Pennridge VB Season Ends in State Semis

Pennridge saw its successful season come to an end on Tuesday night when the Rams fell to Hempfield 3-2 in a PIAA Class AAA semifinal match at Wilson West Lawn High School.

3-2 HEMPFIELD 3, 1-1 PENNRIDGE 2 (20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9)
The Rams were in the driver’s seat.

Or at least so it seemed after they opened up a 2-1 lead over Hempfield in Tuesday’s state semifinal match in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd at Wilson West Lawn High School.

But things changed in a hurry as the Black Knights rallied to win the next two sets, and junior Ben Chinnici acknowledged that the Rams may have become a bit more tentative in the fourth and fifth sets against an aggressive Hempfield defense.

“Going up against a double block, especially a really solid one...is really demoralizing,” Chinnici said. “It’s tough. You think about where you’re going to swing, where you’re going to hit it, if they’re going to pick it up every time, so you take it back a notch.

“You try and be a little smarter and not go for it right away, and sometimes that can hurt us.”

Chinnici found himself going against triple blocks but still was pretty much unstoppable, finishing with 36 kills in another monster performance.

“That’s tough, for sure, but I just go lights out,” he said. “I don’t think being tentative is going to help us in those situations.”

When asked what this year’s senior class meant to his development, Chinnici’s voice took on a decidedly different tone.

“All the seniors are such good guys,” the Rams’ junior standout said. “They bring the sophomores, the freshmen up – they talk to them. They’re just a great group of guys that bring a good level of confidence, a good level of respect to the volleyball team. It’s going to be tough next year.”
According to coach Dave Childs, this year’s senior class – Jesse Smith, Aaron Nelson, Ryan Spangler, Austin Rush, Caleb Pennel, Jeremy Baum, Sam Cullen and Jon Bedillion – is a special one.

“It’s one of my favorite senior classes,” the Rams’ coach said. “Sometimes you have a group come through that – as a coach, you see that they get it.

“They understand what it takes, and they’re going to put in the time and effort, and they’re going to do the little things, and they listen. This was a great, great, great group to coach.”

Tuesday’s match certainly started out on a promising note for the Rams. In set one, a Chinnici kill gave the Rams a 5-3 lead, and after the Black Knights knotted the score 10-10, sophomore Josiah Friesen delivered a kill to spark a 5-0 Ram run. The Black Knights pulled to within one (20-19), but a dump for a winner by setter Jesse Smith was followed by a first contact kill by Chinnici, giving the Rams a 22-19 lead on their way to a 25-20 win.

The Back Knights eked out a 25-23 win in the second set, but the Rams had an immediate answer, opening up a 9-3 lead in the third set after a Friesen service ace. An Austin Rush ace put the Rams on top 16-9, and they still led 22-16 after a Cross Edwards winner. Chinnici put an exclamation point on the win with a kill for set point.

The key to the Rams’ strong showing?

“Ball control and we were just hitting efficiently,” Childs said. “We were just clicking a little bit better overall than we were in the last two games.”

In the fourth set, the Black Knights turned a 9-9 tie in a 16-11 advantage, prompting a Pennridge timeout. The Rams rallied to knot the score 18-18 after a Chinnici kill. The score was deadlocked 21-21 – again after a Chinnici kill, but a net serve by the Rams gave the Black Knights a lead they would not lose.

“It’s such a momentum sport where even if you give them a little bit – especially a team like Hempfield, and you let them get on a little roll, they can take it and run with it,” Childs said.

“I think they played really smart,” Chinnici said of the Black Knights. “They got a lot of digs. They wouldn’t let us put anything away.

“They had triple blocks on me, they had doubles on everyone else, no matter what. They played defense, got a good swing from the outside, and sometimes we couldn’t pick it up. They were just doing everything right. That gives them a lot of confidence.”

In the winner-take-all fifth set, a Chinnici service ace put the Rams on top 4-3, but the Knights rallied to go on top 8-5. The Rams would get no closer than two the rest of the way.

“That game four – we definitely had to win that,” Chinnici said. “To go to a game five with a team like this after they get the momentum winning the fourth game is huge.

“In the fifth game, they got off early, and they kept that lead. Just to keep that momentum in a high school game – three or four points, that’s a match right there, especially when they play so consistently.”

Childs tipped his hat to the play of Hempfield’s defense.

“That’s the number one reason they won, I think,” the Rams’ coach said. “They played phenomenal defense, and we didn’t match them defensively.
“Credit to them. Great job by Hempfield as always.”

Tuesday’s state semifinal was a rematch of a regular season match at Pennridge. The Black Knights rallied from a 2-1 deficit to earn a 3-2 win in that one as well.

“I think both teams are playing significantly better than we were at that point,” Childs said. “I thought it was sloppy at times the last time we played them. (This) was a great match.”

In addition to delivering 36 kills, Chinnici also had eight digs and two service aces.

“He’s one of the best out there, there’s nothing else to say,” Childs said. “He’s a horse. He’s given the ball and he puts it away. He does everything well, not just that.

“We had trouble getting the right swings for him there at the end, for our guys in general.”

Setter Jesse Smith also had a big night, finishing with 54 assists, four kills and nine digs. Friesen had eight kills and three blocks, and Nelson, seven kills and two blocks. Kevin Jones had three kills and three blocks, and Cross Edwards had five kills and eight digs. Rush had a team high 15 digs and five aces, and Jeremy Baum had six digs.

The Rams closed out a successful season with a 20-4 record, another SOL Continental Conference title and their second District One AAA title in as many years before falling in the state semifinals.

“I think this was a huge opportunity for us,” Chinnici said. “Obviously, how the bracket worked out we had a good chance to get to the state finals and try and get a state championship.

“This was our best chance, I think, to get a state championship, and I think we lost our opportunity there, but it was tough. They earned every point. They earned that match, for sure.”

“We’re not just happy to be here,” Childs said. “We want to win. This is extremely disappointing.

“We played them twice, go five with them twice, lose both times. We know we’re there. We want to finish and win.”

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