SOL Boys' Volleyball District Wrap (5-23-17)

Top-seeded Pennsbury and sixth-seeded Pennridge were winners in Tuesday’s District One 3A semifinals and will meet in Thursday’s final at William Tennent (7:30 p.m.)

#1 Pennsbury 3, #5 Central Bucks East 1 (28-26, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21)
The Patriots gave top-seeded Pennsbury a run for its money, but in the end, the Falcons just had too many weapons.
“We won a super close first set, both teams were feeling each other out – maybe a little tentative on both sides,” coach Justin Fee said. “We had a lead for a good portion of the second set. We might have had a four or five-point lead at the midway point and kind of blew it.
“The third set we didn’t have a ton of hitting errors. We played pretty solid, and they had a few. We had some key blocks. The fourth set was extremely close. It was 23-21 us, and we blocked a ball from one of their outside hitters. They called it in off our block, and they were up in arms saying it was out. It was very close. It was on the far side, and neither coach could really tell. It was pretty loud for both sides, and that was obviously a pivotal point in the game because it put us up 24-21 instead of 23-22, and we ended up winning the next point.”
Louie Bavas (17 kills, .314, six digs, one block) and Sean Sweeney (18 kills, 11 digs, two blocks, two aces) had huge nights at the net for the Falcons. Setter Andy Delworth had 42 assists, one kill, six digs and two blocks. Also contributing were Danny Quay (six kills, .455, one dig, four blocks), Charlie Bluestein (three assists, nine digs), Justin Sadley (four kills, two blocks), Adam Hludzinski (one kill, three blocks) and Brett Garretson (one kill, one ace, two digs).
The Patriots had a good night defensively, led by Liam Creedon's 14 digs. Offensively, Mason Miller led the way, dishing out 36 assists. The recipients included Dylan Colbert with 19 kills, four aces and four digs, Carter Haban with 13 kills, three aces and five digs, Christian Wolf with five kills and Karl Bandlow with three kills and two blocks.
The win vaulted the Falcons into Thursday’s district title game where they will take on Pennridge at William Tennent at 7:30 p.m. The win also secured a coveted berth in states for the Falcons. Central Bucks East will play Council Rock North Thursday in a playback game for the third bid to states.

#6 Pennridge 3, # 2 Council Rock North 1 (25-17, 26-28, 25-17, 28-26)
The Rams advanced to the district title match for the third straight season, but it wasn’t easy.
“I think both teams can play better than they played tonight,” coach Dave Childs said. “We did what we had to do to win.
“We came through in a couple of big moments in a tight game. We made some big defensive plays at the end to keep balls alive. We came up with some big kills. Ben (Chinnici) finished off the match with a couple of kills at the end.”
Chinnici led the Rams with 29 kills and 20 digs, and Cross Edwards also had a big match, finishing with 17 kills and 17 digs.
“Cross was big towards the end of game four,” Childs said. “We were working through a lot of different things.
“It wasn’t one thing we weren’t doing well. It was working through a couple of little struggles.”
Josiah Friesen added six kills and two blocks, and Kevin Jones had five kills and four aces. Setter Corey Quaste had 53 assists and 10 digs. Danny Rutter had 10 digs.
For the Indians, Jack Gunshanen led the way at the net with 11 kills, six digs, three aces and one block. Setter Nick Baniewicz had 23 assists, seven digs, 1.5 blocks and one ace. Alex Borman led the defense with 13 digs. Harry Wyatt (five kills, nine digs, one ace, .5 blocks), Sean Helmlinger (three kills, 1.5 blocks, one dig), Will Hewitt (three kills, 2.5 blocks), Eddie Mancinelli (five digs), Keven D’Arcy (one kill, two blocks), Brady Haggerty (one dig, one assist) and Grant Shieh (one dig) also contributed.
Pennridge (16-5) will take on top-seeded and undefeated Pennsbury in Thursday’s District One 3A title match at William Tennent (7:30 p.m.). 
Council Rock North  (15-3) will play Central Bucks East Thursday in a playback game for the third team to go to states.

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