Not everyone can attend football on Friday nights.
Some kids may have understandable obligations on weeknights after the final bell – academic, work, or otherwise, after busy days in their classes at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Members of other extracurricular activities, however, also may not be able to be part of the audience of the most attended high school sport in the fall season for one obvious reason.
Full commitment to their endeavors while representing their communities.
This could not have been better demonstrated than at Bridgewater-Raritan’s girls’ volleyball match against Hopewell Valley Central High School on Friday, October 2.
Both schools’ football squads were slated to kick off on their respective campuses, not even two hours after their opening serve, with Hopewell Valley serving as the host to Seneca High School in Pennington.
Bridgewater-Raritan's football team was scheduled to serve as host to Hunterdon Central Regional High School, but it was Homecoming night just a short walk away from their volleyball court at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium.
That proved to be significant for Bridgewater-Raritan senior girls’ volleyball captain Margarita Silvar.
Just days earlier, Silvar was amongst 16 students named as coveted members of the Panthers’ Homecoming Court. Given there were eight pairs in contention for the title of Homecoming Royalty, for this reason, there was a chance she would be crowned Homecoming Royalty at John Basilone Memorial Field shortly after her team’s volleyball match against Hopewell Valley.
Simply put, time was not on Bridgewater-Raritan’s side heading into Friday evening.
On top of this, what typically is a short walk from the Panthers’ gymnasium to their football field probably was going to feel like an even more exhausting walk than usual across, especially given the tired legs of Bridgewater-Raritan’s girls’ volleyball players after what was slated to be a heavyweight best-of-five match – and their fourth contest in four days.
“We support the football team and every sport here, but in our program, you are a student-athlete first,” explained by Bridgewater-Raritan High School graduate and girls’ volleyball head coach Josh Everett, who won a state championship as both a player (2005) and assistant coach (2015) for the Panthers. “Our girls have to know that commitment to the program and each other, but there was never a doubt. In fact, Margarita is unbelievable as a captain who was at every summer workout, is always in the weight room, and I don’t think she is appreciated enough.”
“However, she came up to me, told me that I might be crowned [Homecoming Royalty], and I need to be there for halftime.”
With that in mind, no one knew which pair would ultimately be crowned Homecoming Royalty until it was announced at halftime of Bridgewater-Raritan’s football game.
Hopewell Valley girls’ volleyball head coach Daniel Williams understood the assignment.
With a 4:40 p.m. volleyball start looming before the Panthers’ 6 p.m. football kickoff and halftime projected to be sometime after 7 p.m., Everett went up to Williams prior to warm-ups and explained the aforementioned situation. Understanding that he would fully support Williams’ decision to keep their match a best-of-five setting given volleyball is the Panthers’ paramount obligation, Everett asked him if it was possible to have a normal best-of-three match instead of the best-of-five match, which was scheduled long before the Panthers’ eight Homecoming Court pairs were announced.
Without hesitation, as a testament to the pair of first-class girls’ volleyball programs showcased at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium on Friday evening, Williams agreed to shorten the match to a traditional best-of-three in an effort to give Silvar a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime memory.
To say the least, the Panthers made the most of this opportunity.
Entering Homecoming night after back-to-back victories for the first time this season, red-hot Bridgewater-Raritan (7-8) led by as many as seven points in a game one victory and erupted for 10 of game two’s first 12 points, but a resilient squad in Hopewell Valley (7-6) twice surged back to within one point in game two with its back against the wall. A service error by the Bulldogs coupled with the fourth ace of the set alone by senior Reese Albano (one kill, five aces, six digs) then gave the Panthers three critical points of breathing room.
Bridgewater-Raritan ultimately never trailed in the match, maintained this late cushion, and Silvar (six kills, one block, seven digs) fittingly produced the match’s final point to seal a 2-0 (25-21, 25-21) victory Friday, October 2, in Bridgewater.
“I never thought I would experience that,” Silvar said immediately after her walk-off kill, which sent the Panthers to a season-high winning streak of three consecutive matches and counting. “I never thought I would be on the Homecoming Court going into my senior year.”
“It’s very sentimental.”
That was not all.
At the halftime ceremony of the Panthers’ football game, which took place two hours after the conclusion of her team’s two-set volleyball victory, Silvar and classmate Nolan Chinchilla were ultimately awarded the honor of Bridgewater-Raritan High School Homecoming Royalty for 2026.
“It’s just an honor to be up there amongst all of my fellow nominees and being recognized as someone representing our school,” Silvar said even before being awarded her crown, which followed a thrilling match when her walk-off kill put her at a team-high 112 kills in 15 matches played so far this fall.
“I hope my character represents my [graduating Class of 2027] and how we are going out.”
The many sacrifices Silvar and her volleyball teammates have made over their careers in Bridgewater-Raritan uniforms, notably in the midst of a busy fall season that annually coincides with the beginning of the school year, clearly were rewarded both on and off of the volleyball court on Homecoming night.
While Bridgewater-Raritan dropped five of its six matches in a stretch that spanned the first two weeks of classes after summer vacation, including new classes in the midst of adjusting to an updated bell schedule during the school day, reigning Somerset County Tournament champion Bridgewater-Raritan is starting to hit its stride at the right time.
Against Hopewell Valley, sophomore Riley Romanak (four kills, one ace, three digs) opened the match’s scoring, and Bridgewater-Raritan jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in game one it never relinquished. After the Bulldogs got to within 5-4 after a block by senior Elle Krakovski, senior Viktoria Borodkin (eight kills, four blocks) responded on a feed by junior setter Brooke Krizan (two kills, 18 assists, one dig).
This gave the Panthers at least a two-point advantage the rest of game one.
“It was all from this season,” described Borodkin of her chemistry with Krizan, who just broke the 300-assist milestone for the season in her first year as the Panthers’ full-time setter. “During tryouts, I was with her a lot, and [Coach Everett] really tried to form a connection between us even before our first scrimmage. We built our connection pretty quickly for a middle-blocker and a setter, and it’s so exciting, because that connection is not easy to build when you haven’t played together [in a season] before.”
“Both of our adrenalines rush up, she gives me a perfect set, and I get a kill from that.”
Hopewell Valley then cut the Panthers’ lead to 8-6 after a kill by sophomore Jiya Desai made on a pass from sophomore Emily Wysocki. But Silvar’s ensuing point followed by an ace by Bridgewater-Raritan sophomore Klaudia Swider again thwarted the Bulldogs’ bid to tighten the match. Borodkin also found herself in a good matchup up front against Krakovski and fellow Hopewell Valley senior Logan Mullowney, who scored 66 goals as a junior on the Bulldogs’ lacrosse field last spring as a testament to her agility, versatility, timing, and eye-hand coordination.
All of these important traits to have in volleyball, in addition to the composure that both teams demonstrated in what proved to be a back-and-forth affair.
“[Coach Everett] really started talking to me about getting out of my own head before games,” credited of her team’s skipper by Borodkin, who leads the Panthers with 34.5 blocks this season and is second on her team only behind Silvar with 85 kills after Friday night. “It really is mostly mental a lot of the time, so that seriously improved my play.”
“There was an automatic switch from our [2-0 season opening victory at Hillsborough September 18], and I feel that was my personal turning point.”
After Mullowney’s block got Hopewell Valley to within 15-12, Bridgewater-Raritan again doubled its lead to four points, and back-to-back aces dealt by senior Bellina Locrotondo made it a 19-13 opening set. Junior libero Camille Hilton (three aces, four assists, 16 digs) then matched this feat at the service line to extend the Panthers’ lead to 24-17 and set up game point, but Hopewell Valley did not go down in game one quietly.
Although they scored four straight points to put pressure on Bridgewater-Raritan and force a timeout, a service error helped the Panthers escape with a 25-21 game one victory.
With Bridgewater-Raritan already on fire to begin game two, back-to-back aces by Albano followed by an unassisted kill by Borodkin surged the Panthers to a quick 10-2 lead. This put the Panthers on pace for a quick finish in time for kickoff of the football game, but while best-of-three volleyball is typically fast paced regardless of outcome, Hopewell Valley responded with 11 of the next 13 points.
This cut Bridgewater-Raritan’s lead to just one point, but trailing just 13-12, the Bulldogs were charged with a service error that instead doubled the Panthers’ lead.
After Bridgewater-Raritan then hit a ball out of bounds to trim their lead to just 15-13, junior Eleana Dai (two kills, one dig) responded with a game-swinging kill that gave the Panthers a 16-13 lead. Hopewell Valley again clawed back to within 17-16 after an error by the Panthers and a kill by senior Erin Krakovski, but another service error denied the Bulldogs what would have been their first tie of the match.
Leading 18-16, Bridgewater-Raritan eventually went on a big run with this stretch capped off with a kill from Silvar on a dish from Krizan to set up match point. Hopewell Valley senior Lily Cheung then found junior Sidnie Miller to make it a 24-21 game two, but with Homecoming kickoff on the horizon, Krizan tapped the ball up for what proved to be her final assist.
Fittingly, Silvar was able to close out the match, and this set herself up with plenty of time to get ready for her halftime Homecoming ceremony at the Panthers’ John Basilone Memorial Field.
“Volleyball is just a priority for me, and I will not put any other sport over that,” said Silvar, who also plays club volleyball that typically takes place after the conclusion of New Jersey’s fall season.
Her match-winning kill officially sealed Bridgewater-Raritan’s timely straight-set victory, and at halftime of the Panthers’ football game against Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Silvar and Chinchilla’s names being read as the 2026 Homecoming Royalty put an exclamation point on Silvar’s big night.
A busy day on the campus of Bridgewater-Raritan High School, which saw its school day launch with its football players greeting students getting off their school buses and end with a pep rally at John Basilone Memorial Field, was further punctuated by the Panthers’ 35-18 football victory over Hunterdon Central Regional High School.
“The fact that I am here with my fellow seniors is so surreal,” reflected Borodkin of the memories made on Homecoming night. “I remember being a freshman thinking our varsity girls were way too good and that there was no way that could be me someday.”
“It’s so cool that I get to be a part of that experience, but I know our [current] freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will feel this way as well.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs’ football team fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, as it fell 27-13 against Seneca on Friday night to drop to 5-1 on their promising campaign. On September 18, their girls’ volleyball team also won their match against Montgomery High School, 2-0 (25-13, 25-19) on the same night of their football Homecoming game: a 33-28 home opener victory on the gridiron against Ewing High School.
Following the Panthers’ football victory over the Red Devils later on Friday evening, Skyland Conference Delaware Division leader Hunterdon Central (9-4, 7-2) will ironically also be the next opponent for rival Bridgewater-Raritan (7-8, 3-5) on its girls’ volleyball schedule.
The Panthers will try and salvage a split of their regular season series next at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 6, in Flemington, as the Red Devils previously defeated the Panthers in straight sets at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium back on September 15.
With the calendar now in October and seeding for the Somerset County Girls’ Volleyball Tournament soon approaching, Bridgewater-Raritan will continue to try and build off of its current wave of momentum. The Panthers’ next home match will be against Colonia High School (5-9) at 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 7, in Bridgewater.
After three straight road matches, Bridgewater-Raritan will then return home for Senior Night against Piscataway High School (7-8) at 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 14, at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium in Bridgewater following a pre-match senior recognition ceremony.
A perfect celebration of the Panthers’ four seniors and the life lessons they have learned along the way, notably on Bridgewater-Raritan’s Homecoming night.
“I love this team and I love the vibes we have,” concluded Everett, who is in his fourth season in charge of the Panthers’ girls’ volleyball team. “Our leaders are getting there, and I think our younger players are starting to understand it. A lot of what goes on in sports is about not really having a choice. If you want to be an athlete, then you cannot be at the football game, but it is one of those things that I tell them when they sign up here. It is what it is, and you either have to be here 100 percent or not be here at all. Girls like our four seniors in Margarita, Viktoria, Bellina, and Reese, do not blink about missing something or think that anything is more important than volleyball.”
“We’re in good hands with them.”
The following eight pairs of Bridgewater-Raritan High School students made up the 16 members of the 2026 Homecoming Court.
Margarita Silvar and Nolan Chinchilla (Homecoming Royalty)
Tyler Hamby and Olivia Leon
Greg Rydberg and Masha Rabkova
Ella Lim and Vivian Chao
Himani Konda and Chhavi Jakhotia
Brianne-Naomi Ramrattan and Rhia Evans
Paige D’Aloisio and Emma Kipila
Max Weinstein and Makenzie Harris