The 2014 season was a successful one for the boy’s volleyball team. The Pirates finished with a 19-10 record and a berth in the Central Jersey playoffs.
Cinnaminson dropped a first-round playoff game to West Windsor-Plainsboro South to end the season.
Head coach Robert Spier said, “It was an interesting year to say the least. We had a lot of potential. We could have done a lot more last year than we wound up doing, unfortunately.”
Coach Spier and assistant coach Brian Mooney have been with the program since day one 10 years ago, which has played a major part in the success of the program.
The Pirates graduated a handful seniors in 2014, which makes it a little difficult for the seniors this year because many of them did not see a lot of varsity time on the court.
“We had so many seniors on the varsity program last year. We had five or six seniors last year, which means there were a lot of holes that needed to be filled this year,” Spier said.
“Even though we have a lot of seniors again this year, these seniors did not get a lot of varsity experience because of the seniors in 2014. They haven’t been exposed to the speed of the game as much as they could have been. Even though we have a lot of seniors, we are still very raw overall with our varsity program.”
This year, the Pirates have five seniors and only seven returning players from last year’s team.
The Pirates have won seven straight division titles and will look to start the 2015 season with a win against National Division rival Collingswood on Wednesday on the road.
“Our first game is against Collingswood, who is our biggest rival in the division. We are hoping to go in there with a big win and know we are in the driving seat for the division for the eighth straight year. It is going to be a challenge this year, but we are hoping we can pull it off,” Spier said.
Coach Spier and Coach Mooney identified the team’s passing as what needs to be improved the most heading into the season.
“When we have good passes, our offense is really good. If our passing improves, we could be a top 20 team in the state, but we need our passing to be there. The very first pass of the game needs to be a good one. That sets the bar for how well they are going to play for the rest of the game,” Spier said.
One of the strongest facets of the 2015 squad will be the defense, specifically the blocking at the net.
“We moved a couple of kids around and we have a lineup with one rotation that features three guys in the front row who are all over six-feet tall. If these guys can work really well together, then other teams will have to set to other people they don’t want to,” Spier explained.
The season begins this afternoon against Collingswood on the road at 3:45.
