The Pennsbury boys’ volleyball team captured the program’s first District One AAA title since 2009 with its sweep of Central Bucks West. To view photos of Wednesday’s district title match, please visit the Photo Gallery. To view highlights by video journalist Jen Wielgus, please click on the following PhillyBurbs.com link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/pennsbury-wins-district-volleyball-title/html_71a2f3a1-b789-5666-8a0c-93ef2d90b0df.html
By Mary Jane Souder
WARMINSTER – All night long their approach had been something close to businesslike, so it was hardly a surprise that the celebration was relatively subdued after the Pennsbury Falcons defeated Central Bucks West 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-22) to capture the District One Class AAA title.
“Our motto going into this game – or at least my approach – was just try and go out and do our thing, not put too much pressure on yourself,” Pennsbury coach Justin Fee said. “Just go out and do what we do. I felt if we would do that, we would play more consistently and make less mistakes.”
The Falcons spread the ball around on offense, all the while playing relentless defense.
“We cut down on our service errors, our passing was great, and we really played good defense,” senior middle Spencer McCullough said. “We really practiced that a lot yesterday, and everyone did their job.”
Pat Merrick led the Falcons at the net with 14 kills and a .417 hitting efficiency. He also had two assists and 10 digs. Sean Kropp had eight kills, two assists and four digs. Junior setter Jeff Yasalonis had 36 assists, three kills, three digs and one block. Troy Pereira had six digs.
Neil Helsel had seven kills, one ace, one dig and two blocks while fellow middle McCullough also had seven kills, three blocks and one dig.
“We had a good night from both of our middles,” Fee said. “They don’t rack up the double-digit kills, but they really pulled through for us.
“(Chris) Spanos struggled early in this match, but our two middles really, really helped us sideout. That was huge.”
All three sets were a battle. A Kropp kill put the Falcons on top 4-1, but that turned out to be their largest lead of the opening set. The Bucks knotted the score 7-7 on a Matt Hennigan block, and the two teams were still deadlocked 16-16 after a Pennsbury hit out of the play.
A Jackson Cox kill put the Bucks on top 20-19, but McCullough answered with a kill for the Falcons.
“As usual, we had Sean and Pat outside, and they were running a blocking scheme and taking a couple of steps towards Pat and Sean, expecting them (to get the set),” McCullough said. “That left us with almost no block a lot of the time.”
Three consecutive West errors allowed the Falcons to open up a 23-20 lead. The Bucks pulled to within one (24-23) after a Christian Rupert kill, but Merrick answered by slamming down a kill for set point.
“The passing was pretty good,” Yasalonis said. “It all starts from there. If our passing is there, it’s easier for me to get a good set.
“Our guys were putting the ball away, so hats off to them.”
Set two was more of the same and featured 11 ties, the final at 18-18 after a Falcon hitting error. A Kropp kill put the Falcons on top 21-18, and they still led 22-20 after a West net serve. A big block by West’s Joel Klapper was followed by a Merrick kill that gave the Falcons a 23-21 edge. A Falcon net serve made it a one-point game, and the Bucks knotted the score 23-23 after another kill by Rupert, who finished with a match high 19 kills. Back-to-back West hits out of play propelled the Falcons to the 25-23 win.
“We gave them too many points,” West coach Todd Miller said. “We gave them all three games.
“Our mistakes earned them the wins in each match. We didn’t settle in the way we could have, which is unfortunate, but it happens.”
In the third set, the score was knotted 7-7 after a Rupert kill, and a Fehr kill put the Bucks on top 9-7. They still led 10-8 after a Falcon serving error, but a kill by Helsel was followed by a West double hit, and the Falcons knotted the score.
A Pennsbury net serve gave the Bucks a one-point lead, but another McCullough kill evened things up (11-11). The Falcons stretched their lead to 16-13 after a Chris Spano kill.
“He didn’t have a kill until the third set, but he came through at a crucial time to wrap this match up, so I was really happy that he held strong and came through at the end,” Fee said of Spano. “That was awesome. He’s been a big part of us all season. It was hard to watch him struggle, but it was nice to see him come through at the end.”
The Falcons still led 18-15 lead after another Helsel kill, this one on first contact.
“A lot of times teams don’t expect it off first or second ball,” Helsel said. “We just needed to make sure we were early to beat their big middles, and it ended up working.”
The Falcons upped that lead to five (21-16) before the Bucks rallied to trim that lead to two, but they could get no closer. A kill by Merrick for match point put the finishing touches on the Falcons’ sweep.
“It just comes down to serving and passing,” Merrick said. “If you can keep them from passing well and pass well yourself and if you can keep them out of system, it makes the game a lot easier.”
This year’s district title is Pennsbury’s first since 2009.
“There’s always high expectations for a group of kids playing together for a long time,” Merrick said. “Three years ago, when those seniors made it to this floor, they had a different type of medal (silver), and they were upset about that.
“We watched them play when we were in ninth grade, and then we all played as sophomores, which usually doesn’t happen. That year was a good reality check - just because we’re from Pennsbury doesn’t mean we’re the best team ever. We can lose, and it just motivated us to work hard.”
That hard work led to the district’s top prize.
“This is great,” McCullough said. “We go to practice every day, and this is our goal. To finally get here and accomplish this is just awesome. It’s a load off your shoulders.”
“It’s awesome,” Helsel added “My sophomore year wasn’t the best year Pennsbury has had.
“This is a huge win. It’s another step. Now it’s the state tournament. We’ve got to keep working hard and make sure we come out (strong).”
The Bucks have arguably the best draw heading into the state tournament and will return to William Tennent next Wednesday to take on the second place team from District 12.
“We’re going to come back from this,” Miller said. “It’s the same thing that happened to us before. We got kicked, we get agitated, and we come back and work even harder.
“It’s not by any means over.”
The Falcons will open state tournament play on Tuesday night at William Tennent against the fourth place team from District 3.
“A lot of us have been playing together for a few years now,” Yasalonis said. “Last year we lost in the (district) semis and the first round of states. Hopefully, we can keep this going in states because our biggest goal is to get to the state championship. It doesn’t stop now.”
EXTRA SETS: For the Bucks, Fehrs had five kills and eight digs. Setter Matt Hennigan had 27 assists and 10 digs, and Jeff Strasburg had nine digs…Helsel played outside as a sophomore but moved to middle as a junior. He found a home. “It was such a better fit for me,” he said.
#5 NORTH PENN 3, #3 PENNRIDGE (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 15-10)
Twice during the regular season North Penn came out on the short end of the score in its matches against Pennridge. In Thursday night's third place district game at William Tennent High School, the Knights exacted a degree of revenge, downing the Rams in five tightly contested sets.
"I think we were coming into tonight's match with a little chip on our shoulder, for sure," coach Tim Moyer said. "We have been playing well down the stretch, and I think we wanted to let everyone know that come playoff time we were ready to go.
"The kids came in fired up. The first game was close. I really thought we should have taken the first game, but they stayed with it, kept their heads in the game. Once again, the defensive effort is definitely what picked it up and pushed it over the top.”
Andy Willets led the Knights with 21 kills and 11 digs. Kyle Sucro had 16 digs and 17 kills and setter Mark Elias had 25 assists and 14 digs.
"I think that was the difference," Moyer said pointing at Elias’ defensive stat. "Our supporting cast did a pretty good job too, but I was shocked at how many digs Mark had.
"Down the stretch, he has been playing better defense. I got in his ear a little bit the last couple games and said we need a defensive effort from him tonight to push us over the top. He does a great job running the offense, but when he plays defense, we get the ball to any of our guys to put the ball away, it makes a huge difference for us. Our effort on defense is what won it. Down the stretch, defense and heart is what's going to win these games.”
While the Rams will take on the District 3 champion in the opening round of states on Wednesday, the Knights will face the District 11 champion.
"That was definitely the theme going into tonight," Moyer said. "Our kids have been looking at the brackets and how it played out.
"We know that District 3 match is going to be a tough one no matter who comes out of there, so they wanted to see if they could put the ball in our hands as far as destiny goes and see if we can take the easier road."
Devon Rice (15 kills, 10 digs, two aces), Alex Vellner (13 kills, four blocks) and Henry Savage (11 kills, three blocks). Mike Bollinger had seven kills, and Christian Lizana had 28 digs.
In the winner-take-all fifth set, the teams still found themselves deadlocked for the seventh time at 8-8 after a Sucro kill. A Ram hit out of play was followed by another Sucro kill, putting the Knights on top 10-8. Another Pennridge hit out of bounds was followed by a North Penn block, and the Knights led 12-8. Yash Boghara and Gabe Stoler combined for a block that put North Penn on top 13-8. The Rams would get no closer than four the rest of the way, and it was Sucro putting the finishing touches on the big win with a kill for match point.
"Our guys know that we have the offense to run with just about anybody, but when we play defense, it really makes a difference,” Moyer said. “Down the stretch blocking and just the hustle plays is definitely what pushed us over the top.
"Pennridge is super scrappy team. They've been there a ton of times before. They definitely were not going to give us anything easy. We had to work twice as hard as they did for the easy ones.
"Our theme the last couple of weeks has been 'not done yet,' and they've kind of echoed it down the stretch here tonight. Hard fought, that's for sure. I'm proud of the guys tonight."
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