Eight SOL boys’ volleyball teams will square of in the District One AAAA quarterfinals on Thursday and Friday.
Yasalonis in League of His Own
Talk about a storybook finish to a regular season. This might have been it for Jeff Yasalonis and his Pennsbury volleyball team.
The Falcons – with just one returning starter from last year’s state runner-up squad – figured to be in a rebuilding year, but they found themselves taking on conference-leading Neshaminy in the final regular season match with a share of the conference crown at stake. The Redskins entered the match without a loss in conference play while the Falcons had one – a 3-1 loss to Neshaminy. The Falcons edged the Redskins 3-2, earning a share of the conference title with the ‘Skins.
“That Neshaminy game was a great atmosphere,” Yasalonis said. “It was Senior Night. We had a whiteout crowd. It was (coach Justin) Fee’s 200th win. It was a great night.”
If winning a title in a season when it was least expected wasn’t enough, Yasalonis found out that night that he will leave Pennsbury with a boatload of career records. The senior setter owns the records for sets played with 222, breaking the record of Class of 2010 standout Jeremy Rhoads (215). He has served for more aces than anyone in program history with 118, breaking the record of Mike Semeraro (Class of 2007) of 100.
Most impressive, Yasalonis will leave Pennsbury as the all-time career assist leader. He already has 1,870, shattering the previous mark of 1,691 set by Class of 2008 standout Tor Covello, a high school All-American who went on to set at Penn State.
“Overall, Jeff has been a great example of the type of athletes the volleyball team has been fortunate to have,” coach Justin Fee said. “As the only returning starter from last season’s state runner-up team, Jeff has been an invaluable asset to the team, not only as a player but as a leader and coach for the next wave of players to get the starting nod.
“Players like Jeff do not come around often. He is an extremely hard worker and is well respected by his peers, not only because of his play but because of his ability to be a positive leader.”
And it is because of the leadership of Yasalonis that the Falcons – in a year of decidedly modest expectations – have reached such lofty heights.
“Coming from last year going to the state championship, losing seven seniors and myself being the only returning player – in my own personal opinion, I wanted to win the SOL, and then anything can happen in districts,” he said. “As a team, realistically, I thought coming in second in our league and pushing for an SOL championship was a realistic expectation.
“By the end of the season, we all realized that winning the SOL was a realistic goal. We fought hard and five-set with Neshaminy and pulled it out.”
Ask Yasalonis the key to the team’s remarkable success, and he has an immediate answer.
“To be honest, we all just play together,” he said. “We’ve had injuries throughout the season, so we’ve only had a few games with a full starting lineup.
“Everybody is really close on the team, and we find a way to pull it together in the tough moments, and we play through it. I think that’s what our biggest attribute is.”
When Yasalonis was recently asked where he’d rank this year’s SOL National Conference crown, the senior setter had to stop and think.
“I told him – no fault to anyone else, but personally and as a team, we worked the hardest for this,” he said. “It feels the best just knowing we worked so hard for it. It’s always enlightening knowing you succeeded and surpassed your goal.”
The fourth-seeded Falcons will face fifth-seeded North Penn in a district quarterfinal showdown on Friday night at Pennsbury Charles Boehm Middle School. Yasalonis knows the Falcons have a challenging road ahead.
“We’re just going to take it one game at a time,” he said. “North Penn is a great team, and if we win that, we’re going to have to play a great CB West team that has very little holes on their team.
“My favorite quote is always – anyone can win on any given day. Whoever is playing their best volleyball at the end of the season, whoever is playing together has a chance.”
As for his own personal milestones, Yasalonis was more excited to be part of a special night for his coach.
“From a personal perspective, it was just awesome knowing I left my mark,” he said. “The biggest thing that night was Fee got his 200th win, and just knowing I was part of that – our team was so happy for him and so proud that we could be the team that got it.”
Seniors Heart and Soul of Title Team
The pattern is a predictable one – 12 freshmen come out for the same sport, but one year later, that number has dwindled, a trend that continues for three years. By the time those freshmen are seniors, they’ll be lucky if four are five are still part of the program.
Neshaminy volleyball coach Kevin Roode knows the drill all too well.
“The first year I took over, the freshman class we picked up had 15 freshmen, and when the class graduated, there were four seniors, so that class whittled itself down,” the ‘Skins fifth-year coach said.
This year’s team is another story entirely.
Five members of the freshmen class of 2011 – Chase Fullen, Ryan Jamison, Mike Gulla, Jake Murray and Jeff Arndt - are still with the program, but 12 seniors will leave at the close of this championship season.
How did it happen?
“Our freshman year we had a decent number of kids, but some kids stopped playing sophomore year, and there were no freshmen on the team that year,” Fullen said. “Me, Mike Gulla and Ryan Jamison tried to recruit some of our friends to come out, and we got a bunch of (new) kids to come out for the team.
“We just tried to recruit mainly friends who were athletic because no one had (volleyball) experience at first. We ran open gym practices, student-held practices, coach-held practices – whatever we could to get them more involved in volleyball and turn them into volleyball players.”
Theirs is quite a success story.
The addition of Keith Compton – one of three juniors – last year helped solidify the team, and this year, they own a share of their first title since 2006 and just the third in program history (the other was in 1997).
“It’s a great group,” Roode said. “They’re all friends with each other, they all hang out after practice, they play in the same fantasy football league. It’s not like there are 12 individuals – it’s one group.”
The team’s success didn’t just happen.
“We work at it,” Fullen said. “During the offseason, we have workouts every Tuesday and Thursday at one of our middle schools just to get better.
“Starting off freshman year with only a few freshmen, we were worried about our senior year. When our sophomore year came, we started developing team bonding and becoming stronger as a team, and right now we’re just on fire.”
Good chemistry, according to Fullen, has been a key.
“We’ve been friends since elementary school,” the senior floor captain said. “We all went to school together in middle school. We’ve grown up together.
“We all played different sports together like basketball and baseball. We’ve just been together our whole lives, and our chemistry on the court is too high.”
Fullen admits this is not the ending he would have imagined for his high school athletic career.
“I was thinking of sticking to soccer and basketball,” eh said. “I was not expecting to get this involved in volleyball.
“Playing (volleyball) in gym class was always fun. I’m a competitive kid, and I wanted to get more competitive with it. Our freshman year, the seniors were competitive, and they were very good. They just got me hooked on it. We would practice against them, and they were just very competitive.”
Fullen, who broke his wrist six weeks prior to the start of the season, had to ease into things when the season started this year, but he and his teammates are back at full throttle. In addition to capturing a share of the SOL National Conference crown with the Falcons, they also won the championship at the Wildcat Invitational in Dallastown.
“This class – they just got better and better,” Roode said. “Really, there’s no drama. There’s none of the usual academically ineligible issues.
“They’re just a great bunch of guys. They just want to come out and play. I’m really lucky to be able to coach them. It’s a pretty special class – I love these guys.”
On Thursday night, the Redskins will host Souderton in a quarterfinal match.
#8 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH at #1 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST (Friday, May 15, 7 p.m.)
Central Bucks West
- 18-0 overall
- 16-0 SOL Continental Conference champions
- Second-ranked team in state
- Winners of back-to-back conference titles
- Captured titles of the Hempfield Black Knight Joust Invitational and the Christopher Dock Tournament
Players to watch: Christian Rupert (Sr., MH, First Team All-State, All-District, All-SOL Continental Conference), Matt Hennigan (Sr., S, First Team All-SOL Continental Conference, Second Team All-District), Joel Klapper (Sr., OH, Third Team All-SOL Continental Conference), Jeff Strasburg (Sr., OH, Honorable Mention All-SOL Continental Conference), Ryan Alu (Fr., Libero), Keith Saunders (Sr., OH), Jackson Cox (Sr., MH), Fran Peske (Sr., OH), Nic Atkinson (Sr., Defensive Specialist)
Council Rock North
- 10-6 overall
- 7-5 SOL National Conference (tied for third place)
- Second place finish at Christopher Dock Tournament
- The Indians fell to CB West in championship game of Christopher Dock Tournament as well as in their first match of the year.
- Swept Christopher Dock in opening round.
Players to watch: Andy Van Thuyne (Sr., Libero), Austin Fuglestad (Sr., OH), Aidan LeClair (Sr., MH), Josh Hinton (Jr., OH), Nick Reich (Jr., MH)
Coach Greg Marchetti says: “I think we have to play the game like we haven’t played them yet. You don’t really want to go into the game thinking about the last time you played them. The last time we played them was at the end of a tournament, and our guys were obviously not 100 percent. We also played them the first match of the year back in March. I think we’re a little bit more experienced team. We had some inexperienced players at the beginning of the year. I like where we are right now. I think we’re playing good volleyball. Some of our younger players are stepping into some leadership positions, which always brings the team together when everybody can fill their role.
“Looking at CB West specifically, we know they’re very physical. They’re a big team, they’re very well coached. They don’t have many weaknesses, so you have to match their energy. We’re going in as an underdog obviously, but we’re going to try to play like we’re going to be right there with them on every point. When you play a team like that, if you can limit runs and can go back and forth, you have a good shot.”
#7 WILLIAM TENNENT at #2 PENNRIDGE (Thursday, May 14, 7 p.m.)
Pennridge
- 13-3 overall
- 13-3 SOL Continental Conference (second place)
- Tied for fifth at the State College Invitational where the Rams defeated top-ranked Central York in pool play
- Since losing to North Penn on April 2, the Rams’ only losses have been to Central Bucks West (twice)
- Swept Quakertown in opening round match.
William Tennent
- 11-5 overall
- 7-5 SOL National Conference (tied for third place)
- Swept Quakertown in opening round match
- Winners of eight straight matches since falling to Neshaminy on April 11
Players to watch: Dillon Cooney (Sr., Libero), Brian Ebert (Sr., OH), Jake Milnazik (Soph., OH)
Coach Jim Creighton says: “Matchup-wise, we haven’t seen them yet, so it will be interesting to see what kind of offense they run. I know that league over there is tough. Offensively, they’re a little faster than what we’re used to. I think 1v1 blocking will be a make or break for us. We’re going to have to be really aggressive serving to try and get them out of their system on offense.”
#6 SOUDERTON at #3 NESHAMINY (Thursday, May 14, 7 p.m.)
Neshaminy
- 14-1 overall
- 11-1 SOL National Conference co-champions
- Won the championship of the Wildcat Invitational at Dallastown
- Won 14 matches in a row before falling to Pennsbury in final regular season match
- In 14 wins, lost just three games – one each to Pennsbury, Council Rock North & Parkland
Souderton
- 12-7 overall
- 10-6 SOL Continental Conference (fourth place)
- Defeated Abington 3-1 in opening round
- The Indians won or lost every regular season match but two by identical 3-0 scores.
Players to watch: Alex Androkites (Sr., OH), Evan Miller (Sr., OH), Micah Godshall (Sr., Opposite), Mitch Yerk (Sr., MH)
Coach Brad Garrett says: “We’re getting there, and hopefully, we’ll play better against Neshaminy (than we did against Cheltenham). Plenty of times in the NCAA Tournament, you struggle through your first round and then get better. It’s just one of those things, and we’re ready to move on.”
#5 NORTH PENN at #4 PENNSBURY (Friday, May 15, 7 p.m.)
Pennsbury
- 11-2 overall
- 11-1 SOL National Conference co-champions
- Third consecutive title and ninth title in past 11 seasons
- Defeated Neshaminy in final regular season match to earn share of title.
North Penn
- 16-3 overall
- 11-3 SOL National Conference (third place)
- Swept Cheltenham in opening round.
- Swept second-seeded Pennridge on April 2 but Knights were swept by Rams in second meeting
- Two of three losses on the season to Central Bucks West
Players to watch: Kyle Sucro (Sr., OH), Gabe Stoler (Sr., Opposite), Eric Mellman (Sr., MB/OH), Mark Elias (Jr., Setter)
Coach Tim Moyer says: “I think it really comes down to our seniors. We have 10 guys on the team, and seven are seniors. We’re in that position where it’s put up or shut up. I think last year we might have been overachievers. We won a couple of real big games, and we won them with a little bit of inexperience. Kyle (Sucro) wasn’t quite ready yet. Gabe (Stoler) was coming off an injury last year with an elbow thing, and it took him all year to come back. He’s making up for it this year, for sure. He’s strong at the net. He’s one of those guys where he’s still working on his serve, but he’s done a great job of passing. Kyle is our rock in our back row, and I think the sleeper for us is Eric Mellman. He’s come a long way. He’s a sparkplug. He hits every position for us. He hits outside, he hits middle, he does slides. He makes it exciting and fun. We have a cast of characters, that’s for sure. If Kyle’s passing the ball and Mark’s setting the ball, we’re running all kinds of crazy offenses. The thing for us – is our team going to stay aggressive when we play some of these bigger teams. I’m hoping they believe in themselves. They’ve had a strong season so far, and I think it’s going to be a good match. North Penn is going to come in ready to play, that’s for sure. We have a little chip on our shoulder, I think.”
- Log in to post comments
