Cardozo wins first v-ball title in 11 years

Almost one year to the day after falling short in the finals in heartbreaking fashion, top-seeded Cardozo claimed the boys volleyball crown they had long pined for, topping No. 2 Grover Cleveland, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21) at Hunter College, their first city championship since 1997.
“It definitely meant a lot to come back and win,” said Coach Danny Scarola, who had led the boys to the final three times in his nine years there and the girls once.
Led by the play of senior setter Joseph Park (25 assists), one of four returning starters, the Judges ran roughshod through the regular season, taking all 12 of their matches for their third consecutive division crown.
Scarola credited Park, who played on the Korean men’s team between seasons, for keeping a new team together. Junior Todd Gaugler (15 service points, seven aces in the finals) and senior Tsun Ka Chu were back at familiar positions, as middle and outside hitters, but senior Eric Barty (11 kills against G.C.) moved from middle to outside and senior middle hitter Randy Preval, formerly of the basketball team, joined the program.
“Over the summer,” Scarola said of Park, “he really got himself into tremendous condition.”
They didn’t drop a set in the playoffs or the regular season, and handled Grover Cleveland (16-1), who were led by the nine kills of Szymon Kolacz and 12 assists of Piotr Borkowski.
The fact that many of the same Judges (17-0) were on the same very court last May in a three-set loss to Midwood in the finals didn’t hurt, either.
“When we played them in the semifinals, all we could think of was revenge,” Scarola said. “And we knew what to expect in the finals. We knew what it felt like to lose. Guys didn’t forget that. We wanted to win badly. … We played hard from the beginning of the season to the end.”