Upper Merion avenged its district semifinal loss to Downingtown East, sweeping the Cougars 3-0 to advance to the PIAA Class AAA semifinals. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Mary Jane Souder
FORT WASHINGTON – Mel Ingram watched as Downingtown East's players broke from their postgame huddle to appreciative applause from their fans after falling to Upper Merion in Saturday's PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal match.
“I know what that bus ride home would have felt like,” Ingram said.
Actually, Ingram and her Viking teammates took a bus ride just seven days earlier that might have felt very similar after falling to the Cougars in last Saturday's District One AAA semifinals.
“It was frustrating because we knew we could beat them,” Ingram said. “We knew we – I don't want to say are better than them, but we knew it shouldn't be as hard.
“We weren't prepared, we weren't ready.”
What a difference a week makes.
Seven days after their heartbreaking district semifinal loss, the Vikings – with an opportunity for redemption - made easy business of the Cougars in Saturday's rematch at Upper Dublin High School, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first set and rolling to a 3-0 sweep (25-9, 25-13, 25-21) in a match that lasted just 65 minutes.
“It was revenge,” Ingram said.
Saturday's convincing win came on the heels of the Vikings' emotionally-charged 3-2 win over District 3 champion Cumberland Valley.
“When we beat Cumberland (Valley), we were like, 'Wow, we honestly can beat anyone who comes our way,'” Ingram said. “After the Cumberland win, we grew guts. I really don't know how to put it. We just come prepared to play. We're ready. That (loss to Downingtown East) was a lesson learned. That was a slap to the face.”
What the Vikings did to the Cougars in Saturday's payback was something close to a slap in the face as well. The Vikings were so on their game, it was clear from the outset that the Cougars never had a chance.
“This is how UM plays,” Ingram said.
It was Ingram who stepped to the service line in the third set with the Cougars clinging to a 15-14 lead. Casey Griffith delivered a kill to knot the score, and then Ingram served four consecutive aces.
“I didn't start jump serving until districts and states came around,” Ingram said. “That's when I pulled my magic trick out.
“I just contact it as a floater. You want to go deep at their chest, so they're forced to shank it.”
And shank it the Cougars did. By the time they were through shanking Ingram's serves, the Vikings led 19-15. The Cougars pulled to within one (22-21), but Griffith delivered a back row kill, and then Emily Shannon followed with a back row kill of her own to put the Vikings on top 24-21. They won it on a Natalie O'Neil winner.
Griffith led the Vikings at the net with 20 kills to go along with 12 digs. Ingram added 16 kills, 13 digs and five aces. Ashley Shannon had a team-high 20 digs while Emily Shannon had 18 digs and four kills. O'Neil, the Vikings' standout setter, had five digs.
The Vikings, according to Griffith, are a completely different team than the one that faced East a week earlier.
“Our defense has stepped up so much,” she said. “Coming off the win over Cumberland Valley definitely helped us mentally get ready for this game.
“I think losing against (the Cougars) in districts helped us because we came back with so much fire. We didn't come to play last week, and it definitely showed. They were by far the better team when we played them the first time, but we came to play this time.”
That just might be an understatement.
Fans had barely settled in their seats when a Griffith winner gave the Vikings an 8-0 lead in the opening set. That lead grew to 13-1 after a Griffith kill, and so dominant were the Vikings that the district runner-up Cougars never even reached double digits in the first set.
“Seeing the other team get so frustrated motivated us to play even better because we know if we pick them apart we could take them in three games, which we did,” Griffith said. “It was awesome.”
Not a whole lot changed in the second set. Granted, the Cougars kept things interesting for a while, trailing by just one (9-8) after a Caroline Layden tip for a winner. The Vikings answered with a 7-0 run that culminated with an Ingram kill. The Cougars were never really heard from the rest of the way, and freshman Carlye Odorisio put an exclamation point on the win by delivering a service ace for set point.
It looked as though the Cougars might be able to steal the third set, opening up a 15-13 lead, but Ingram's service run brought an abrupt end to that idea.
“The intensity that we brought through five complete games against Cumberland Valley and to play under that pressure because they're so big – they're probably the best high school blocking team I've ever seen,” coach Tony Funsten said. “To hold up under that pressure, I think they were really anxious to play someone our size today.
“They were in the right frame of mind. They had the right balance, the right intensity. What we did on Thursday certainly carried over. You have to be feeling good about yourself to play your best. We might have felt good about ourselves last Saturday, but it was false feeling good because we hadn't done anything. Now we accomplished something by beating Strath Haven, we accomplished something by beating Cumberland Valley, and we were ready to show District One what we have been doing lately. That was pretty impressive.”
“It feels good,” Ingram said. “We feel like winners.”
What a difference a week makes
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