The Pennsbury volleyball team fell to North Allegheny 3-1 in Saturday’s PIAA Class AAAA title match at Penn State University.
UNIVERSITY PARK – They gathered for one last team huddle and broke with their traditional cheer of “Falcons.” The only thing that remained was to say their farewells, and for members of this year’s Pennsbury volleyball team, that was by far the hardest part of Saturday’s 3-1 loss to North Allegheny in the PIAA Class AAAA title game at Penn State University’s multi-sport facility.
“It’s rough,” senior co-captain Sean Kropp said. “It was a fantastic season though, a nice finish to all of our hard work the past four years.”
Both teams took identical 20-0 records into Saturday’s state title match – itself a first for the Falcons’ program.
“This is first team in Pennsbury history that has made it to the final undefeated,” said coach Justin Fee, who took his fourth team to the state title game. “We were always beaten along the way somewhere, so that was a major accomplishment for our program.
“We played super consistent all year. I’m proud of them. We beat a lot of great teams to get here, and we 3-0ed some really good teams to get here. There’s a lot to be happy about and not a lot to be very disappointed about. North Allegheny is clearly the best team in the state against anyone all year. They won every tournament they’ve been in. There’s nothing to be sad about.”
The difference in the match, according to senior co-captain Sean Kropp, was simple.
“Their big block,” he said. “They’re fantastic blockers, and they get out there too, especially on the outsides. They have big middles.
“We really had to attack the block, hit off the top of it and make them play floor defense.”
That was no easy task against a Tiger squad that put up 17 blocks to just five for the Falcons.
“After we played them at the State College Tournament, I watched the tape, the team watched the tape, and we thought we could make key adjustments to bridging the gap that was between the two of us,” Fee said. “They countered nicely.
“They’re a strong, strong blocking team. Everything that we prepared to combat their big block, they were able to adjust to it. They did a really good job. They’re super well-coached, and they had the big bodies to put up the big block.”
That ability to put up a block was underscored in a first set that saw the Tigers turn an 11-10 deficit into an 18-13 advantage on their way to a 25-18 win. The Tigers had six blocks in the win. The Falcons none.
“We have been big all year,” 6-5 North Allegheny junior Brendan Brown said. “I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s second nature for us.”
In the second set, the Falcons narrowed the gap. They led 15-12 after a Pat Merrick kill only to watch the Tigers reel off four straight points, a run that culminated with a block by Brown. The Tigers still led 20-18 after a Pennsbury hit out of the play, but a Spencer McCullough kill made it a one-point game. It was still a one-point game (24-23) after a Chris Spano kill, but the Tigers closed it out with a Justin Zweig kill.
Down but the not out, the Falcons battled back in the third set. A Merrick service ace put the Falcons on top 6-5, and they led 10-6 after a Tiger hit in the net. The Tigers knotted the score 10-10 – the fourth tie of the set - after a Brown block in the middle of the net, but a Kropp kill gave the Falcons the lead. It is a pattern that would continue the remainder of the match. The Falcons led 21-20 after a Kropp kill only to watch the Tigers knot the score. A McCullough winner was followed by a Tommy Keisling kill to knot things up. The teams exchanged miscues, but the Falcons took a lead they would not lose on a North Allegheny serving error. They won it when a Tiger hit sailed out of play.
“As a setter, it’s my job to be deceptive,” Pennsbury junior Jeff Yasalonis said. “If the passing is there, we’re doing good, and that’s why I think we won the third set.
“Our passing was on point, we had one block on almost every hitter, but we just couldn’t get it done. They’re a really good team.”
In the fourth set, the Falcons trailed by just one (16-15) after a Spano service ace. It was still a one-point game after a Neil Helsel block (17-16), but the Tigers went on to open up a 20-16 lead on their way to the 25-18 win.
“The second game we only lost by two, and we knew we could do it,” Kropp said. “It was really just runs.
“They went on five or six point runs. They sided out right away, and we really couldn’t keep our defense up to par.”
It was the Falcons’ second trip to the state final in four years. They also advanced to the state title game in 2010.
“Just seeing my brother (Joe Yasalonis) and his team come here – and all these guys were on the team then – was motivation for us to hopefully come out and get a win,” Yasalonis said. “They’re a really good team. You almost have to play perfect against them. We took one from them, but we couldn’t do it.”
The state title was the first for North Allegheny since 1999.
EXTRA SHOTS: Yasalonis finished the night with 40 assists and eight digs. Merrick had a team high 14 kills and 10 digs while Kropp added seven kills and 10 digs. Helsel had eight kills and three blocks (.400 hitting efficiency)…Kropp had the dig of the match in the fourth game, bringing up a monster kill attempt and stunning a Tiger squad as the Falcons won the point…The Falcons bid farewell to seniors Kropp, Helsel, Spano, McCullough, Merrick and Troy Pereira, who provided the nucleus of this year’s squad. “I’m going to miss them a lot,” said Yasalonis, the lone underclassman in the starting rotation. “I thought this year we could have had it. It’s our third year and every third year we go to the state championship. We were trying to make history, but we came up a little bit short.”
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