The Pennridge and Neshaminy volleyball teams advanced to the semifinals Tuesday’s District One AAAA Tournament.
#2 PENNRIDGE 3, #7 WILLIAM TENNENT 0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-22)
The Rams were without a pair of starters in Thursday night’s district quarterfinal match, but they received a lift from their reserves and also used a strong service game to earn a sweep of the Panthers.
“I think our serving set the tone for the game,” coach Dave Childs said.
Devon Rice had four aces to lead the Rams, who finished the match with 12 aces.
The Rams were without first team all-league opposite hitter Alex Vellner and third team all-league middle hitter Henry Savage.
“We had a couple of other guys stepped up, which was big for us,” Childs said.
Vince Kauders delivered seven kills and two blocks, and Jon Long had five kills and five blocks. Kauders filled in on the right side while Long played in the middle.
“Sam Handy came in and played defense,” Childs said.
Kolby Smith led a balanced Ram attack with eight kills and two aces, and Rice had six kills and six digs while Ben Chinnici had six kills, three blocks and two aces. Setter Bradley Nase had 30 assists, and Steve Braun led the defense with 12 digs to go along with two aces.
The Rams have saved their best for last, showing steady improvement as the season has progressed.
“We’re young,” Childs said. “We were young last year, and we’re young this year. We have a lot of non-seniors contributing.
“I feel like we’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the season, and we’re a lot more efficient now.”
For the Panthers, senior Dillon Cooney led the defense with 13 digs and two aces. Brian Ebert had two aces, four kills and three digs while Jake Milnazik had five kills, three digs and two blocks.
The Rams will face third-seeded Neshaminy in a district semifinal match on Tuesday at Upper Dublin.
#3 NESHAMINY 3, #6 SOUDERTON 1 (31-33, 25-17, 25-19, 25-21)
The Indians edged the Redskins in a grueling first set, but the ‘Skins came back to win the next three in a tightly-contested quarterfinal match.
“Souderton really came out with a lot of intensity and energy, and we just really couldn’t match their energy in that first set,” Neshaminy coach Kevin Roode said. “Hats off to them for coming out hard.
“Our guys picked it up midway through the second game and started to match their energy. It was a really good fight though.”
Chase Fullen had 49 assists, two blocks and seven digs. Ryan Jamison was on the receiving end of a good number of Fullen’s assists and finished with 27 kills and three blocks in a monster performance at the net. He also had six aces and nine digs. Stephen Compton had eight kills and seven digs, and Dan Inemer had five kills and three blocks. Bailey Jones had four kills and two blocks, and Jake Murray added eight kills and two blocks. JP Fay had 13 digs.
“I think they passed a little bit better tonight than they had the past couple of games, and that was great to see, and that helped out a lot,” Roode said. “They blocked really well tonight.”
The Redskins will face second-seeded Pennridge in the district semis, and according to Roode, the last time Neshaminy advanced to the semifinals may have been 2006.
“I’m not 100 percent sure, but it was before I started coaching,” the ‘Skins head coach said. “This is huge for them.
“They’re a great bunch of guys. They’re all seniors. They don’t want the season to end at all, but it would have really been disappointing to them to end tonight. I’m really happy for them. It was a really great win today.”
For the Indians, Alex Androkites led the way with 15 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Evan Miller had 11 kills, six digs and five blocks, and Micah Godshall had nine kills and five digs.
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