About the only thing one needs to know about the East Brunswick High School girls volleyball team is that Coach Melissa Strauss calls 2010's 16-9 record a "down season for us."
That's how good East Brunswick has been.
Strauss is entering her seventh season for what has become a very successful program at East Brunswick. In her time with the team, East Brunswick has won the Greater Middlesex Conference championship three times. It has made it to the Group IV semifinals twice and the title game once.
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"We've had a lot of success," Strauss noted.
East Brunswick has the talent to continue winning this season.
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Sarah Gunia (outside hitter), Kelsey Schuster (setter), Emily Harris (libero, a defensive player) and Abby Patalot (opposite hitter) are the seniors on the team.
The juniors on the team are Ema Hanzes (outside hitter), Sara D'Antuono (outside hitter), G.B. Galluzo (middle hitter), Rachael Phillips (middle hitter), Nicole Pagerty (setter) and Pam Wang (libero).
Sophomores Jen Murphy (middle hitter) and Sabrina Chang (setter) are the other members of the team
"Overall, we have looked pretty good in the scrimmages," Strauss noted. "It is a young team. We have things we need to work on, but we're starting to see where we're strong as a team."
East Brunswick will open the season at home against Westfield on Sept. 9 in a 5:15 p.m. start. This will be the first chance to continue that winning the East Brunswick girls have gotten so used to doing.
"I have very competitive girls, which is a good thing," Strauss said. "They all have the desire to work hard and want to be out there winning."
