Check out the results for SOL boys’ volleyball teams in action Wednesday.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 15-13)
In a classic early season battle between the SOL rivals, the Panthers earned a hard fought win over the Indians.
“It was a good one,” Tennent coach Jim Creighton said. “It’s usually a good battle between our two schools.
“It was a long night, but it was well worth it.”
The Indians won the first set 25-17, but the Panthers rebounded to win the next two by identical 25-22 scores. Rock North wasn’t about to go down quietly, earning a 25-16 win to even the match before the Panthers edged the Indians in the winner-take-all fifth game.
“This was our first match, so we were still getting over a little of the nerves, trying to deal with our energy, being a little too high and trying to stay composed,” Creighton said. “The next two games were close, which we were expecting. In game four, we kind of fell apart – we just missed a ton of serves.
“Game five, as usual, was pretty close.”
Jake Milnazik had a huge night at the net, contributing 17 kills to go along with two aces. Tom Del Conte added six kills and four blocks, and Brendan Carter had two kills and two blocks.
Noah Chast led a tenacious defensive effort with 17 digs to go along with two aces. Will Towle added 14 digs.
“It was a (strong) defensive effort,” Creighton said. “We’re trying to spread the ball around offensively – we’re still trying to get other hitters involved.
“We changed up some of our serving patterns a little bit. It was just trying to play with some energy and getting momentum on our side.”
Kyle Lewicki was solid as the team’s setter.
“He’s doing a really good job, especially as a senior – he’s able to get everybody involved, and he’s definitely got the experience we can lean on,” Creighton said.
For the Indians, Josh Hinton had a big night, finishing with 11 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and one ace. Nick Reich had seven kills, five digs and three blocks. Setter Logan Fulgestad had 20 assists to go along with 10 digs.
Defensively, Eric Van Thuyne led the way with 25 digs as well as two assists. Will Stollsteimer had 15 digs, five kills and two blocks. Jason Yakimiv had seven blocks and three kills. Dalton Abrahamsen had eight assists, 18 digs and two blocks and Sean Lyon had three kills.
The Indians, who were coming off a title at the Haverford Kickoff Classic, just cracked the top 10 in the first state ranking.
“It’s early in the year,” Creighton said. “It’s good to start the year off with that win, but there have been plenty of years we have lost this one and then come back later in the year to beat a team to split the season (series).
“There’s definitely room for improvement for both teams. They’ve got such a high potential with the players they have, so who knows what the end of the year will look like. Both of us will use this as motivation moving forward.
CHELTENHAM 3, SOUDERTON 2 (22-25, 21-25, 28-26, 25-16, 16-14)
The Panthers found themselves staring at a 2-0 hole after the first two sets but rallied to earn the come-from-behind win.
“The third game was tight, and Cheltenham was able to win at the end, which gave them momentum going forward, and we were unable to match their intensity and desire to win,” Souderton coach Dave Stastny said. “Hats off to Cheltenhm – they wanted it more than us.”
Eric Taing led the Panthers defensively with 15 digs while Kenny Tea paced the offense with 10 kills. Aidan Corrigan had six kills and two blocks.
RJ Ubowski collected 10 bocks while Luke Clemmer had 12 kills to lead the Indians at the net. Jake Pagan was credited with 30 assists.
PENNSBURY 3, ABINGTON 0
Sean Sweeney delivered a team-high 11 kills with a .318 hitting efficiency. He also had one assist, one ace, five digs and two blocks. David Leavey contributed seven kills, six digs and two blocks. Brad Edwards led the defense with 10 digs, and setter Michael Geary had 21 assists to go along with one kill and four digs.
Also contributing for the Falcons were Mason Reilley (two kills, four blocks, one dig), Josh Leon (five kills, one ace, two digs), Kenny Hickman (four kills, two aces, four digs) and Kevin Killoran (six assists, one dig, one ace).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-16, 25-19, 26-24)
The Bucks were led by the three-pronged hitting attack of Daniel Klapper (11 kills, five aces), Will Varner (nine kills, eight digs) and Ryan Alu (seven kills, 10 digs). Sam Winderman led the defense with 12 digs while setter Matt Douple had 35 assists.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, UPPER DUBLIN 0
The Patriots evened their early season mark at 1-1 with their sweep of the Flying Cardinals. Eric Chmiel and Chris Woolslayer led the Patriots attack with 11 kills each. Jared Minschwaner and Pierce Budson both added five kills. Minschwanter also had two digs and 1.5 blocks. Marcos Pasqual had three digs to lead the defense.
NESHAMINY 3, BENSALEM 0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-22)
Setter Dante Benincasa was credited with 30 assists and also had four digs. Shaun Kelly was on the receiving end of many of those, finishing with a team-high 13 kills as well as three aces and two blocks. Joey Verrecchio also had a big night at the net, contributing eight kills and three blocks. Kyle Denis had five kills and two aces while Tommy Edwards added five kills and one block. Skyler Levin led the defense with 10 digs and one ace, and Teddy Krimmel had five digs and one ace.
For the Owls, Aaron Banks led the attack with six kills.
PENNRIDGE 3, CENTRAL BUCK SOUTH 0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-16)
Setters Bradley Nase (18 assists) and Jesse Smith combined for 30 assists. Ben Chinnici led a balanced attack with five kills and two blocks while Jon Long and Connor McDonald both added four kills. McDonald also had five digs and two aces.
Sam Handy had three kills and four digs while Brandon Greb had three kills and two blocks. Brian Rosenberg contributed three kills, six digs and two aces. Austin Rush led the Rams defensively with 12 digs while Caleb Pennell had six.
Pennridge – third in the first state rankings – is 2-0 on the season and will host Central Bucks East on Friday.
Tuesday, March 25
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 0 (25-9, 25-8, 25-16)
The Indians rolled to a sweep of the Pioneers in a non-league contest Tuesday. Leading the way were Josh Hinton (four kills, five aces, 1.5 blocks, one dig), Will Stollsteimer (six kills, three aces, one dig), Will Desautelle (four kills, 1.5 blocks), Nick Reich (4.5 blocks). Setter Dalton Abrahamsen handed out 19 assists and also had two aces and one dig while Logan Fuglestad had 11 assists and one ace. Sean Lyon (two kills, 1.5 blocks), Eric Van Thuyne (seven assists, two digs, one ace) and Jason Yakimiv (two kills, 1.5 blocks) also contributed.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1 (25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22)
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