Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ volleyball teams in action Tuesday & Wednesday. CR South/VJM photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos.
ABINGTON 3, PENNRIDGE 0
#makinghistory
The Ghosts spent the season doing just that and capped a historic regular season with a sweep of the Rams to clinch the program’s first ever conference title. The Ghosts will share the SOL American Conference title with Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“We’ve been hashtagging making history – we broke the school record for wins and then won the first championship ever,” said coach Dan Marsh, whose team closed out conference play with a 17-1 record. “That’s why it’s been such a fun ride.”
Prior to accepting the position, the Ghosts’ first-year coach listened as the seniors pointed to winning a championship as a goal.
“I wasn’t sure because I hadn’t really seen them play, but with their conviction – absolutely,” Marsh said. “I had a good feeling from this team from the very beginning.
“It’s been a very unique experience for me. I’ve learned as much from them as they’ve learned from me. I think we were good for each other. They never stop.
“Even in (Monday’s) Hatboro-Horsham game, I thought there were a couple of times they could have crumbled, but they never do. They’re amazing, they really are.”
The six seniors on the roster – Anna Bantner, Hannah Dalton, Alyssa Goodson, Kate Petriccione, Amanda Rice and Grace Whitney – represent the heart and soul of this year’s squad.
“The way that all six of the seniors wanted this – we all wanted it so badly it’s insane,” Rice said. “We all just felt it deep down, and we all wanted it. It’s amazing. I can’t even describe how I feel right now.
“I’m going to be honest – we could not have done this without coach Marsh. The first day of practice he came in and said, ‘I watched you guys play last year. You need to work on serve receive.’ It’s what we worked on, and it’s what kind of held us together. That – and also just the passion – those two things are the reasons we could do this.”
“Honestly, it was a completely different atmosphere from last season and every season we’ve been a part of the team,” senior Hannah Dalton said. “We can do anything with Marsh as our coach to push us harder than we’ve ever worked.
“We could tell from the end of last season all the players that would be missing from the other schools, so we took this as our opportunity to really take advantage of that.
“We have six awesome seniors that really wanted this, and we have a bunch of juniors that start – our DS, Fabiola Gonzales, our other middle, Kaley Ehnow, and our other outside, Shannon Razler. Those three really pull their weight, and they don’t get enough credit.”
Marsh acknowledged this is a special group.
“The seniors have been amazing,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “I really connected to this group. They seem to know what I want, and I seem to know what they need at the right times.
“We talk a lot about our senior class, but without Kaley Ehnow, Fabio Gonzales and Shannon Razler, we wouldn’t be here.”
Emotions ran high after Wednesday’s win.
“It’s a dream come true,” Dalton said. “It really hit me when we beat Hatboro the other night. Not that Pennridge wasn’t an important game – it was, but Hatboro we’ve always had kind of a rivalry with them in volleyball.
“We just wanted to beat them so bad. Towards the end of that fifth set, I for one got really emotional because this is what we’ve been working toward our entire season, our entire four years playing.”
“When we won tonight, he put all six seniors on the court, and we just came and hugged each other,” Rice said. “It just makes you want to cry.
“I’ve won tournaments for club, I’ve won many things, but this is a completely different feeling.”
Marsh echoed similar sentiments.
“It’s been a very symbiotic relationship – we’re feeding off each other and knowing what each other needs, and it’s been amazing,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “It’s been one of the most rewarding coaching jobs I’ve ever had, and I’m coming off a district championship (in basketball). It’s been an amazing 2017 at Abington.
“I couldn’t have picked a better group to be with. They keep telling me thank you, and I said, ‘You don’t understand. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.’ It’s been great. I think I’m a better person and coach because I’ve had this experience with these kids.
“It worked out really well,” Dalton said. “We had those three years where it wasn’t as necessary to keep winning, keep winning.
“We never had as much talent as we did this year. This is the year to do it.”
SOUDERTON 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-15)
In the Indians’ sweep of the Lady Panthers, Talia Watson (11 assists) and Maya Hanson (six assists) shared setting duties. Bella Mazzeo led the Indians at the service line with seven aces to go along with five digs. Tori Reiner led the Indians at the net with seven kills. Also contributing to the Indians’ attack were Maria Iervolino (five kills), Jordyn Peacock (three kills), Zoe Kondel (three kills) and Amelia Hanson (three kills).
Souderton closed out its regular season with a 10-12 record overall (9-9 SOL)
For the Lady Panthers, Megan Dougherty had five kills, six digs and seven aces. Mackenna Doud added three kills and six digs, and Mary Hoffman contributed 11 digs. Setter Melanie Gottlieb had nine assists, two digs and two aces.
PENNSBURY 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-13)
The Falcons put the finishing touches on a memorable regular season, winning for the 21st time in 22 matches.
Julia Vreeswyk had another huge night at the net, finishing with 16 kills and an impressive .364 hitting percentage. She also had four digs and two blocks. Brooke Burns and Sydney Buell each added seven kills. Buell also had eight digs. Setter Kiley Bucknum had 32 assists, one ace, one kill and one dig. Heather Linker led the defense with 16 digs, and Elley Torres had eight digs, six kills (.545 hitting percentage) and two aces.
The Falcons’ win could not put a damper on the Patriots’ Senior Night.
“I just want to say a congrats to my seniors as they celebrated their senior night tonight,” coach Kerri Rabberman said. “They fought all night. Pennsbury is a very solid team.”
For the Patriots, Anna Ritter had 20 assists, three digs and one ace, and Jenn Krezeminski had three aces, 15 kills and six digs. Makaila Freeman added two kills and two digs, and Aurora Budson had two kills, two blocks and two digs. Courtney Woolslayer added two digs on defense while Gina Feliz added two kills and two digs. Ysabeelle Minschwaner had one kill and four digs. Julie Byrne had several serving runs with her strong serving game and added an ace. Morgan D’Angelo had eight digs, and Morgan Beakley led the defense with 13 digs.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH (25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 25-27, 15-10)
The Golden Hawks fought off a determined Titan squad, eking out a win in five sets.
“This was a great way to end the regular season,” coach John Wright said. “CB South is a solid team that we had to work very hard to beat. Hopefully, this is a glimpse of things to come in districts.”
The Golden Hawks were led by the big three at the net: Hannah Sullivan (15 kills, three blocks, three aces), Ariana Ranieri (13 kills, six aces, 15 digs) and Celina Varian (13 kills). Varian also had 49 digs in a monster effort. Setter Hannah Devlin had 30 assists and 24 digs.
For the Titans, sophomore setter Lizzie Shirley had 16 assists and 11 digs. Senior setter/opposite Kelly Danyluk contributed four aces, four kills, 27 assists and 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Alyssa Dallmer had a big night, finishing with 15 kills, 16 digs and three aces. Senior middle Julia Dennis had 12 kills and four blocks. Sophomore middle Allie Burke had seven kills an five blocks, and senior libero Lindsay VanFossen had 22 digs.”
"What a tough match to end with this season." said CB South head coach Kurt Godfrey. "After being down 0-2, we battled back, despite some really questionable calls, to make it 2-2.
"Rock South has a really solid team this year and they make you pay for your mistakes. Julia and Alyssa were almost perfect for us at the net tonight but it just wasn't quite enough to hold back a late Rock South surge.
"We are on the bubble for the playoffs and we hope we get a chance to play again this season. We have a great team of girls and they really love playing together. I absolutely love coaching them and I am so proud of the way we worked so hard to get better everyday. I really hope we get the opportunity to show off our talents in the playoffs."
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, HARRY S TRUMAN 0 (25-6, 25-9, 25-19)
The Panthers picked up their 10th win of the season with their sweep of the Tigers to close out the season. Coach Brian Bassler thanked the team's 10 seniors - Stephanie Woolston, Nicole Long, Devyn Cobb, Lauren Yancer, Kelsey O'Shea, Jessica Rutkowsky, Alessia Martesciello, Mackenzie Lockett, Kelly Scipione and Shaina Gatton - for their "dedication, hard work and amazing play over their careers at Tennent."
"You are truly a special group of girls and will be missed," the Panthers' coach said.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, NESHAMINY 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-10)
Leading the Bucks in their sweep of the Redskins was Katie Hudson with nine kills and two aces. Also contributing were Casey Taylor (three kills, three aces, one block, four digs), Tenley Mileski (one kill, two aces, three digs), Juliana Stumpf (three aces, one kill, seven assists) and Ana Claricurzio (three aces, one kill, nine assists, four digs).
Tuesday, Oct. 17
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 0 (25-15, 25-14, 27-25)
The Golden Hawks honored their six seniors with a sweep of the Jems in a non-league match.
“We celebrated Senior Night tonight and the senior class came up big,” coach John Wright said. “This is a wonderful group that has been an honor to coach.
“They will all be missed next year. I cannot say enough about the leadership they have provided.”
Hannah Sullivan led a balanced attack with seven kills and 19 digs. McKayla Kelly had six kills, and Lauren Koestler had four kills, three blocks and eight digs. Hannah Devlin had 13 assists and two aces. Erin Dougherty added two kills and three blocks, and Evelyn Kandov had one ace, four kills and 13 digs.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, PENNRIDGE 0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-13)
The Titans celebrated their annual Dig Pink Night with a sweep of the visiting Rams.
“It was a total success all the way around,” coach Kurt Godfrey said. “We were able to raise $4,000 for the SideOut Foundation and come away with a really nice team win.
“Pennridge is a young team and they are solid all the way around.”
Senior outside hitter Alyssa Dallmer led the Titans with 10 kills and 17 digs. Senior setter/opposite Kelly Danyluk had 21 assists and five aces. Senior opposite Isabel Miller led the Titans’ service game with eight aces, four kills, one block and eight digs. Sophomore middle Allie Burke had eight kills and two blocks, and senior middle Julia Dennis had two aces, eight kills and four blocks.
"Our middles, Allie and Julia, were on fire for us tonight,” coach Kurt Godfrey said. “They have certainly come along nicely as the season has progressed. Alyssa and Kelly, our backbone this season, had another stellar night for us too.
“We are excited to finish out our season tomorrow night with a tough test at CR South. Either way, we hope we are able to get into the playoffs and extend our season a little further. These girls really love being around each other and really love playing volleyball with each other. It would be great to extend the season and make a push in the playoffs."
NORTH PENN 3, DOCK MENNONITE 1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 26-24)
Senior middle Jessica Thompson recorded three aces, six kills and five blocks, and sophomore outside hitter Natalie Wernly recorded eight kills and two blocks. Sarah Lilly recorded an impressive seven aces and a 95.5 percent service percentage. Defensively, the Knights received key performances from senior defensive specialist Jackie Morrow with 28 passes and junior libero Francesca Dolan with 38 passes.
“I’m proud to see the girls fighting all match to play hard for each other and pull out a win,” coach Scott Coles said.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, DOWNINGTOWN EAST 0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-21)
Lily Acquaviva led the Colonials in their sweep of the Cougars with 15 kills, one ace and 14 digs. Aja Smith had 10 kills while Taylor Brien added six kills, three aces and six blocks.
As a team, the Colonials had 41 kills, nine aces, nine blocks and 65 digs.
HARRY S TRUMAN 3, UPPER DARBY 1
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