Upper Dublin – in a rebuilding year – rode its sixth seed to the program’s first ever District 1 5A championship, exceeding even their own expectations. (Photos provided by UD volleyball)
Alisa Zeng’s expectations for her final high school volleyball season were decidedly modest.
“I thought it was going to be a rebuilding year,” Upper Dublin’s senior libero said. “It’s something I don’t want to admit that I thought because I want to say that I thought our team was going to do well, but we lost a lot of seniors, and those seniors were a huge part of our team last year.”
Zeng needn’t be apologetic – the senior captain was simply being realistic. With the graduation of five contributing seniors from last year’s squad, the Cardinals were left with no option but to rebuild, and what a rebuild it’s been.
On Tuesday night, the Cardinals will host District 12 runner-up Archbishop Ryan in the opening round of the PIAA 5A State Tournament, this on the heels of capturing the program’s first ever district title last Thursday.
“I thought the best-case scenario was we’d make it to the first or second round of districts,” UD senior captain Ellie Cheifetz said. “I think we all had pretty low expectations, including me. I thought – ‘We’re not going to go far.’
“Usually, losing seniors isn’t that big of a deal, but those five seniors were the base of our team, and losing them was definitely hard.”
The players weren’t the only ones who thought the season would be a challenge.
“We had our banquet last Wednesday,” UD coach Paul Choi said of the year-end banquet held the night before the district title game. “Five weeks ago, I did not think we would be in this position.
“I really thought this was going to be a rebuilding year. We made states for the first time last year, and I lost five seniors. They all had a really big role, and I didn’t know what to expect. I saw we had some talent, but we were battling injuries, we’re young, we’re inexperienced.”
During the regular season, the Cardinals captured the program’s third straight SOL division title.
“I remember saying that my goal was to win the SOL league,” senior captain Izzy Driehuis said. “The bar was very low for this season, but I think at some point in the middle of the season, we just turned it on, and we found a way to win, and it just kept going.”
“As the weeks went on, we slowly got better,” Choi said. “We figured out our lineup, our rotation, and we’re playing our best volleyball right now.”
The players had an idea their team might be onto something when – midway through the season – they extended SOL Colonial Division champion Central Bucks West to five sets.
“It was a really challenging five-set game that we lost, but we played really amazing, and we knew that CB West was one of the top dogs,” Driehuis said. “Once we took them to five, I think we realized – ‘Hey, we can do this,’ so when we play those high teams, we actually play to their level and play a lot better than when we’re playing the lower ranked, easier teams.”
“We actually put up a really good fight against CB West ,” Cheifetz said. “I feel like that was a determining fact to see that we could actually push ourselves beyond the limit.”
Another key was incorporating and embracing the young players who stepped into key roles. Freshman Kate DiMartile led the team in kills while sophomore Nori Stokes led the team in blocks this season.
“To see (DiMartile) on the court was pretty nice because our big hitter last year was Brooke Kinsley, and I didn’t think we were going to have a big hitter back,” Cheifetz said. “I thought we were going to sort of rebuild and work with what we had, but Kate came in and brought even more to the table than I thought.
“This isn’t even her main sport. She didn’t play high school volleyball last year, and she comes in here and makes first team.”
Beyond that, everyone – no matter their grade – bought into the team culture.
“I don’t think I can remember any time that any girl has missed a practice or been late,” said Driehuis. “We’re all very committed to our team, and we touch base with each other to make sure we’re all on the same page and have the same goals and mindset.
“Once we figured out how to work as a team with the new younger girls, it really started to fly, and the regular season kind of gave us that time to grow and develop, and then, once the playoffs hit, we really knew that it was time to go.”
Zeng, who has surpassed the 1,000-dig milestone, was not only UD’s” team MVP but also MVP of the SOL Liberty Division. Driehuis holds the record for most blocks in program history.
“A lot of girls were in new positions,” Driehuis said. “I played pin for my travel team for a year, but this is my first year hitting right side and outside besides middle. We have girls setting that never set before, and it’s really just all been a learning experience, and we all reacted great from it.”
UD’s journey through the district tournament was a remarkable one, to say the least. After defeating Penncrest in the opening round, the Cardinals knocked off third-seeded Unionville, second-seeded WC Rustin and top-seeded Gwynedd Mercy.
“I didn’t know how far we’d get – maybe the second or third round,” Cheifetz said. “Our biggest challenge was Gwynedd because we had lost to them previously during the regular season, but I definitely didn’t think we would get to the district final.”
The Cardinals not only got to the district final – they won it, defeating Gwynedd 3-1;
“Our first two sets were amazing,” Cheifetz said. “We dropped the third, but we came back, and that was really good because usually when we get down, we stay down for a while.
“It felt amazing and surreal that we were able to do that because I felt like it wasn’t in the cards for us this year, and especially as a senior, I thought that our season would be way over by now. Even Coach Paul made our banquet earlier because he didn’t think that either, but it was a great feeling to know that when we were given the opportunity, we were able to take it and make something of it.”
“Those five-set matches taught us a little bit of toughness,” Zeng said. “During our Gwynedd game, we were up a lot in the first two sets, so when we got down in the third set, it felt like everybody was kind of panicking.
“So, I think those five-set games early on taught us how to deal with high pressure situations. We weren’t able to capitalize on those situations during the regular season, but in the postseason, I think that experience was really useful and helped us stay tough.
“Gwynedd was one of our five-set matches during the regular season, so beating them and winning the district championship just felt really incredible. I was going crazy duing the celebration. I was so happy.”
There was no mistaking the significant role played by the team’s three seniors – all three captains.
“I keep trying to figure it out how everything fell into place,” Choi said. “We kind of kept low expectations, and every one of these girls, especially the seniors, Lisa especially – no one takes practice more seriously than her.
“Ellie and Izzy do a great job with their leadership, just bringing all the experience they have. They’ve all played for me for years now if you add in club work or offseason, so they know how I function, how I process. They understand the system, and they were able to get the kids to just commit to the program and commit to what we’re asking them to do and we got them peaking at the right time.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot during the regular season, and we came up with one of the hardest routes to get to the district championship. The practices don’t always look good, but when it’s showtime, they come out to ball.”
The Cardinals aren’t finished yet, but they’ve set the bar high for future teams to follow.
“Because although we had low expectations – the culture in the gym never shifted on what we were trying to accomplish, and that was something the seniors did great at, Choi said. “They kept the culture alive and kept pushing towards our goals.
“For what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the team has shown incredible resilience and growth throughout the season to reach this point, and I am very proud of them.”
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