Check out Tuesday’s results for SOL girls’ volleyball teams in action. To view photos of the Upper Merion vs Hatboro-Horsham game, please visit our photo gallery.
American Conference
UPPER MERION 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-16)
Never underestimate the value of a strong service game.
Upper Merion didn’t serve for many aces in Tuesday night’s showdown, but the Vikings served well enough to keep the Hatters off stride. No one had a better night at the service line than sophomore Carlye Odorisio, who served for 17 points, which included four aces.
“What I focus on when I’m serving is keeping the ball in when it’s a tight situation,” Odorisio said. “It’s just finding what opponent is struggling on the other team and going after them and just aiming towards them.
“If they try and switch something, I try to aim for gaps between two players and just try and keep my serve in.”
Odorisio also split setter duties and contributed 12 assists.
“Carlye was very good today,” coach Tony Funsten said. “She’s capable of that. Last year she was a serving specialist, and this year she has more chores.
“She played an outstanding match – she made court awareness plays and really played well.”
On a night that saw Upper Merion’s all-everything hitter Melanie Ingram limited to nine kills and eight digs, the Vikings got contributions from everyone. Emily Shannon added eight kills and 16 digs. Kailyn McNamee served for 10 points and contributed 10 digs.
“I thought our other setter, Ashley Shannon, played hard,” Funsten said. “We really were balanced.
“Mel never really got untracked, but she very effective throughout the whole match. I thought Kailyn McNamee was especially good at serve receive as well as Mel, and Emily (Shannon) was money. I thought we took a very good serving team and made them look a little bit more average.”
The Hatters suffered a setback before they ever took the court for Tuesday’s match when senior captain Anna Mitchell was injured during warm-ups and was taken to the hospital.
“It throws you when you see somebody get hurt like that,” coach Kathy Tanner said.
Tanner refused to use that as an excuse.
“I knew they had some really strong servers, but we know how to react to their servers because we kind of know their tendencies,” the Hatters’ coach said. “When our serve receive was on, our confidence was way up, but when our serve receive was off, it took us in the wrong direction.
“Mentally, we need a game like this to make us stronger going forward. I know they’ll definitely be prepared the next time around because they’re not going to let this happen again.”
Sam Jones led the Hatters’ offense with 14 kills. Dymond Black added four and Alexa Kennedy, three. Cassidy Quattro had three blocks, and Black added two. Defensively, the Hatters were led by Candyce Riley with 14 digs while Jones had nine and Rachel DeMarco added seven. Hannah Steiger and Katie McKay each had 13 assists. Kate Hollenbeck had two service aces, and Riley served for 11 points.
“I’m not totally disappointed,” Tanner said. “You live and you learn. The losses can make you stronger.”
In the opening set, the Vikings – after an Eryn Brady winner – opened up a quick 4-0 lead only to watch the Hatters narrow the gap to 4-3 after a Jones kill. The Vikings went on top 9-3 and still led 19-13 late in the set only to watch the Hatters battle their way back, trimming the lead to two after a Jones kill (20-18). They would get no closer, and the Vikings closed it out with an Ingram kill.
“The first game we had to gut it out,” Funsten said. “It was choppy and wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, but we kept the pressure on them.”
The Hatters opened up a quick 5-2 lead in the second game, but the Vikings knotted the score 6-6 on an Emily Shannon kill and took a lead they would not lose on an Ashley Shannon service ace, closing out the game with a 21-7 run.
In the third set, the Vikings opened up a 10-4 lead after a McNamee dig fell in for a winner. The Hatters would get no closer than five the rest of the way as the Vikings rolled to the big win.
“This means a lot,” Odorisio said. “It starts our season with a bang, and it helps our team out because it puts our spirits up for the upcoming season.”
Funsten was pleased with his team’s performance.
“What I’m looking for is my defenders to get better as the game wears on, and I thought we did,” he said. “I thought their tall middle got a couple of points because defensively we weren’t in the right place. Later on, we were in the right place, and it was like a free ball.”
“You’ve got to be pleased. We beat them on their home court. They’re a dangerous team. You don’t want (Sam) Jones in the front row when it’s 20-20. We understood what we had to do. We forgot a couple of times, but I thought we got enough blocks and touches on her to keep her from hurting us too much.”
UPPER DUBLIN 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-17)
Taylor Stek led the Flying Cardinals at the net, contributing seven kills and three blocks to go along with a team high four aces. Mary DeCamara added six kills and two assists, and Gabbi Johnson had 15 digs, four aces and one assist.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, WISSAHICKON 1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 25-6)
The Colonials used a balanced attack to defeat their neighboring rival. Senior Emily Houck led the way with seven kills, four aces, one assist and one dig while junior Rachel Isackman added six kills, 13 aces, one assist and two digs. Senior Tori Biggins led a strong service game with seven aces to go along with 20 assists and three digs. Also making important contributions were juniors Keelin McEleney (three kills, two aces, five digs), Cara Sweeney (four kills, three aces), Hannah Thomas (four kills, one assist, two digs) and Katie Kennedy (two kills, five aces, one dig).
Despite the outcome, Wissahickon coach Daniel Halstead was pleased with his team's performance.
"The girls hard, but they continue to learn and come together as a team," he said. "Winning the single game was a big boost for them, but they still need to learn to play a complete game and learn to win. If they continue to improve, the girls' volleyball team will be looking at a successful season."
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-10)
The Bucks used an overpowering service game in their sweep of the Panthers. Senior Alicia West led the way with 10 aces to go along with six kills and four digs. Kelly McKinstry added five aces, three kills and 10 assists, and Candace Rupert had four kills, one ace and three digs. Also contributing were Tina Nowakowski (three kills), Julia Schweibenz (two kills), Kailey Prall (11 digs, one kill) and Kayla King (11 assists, one ace, two digs).
NORTH PENN 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-21)
The Indians were led by Alycia Beebe with five kills, six digs and four aces. Cori Watson had 12 assists and four digs, and Savannah Bostwick led the defense with 11 digs. Miranda Baronett had three aces.
The Indians are 0-1 in the SOL (0-2 overall) while the Maidens are 1-0 in the league (1-1 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, METHACTON 1 (23-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-13)
The Patriots won a battle of wills against the Warriors, rallying to eke out a win in the second game after dropping the first and then rolling to wins in the third and fourth sets.
Rachel Clow once again led the offense with 10 kills while Bridgette Terrel was right behind with nine kills and Hannah Lunak added eight. Kelly Guillen had four kills. Erin Lane led the defense with 12 digs to go along with five service aces. Lunak had six digs and Lauren Helveston added five. Helveston also had 35 assists.
With the win, the Patriots evened their record at 1-1 on the season.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, PENNRIDGE 1 (16-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18)
The Titans dropped the first game of Tuesday’s match but rallied to win the next three. Cecelia Miller served for a total of 20 points, which included five aces. Larissa Keer served for 15 points with five aces. Madi Conroy had 10 assists while Lindsey Edling had three. Defensively, Keer had 20 dig assists that resulted in kills while Miller had seven. Jax Babezki led the attack with nine kills to go along with five solo blocks. Jackie Haffey and Taylor Danilowicz both had five kills and Miller had four. Haffey also had four solo blocks.
National Conference
NESHAMINY 3, HARRY S TRUMAN 0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-13)
Senior Molly MacDonald had seven aces, six digs and two kills to lead the Redskins. Gabby Mannino added six aces. Sophomores Mackenzie Maher and Jillian Willis also played well, according to coach Kate Livingstone. Maher had four blocks and four kills while Willis had four blocks and three kills. Setters Danielle Catapano and Corinne Garuffe combined for 14 assists. Sydney Powell added 10 digs.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, WILLIAM TENNENT 2 (15-25, 25-18, 25-21, 33-31, 7-15)
The Panthers appeared poised to earn a hard fought win on Tuesday after opening up a 24-21 lead in the fourth set only to watch the Indians stage a heroic rally to eke out a 33-31 win in the grueling set. The defending conference champions went on to earn the big win.
“This is a tough pill to swallow, but our girls played tough,” Tennent coach Brian Bassler said.
Jaime Bonner led the Panthers attack with 24 kills while junior CC Weir led the defense with 17 digs. Alex Koppany had 51 assists, and Chelsea Gallagher added 12 kills and eight digs.
“Casey McMahon also played very well in the back row for us,” Bassler said.
Friday, August 30
UPPER MERION 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-16)
The Vikings rallied from behind to earn a win in the first set, sparked by the strong serving of Melanie Ingram, who finished the day with nine aces and served for 21 points in the match. She also added eight kills and 13 digs. Emily Shannon led the team with a career high 12 kills. Setters Carlye Odoisio and Ashley Shannon shared 20 assists. Middles Niki Carpenter and Mimi Daniels shared five blocks while Eryn Brady chipped in five kills. Libero Kailyn McNamee led the team with 14 digs.
Rachel Clow led the Patriots at the net with 10 kills while Bridgette Terrel added seven and Hannah Lunak and Lindsay McIntosh, four each. Clow also led the defense with 14 digs while Erin Lane had 12 and Terrel added seven. Laura Helveston had 28 assists.
The Vikings followed that with a trip to Bethlehem Freedom High School on Saturday to compete in the First Kill Tournament. Upper Merion went 5-1 in pool play to finish first, sweeping Notre Dame and Whitehall and splitting with Berks Catholic. The Lady Vikings advanced into a pool of all the first place teams where they handed Pope John Paul II its only set loss of the day while splitting their two sets. They did the same with Downingtown East before wearing down and losing both sets to Emmaus. For the day, Upper Merion was 7-5 in sets.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19)
Senior outside hitter Katie Quinn led the Golden Hawks to the sweep of the Indians, contributing nine kills and six aces. Junior middle hitter Donna Spiteri added four kills and one block, and Melissa Nicholas had 12 assists. Senior libero Lexie Kemp had 15 digs.
The Indians were led by the 10-kill effort of Alycia Beebe, who also had two aces. Megan Freed added four kills and one block, and Savannah Bostwick had nine digs to lead the defense. Cori Watson had 15 assists.
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