cougars will face a brutal test in the next round, as they travel to No. 1-seeded Southern in the semifinals.