Upper Dubin senior Bryn Stek reached a remarkable milestone, collecting assist number 2,000. Check out the recaps of Monday’s SOL girls’ volleyball action.
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FORT WASHINGTON – Bryn Stek has spent her career setting up her teammates.
On Monday, with the score deadlocked 7-7 in Upper Dublin’s second game against visiting Wissahickon, Stek delivered one of her patented sets that was slammed home for a kill by teammate Maggie Weglos. The kill not only gave the Cardinals a lead they would not lose, it marked a remarkable milestone for Stek, who reached the 2,000-assist plateau.
“Obviously, she’s a phenomenal player,” UD coach Paul Choi said. “I talked to my athletic director about it, and he said, ‘Does this happen often?’
“I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ You need a good setter that started for four years at the varsity level, and on top of that, you need a pretty good program to be able to get pretty far into districts to accomplish this feat, so it’s huge. Year after year, she’s only been getting better, so Bryn as a volleyball player, I couldn’t ask for more. She does everything for us.”
In Monday’s sweep of the Trojans, Stek – who needed 11 assists to reach the magical milestone – contributed 31 assists, five aces, two kills and three digs. Triple-doubles are routine for Stek, and she recently had a quadruple-double in a 3-1 win over Souderton with 11 aces, 10 kills, 36 assists and 12 digs.
“Bryn has the most energy – she goes out there, she’s herself, and she brings a lot of energy,” Choi said. “You can tell when she gets taken out, the chemistry is completely different. She’s a big factor to the success we’ve had throughout the four years she’s been playing.”
Stek, who surpassed the 1,000-assist mark as a sophomore, knew that 2,000 assists was well within her grasp this season. She just wasn’t sure when it would happen. When it did in Monday’s match, Choi called a timeout for an impromptu celebration, and a banner recognizing the accomplishment was presented to Steck by her teammates.
“I didn’t know how many I needed for this game, but I knew I wanted to be at home when it happened,” Stek said. “I was able to have good hitters every single year, which obviously helped me.
“I had two really dominant outside hitters my freshman year (including older sister Taylor Stek), then I had a dominant hitter my sophomore year, two dominant hitters my junior year, and I have Maggie (Weglos) now.”
Volleyball is in Stek’s blood. Both of her parents – Dane and Heather Stek – played volleyball, and Bryn began playing club volleyball when she was 10 years old with Infinity Volleyball Academy. She’s been playing with Infinity ever since.
“I love this sport,” Stek said.
SOL Continental Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 3, WISSAHICKON 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-13)
Setter Bryn Stek reached a milestone when – in the second set – she delivered assist number 2,000 of a stellar four-year varsity career. She finished the match with 31 assists, five aces, two kills and three digs. Maggie Weglos was on the receiving end of many of those assists, finishing with 16 kills, two aces and six digs. Annie Faust had eight digs and four aces, and Marley Wardle led the service game with six aces and four digs. Sydney Jones added seven kills, one ace and one dig, and Taylor Avery had four kills.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
The Colonials earned their 34th straight regular season win in match play, their 29th without a loss in the SOL Continental Conference. Lily Acquaviva was a force offensively and defensively, finishing with 13 kills, 19 digs and two aces, and Taylor O’Brien added 10 kills, four blocks and one ace. Emilee Waltz led the defense with 24 digs to go along with two aces and two kills.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, HARRY S TRUMAN 0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-15)
The Panthers defended their home court with a sweep of the Tigers. Nicole Long led the way offensively with seven kills and five aces. Kelly Scipione added 17 assists. Stephanie Woolston led the defense with 21 digs. The serving game was a strong point for the Panthers, who finished with 23 aces as a team.
ABINGTON 3, PENNRIDGE 1 (25-10, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15)
Setter Anna Bantner handed out 28 assists in the Ghosts’ win over the Rams. Hannah Dalton led the way at the net with 17 kills and Grace Whitney added seven kills.
SOL National Conference
PENNSBURY 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2 (19-25, 25-23, 23-25, 31-29, 15-11)
The Falcons – trailing 2-1 after three sets – found themselves just three points away from their first loss of the season, but they simply refused to lose, rallying from a 22-16 deficit in the fourth set to eke out a 31-29 win. They went on to win the fifth set.
“They played really, really well,” Pennsbury coach Mike Falter said of the Patriots. “When it was 22-16, I was already starting to plan – what am I going to say to these girls after the loss, but they just kept chipping way, tied it up at 22. It was crazy.”
There were early signs that the Patriots meant business.
“We were down 8-0 in the first set,” Falter said. “They just jumped on us from the get go.
“Their defense was phenomenal. They served us off the court, and we weren’t aggressive at all with our serves. They really took it to us with their first contacts and kept us out of system pretty much the entire night, so our offense – which is our strength, we were kind of out of sync all evening. They really brought it to us. We were down to start every single set except for the fifth one. That’s the first time all night we took the lead early.”
With the win, the Falcons upped their record to 8-0 in conference play (10-0 overall).
“It’s nice being undefeated, but with that comes possible issues down the road when you face adversity, so I’m very happy that we faced some adversity tonight,” Falter said. “The girls had to dig deep and come together as a team and play through the ups and downs of the match because it’s going to build character and help build some confidence as the season goes on, especially come playoff time.”
Julia Vreeswyk (20 kills, six digs) and Sydney Buell (17 kills, five aces, 12 digs) led the Falcons at the net. Brooke Burns and Elley Torres each added seven kills. Torres also had four services aces and 12 digs. Heather Linker’s 27 digs led the defense. She also had two aces and one kill. Setter Kiley Bucknum had 43 assists to go along with nine digs and three aces. Ashley Parry had three digs, one kill and one ace.
The Falcons finished with some impressive numbers but were forced into errors.
“We had 76 errors – I think that’s the most I’ve ever seen,” Falter said. “They put the pressure on. They played great defense and Jenn (Krzeminski) in the middle was putting up a huge block, so the fact that they were playing scrappy defense and they were putting up a big block definitely got in our heads.
“Everyone struggled tonight, but we weathered the storm and somehow pulled it out. I have to admit I don’t know how we did it. I said to the girls – the lesson learned here is sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and when we do face that adversity, we have to pull together and not go into a corner and feel bad for ourselves.”
For the Patriots, setter Anna Ritter had 27 assists, five aces and seven digs. Krzeminski was a force at the net with 20 kills, five blocks, nine digs and one ace. Ysabelle Minschwaner added 10 digs, one ace and three kills, and Makaila Freeman had eight kills and two blocks. Morgan Beakley led the defense with 20 digs and two aces while Morgan D’Angelo had seven digs and two aces. Vivien Agassi contributed 11 digs, and Aurora Budson had a kill and a block.
“This was a thriller of a match and one of the best volleyball matches that I have seen,” East coach Kerri Rabberman said.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-19)
A shorthanded Golden Hawk squad earned a sweep of the Titans. Leading the Hawks were Celina Varian (six kills, three aces, 26 digs), Lauren Koestler (three kills, two aces, two blocks, eight digs) and Hannah Devlin (17 assists, one block, five digs).
“We were without Paige O’Connell tonight due to illness,” Rock South coach John Wright said. “So we had to rely on freshman setter Ava Paulson. Ava played a big part in the victory.
“Lauren Koestler got her first chance to serve this season and took full advantage of it, scoring 13 service points. I am very proud of the way we fought off a tough Titan comeback in games two and three.”
For the Titans, senior setter Kelly Danyluk had five aces, four kills, three blocks and 19 assists. Senior outside hitter Alyssa Dallmer had 10 kills and eight digs. Senior opposite Isabel Miller added five kills and seven digs, and sophomore middle Maddie Burke had five kills and one block. Junior defensive specialist Maddie Mauri had 13 digs and one kill.
“Tonight was a tough loss for us, we really wanted this one" said head coach Kurt Godfrey "I think we played well tonight but just not well enough. Rock South is a tough and scrappy team and we made them earn their win tonight.
“Maddie (Mauri) was all over tonight for us on defense and I am so proud of her. Isabel (Miller) and Alyssa (Dallmer) were big at the net and Kelly (Danyluk) set the ball incredibly well for us tonight. I know they are bummed we didn't get the W but I know that will only motivate them to work hard tomorrow night in practice."
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, NESHAMINY 0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-7)
The Bucks received contributions up and down their lineup in Monday’s sweep of the Redskins. Katie Hudson led a balance attack with eight kills, six aces, three digs and one block. Amanda Mass had six kills and Maddie Corona, five kills. Casey Taylor had a team-high five service aces to go with four kills and one block. Mackenzie Brooks added three kills and one ace. Setter Ana Caricurzio had 25 assists and two aces. Juliana Stumpf added one kill, one ace, one block, three assists and two digs. Contributing defensively were Maggie Winderman (eight digs), Ashley Swope (seven digs) and Tenley Mileski (seven digs).
SOUDERTON 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-19)
The Indians earned a sweep of the pesky Lady Panthers. Setter Talia Watson had 22 assists. Leading the team at the net were Maria Iervolino (six kills, five digs, five aces), Amelia Hanson (six kills, nine digs), Jordyn Peacock (six kills, two bocks) and Zoe Kondel (six kills). Bella Mazzeo had seven digs while Becca Godshall (five aces) and Hana Ekecs (four aces) contributed to a strong Indian service game.
For the Lady Panthers, Megan Dougherty had five aces, three kills and three digs. Mackenna Doud had five kills and four digs, and Melanie Gottlieb had nine assists and three digs.
NORTH PENN 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-16)
North Penn defeated Quakertown in straight sets to improve to 4-6 on the season. The Knights welcomed back junior setter Emily Cooper, who had suffered a broken finger in the second set of the season.
"It was great to see and hear the team get so excited for Emily's return to game action," said coach Scott Coles. "I am proud of Emily and positive attitude during injury; she is a true teammate. While sidelined, she was at every practice and helped with stats on game day."
Junior libero Francesca Dolan led the defense with 19 passes and five digs. Junior opposite hitter Gina Moffa added 18 passes and two aces. The Knights had 17 aces in the match, including five each by defensive specialists junior Diana Pisut and senior Sarah Lilly, who also added three digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Wernly finished the night with two aces and six kills to lead the Knights offense. Senior middle Jessica Thompson and junior setter Alycia Powers added four kills each.
Saturday, Sept 23
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, UPPER DARBY 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-13)
The Panthers held off a feisty Upper Darby squad to pick up their fourth win of the season.
“The girls played smart and under control throughout the match,” coach Brian Bassler said.
Nicole Long had five aces. Stephanie Woolston added three aces and 15 digs, and Kelly Scipione had 13 assists.
AVON GROVE 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-23)
Haley Novak (nine kills, nine digs, two aces) and Tori Reiner (nine kills, two blocks) came up big at the net against a strong Red Devil squad. Maria Iervolino (six kills, six digs), Bella Mazzeo (18 digs, three aces), and setter Talie Watso (21 assists) also strong outings. Erin Brady (two kills, two blocks), Amelia Hanson (six digs) and Becca Godshall (four digs) also contributed.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-6, 25-11, 25-8)
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, MARPLE NEWTOWN 0 (25-8, 25-9, 25-9)
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