The Barnegat High School girls volleyball team got off to a slow start last week in its quest to win the New Jersey Group II State Championship Tournament, but turned on its afterburners when challenged.

The top-seeded Bengals hosted Ridgefield Park, the 32nd and last seed, on Wednesday and somewhat surprisingly – given the disparity of the seeds- won the first game of the match by just a 26-24 score. Then the girls stopped playing around and took the second game, 25-10.