How successful the Hunterdon Central High School boys volleyball team would be this season was a bit of an unknown in preseason. It took some time and an adjustment period between the players and their first-year skipper, but the Red Devils made a nice run in the state playoffs.

Steve Fenton, who coached both the boys and girls volleyball teams at Watchung Hills before taking over both programs at the Flemington school this past fall, inherited a senior-laden group amidst a coaching controversy in which the previous Central coach was ousted for unspecified reasons. But Fenton weathered that storm and made the transition seamless.

Fenton is the 2012 Courier News Boys Volleyball Coach of the Year.

After a mediocre start to the season, Fenton‘s Red Devils caught fire. They won 13 of their final 16 games, and made a nice run to the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Central Tournament as the No. 7 seed. They finished 17-6 overall.

Fenton, who brought a completely different brand of volleyball to a group of players accustomed to a system much different, was able to make it work.