Bellinger, Kaminer Lead Spartans in Counties

Heading into this weekend, Paramus volleyball is one of two local teams still alive in the County tournaments as the squad is led by freshman phenom Maria Bellinger, while boys soccer goalie Alec Kaminer stayed strong in penalty kicks.

Soccer

Facing fifth seeded Bergen Tech, the Paramus Spartans threw everything they had against the Knights leading to a 4-4 draw and double overtime. So sophomore goalie Alec Kaminer was facing the biggest pressure in his young career on the pitch as the right to advance came down to penalty kicks. Kaminer finished with three saves in the box as the Spartans advanced 5-4 (3-2 PK) to now face unbeated Waldwick. After their big win, the Spartans faced two setbacks being shut out by Ramapo (3-0) and Northern Highlands (4-0). Paramus will face 4th seeded Waldwick on Sunday, 4pm at River Dell.

The Lady Spartans were ousted of the County Tournament, 4-0 by Mahwah as goalie Nicole DiPasquale had 10 saves in the box. Previously Noel Hodgins and Sarah Cortes teamed up to lead Paramus 2-0 over Indian Hills with the Seton Hall-bound Cortes feeding Hodgins the ball twice. Paramus then fell to Ramapo 6-0 on Tuesday with DiPasquale again finishing with 10 saves.

Paramus Catholic was also sent packing from the County tournament as Kimmie Mignone had the lone Paladins goal in their 2-1 upset to Ramsey. PC then fell 3-2 to DePaul Catholic in spite of leading at the half with Mignone netting two goals. But the Lady Spartans pushed ahead in the second half for the win.

Volleyball

Freshman phenom Maria Bellinger has been busy this season leading the Lady Spartans on the court all while balancing the fact that the coach is her mom. This week alone she has accounted for 19 kills, 4 aces, 12 service points and 9 digs as Paramus handed Ramapo its first Freedom Division loss of the season (19-25, 25-18, 28-26); knocked Northern Highlands down a few pegs (25-23, 21-25, 26-24) and downed Hackensack (25-12, 25-8). This weekend, Bellinger and the sixth seeded Lady Spartans face 27th seed Dumont at home on Saturday, 12:30pm in the Bergen County tournament.

Paramus Catholic in their lone match of the week downed DePaul 25-22, 25-17 with Georgette Smith’s 8 kills, Caitlin Hall’s 13 assists and Clairesse Newmann's 8 digs.

Football

Paramus earned its third win of the season, 28-19 over Indian Hills as Brandon Sebahie scored three times on runs of 5, 9 and 47 yards. Tyler Smith ran one TD in for a 31 yard sprint. Jeff Carpenter was perfect with four extra points. 

Cross Country

Paramus competed at the Shore Invitational in Holmdel last weekend with the boys finishing fourth in the Boys C division with 208 points as Mike Secreti paced himself to a 5^th place finish in 16:42, approximately 30 seconds behind first place finisher Ben Malone of Pascack Valley. Erik Helstrom picked up 26^th in 17:54, Alex Gee was 39^th (18:18), Dan Paolazzi was 40^th (18:18).  The girls team finished 11^th overall with 338 points: Jolie Bartner came in 23^rd (21:11) with Lindsey Lucas in 29^th (21:27).

The team then traversed the Darlington Park course in Big North Freedom Division Championships as the Lady Spartans placed 4^th in the division with Lindsey Lucas running a 19:52 for 8^th place and Jolie Bartner followed at 20:10 for 12^th place. The boys finished 3^rd overall as Secreti trailed by two seconds behind Malone for a second place finish. Teammate Erik Helmstrom followed in 5^th place at 16:21

Paramus Catholic ran at Darlington twice this week in the Brett Taylor Invitational and United Division League Championships. In both races, Lady Paladin Lila Morreale was the top place finisher for the school coming in third in the Taylor Invitational and fourth in the division. The team was third overall in the division. The boys were third overal in their division and seventh overall in the Invitational.

Tennis

In state action, Paramus fell to Old Tappan 4-1 in the start of the North 1 Group 3 team tournament. Third singles JeeHee Kim defeated Golden Knights Sunny Yoon 6-4,4-6,6-3 to avoid the shutout. While the team fell to Ramapo 4-1 with third singles Sunny Yoon winning 6-1, 6-3, they were able to rebound and shut out Hackensack on Thursday, 5-0.

The Lady Paladins also ended their state action early, falling to rival IHA, 4-1 in the North Non Public A group as second doubles Brindsi Liberty/Samantha Contreras won 7-6, 7-4 (4-6), 9-8 after the Lady Eagles Megan Swords/Emma Dowder retired late in the match. PC shut out Hackensack 5-0 in the regular season.

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