Maidens perfect in September
They have inside jokes, and their easy laughter suggests that they know how to have fun. They do yoga before practices and have put the techniques they’ve learned to good use, taking ‘yoga breaths’ to help them relax during especially intense volleyball matches.
There’s an especially good feeling surrounding the North Penn volleyball team this season. Perhaps it’s because they really do share a special camaraderie, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that they compiled a perfect 10-0 mark during the month of September.
“We have all the weapons we need on the team,” senior tri-captain Nicole Kratz said.
“We wanted to be where we are right now,” added senior tri-captain Devon Redilla. “We want to continue to be undefeated and go into districts really strong.
“It’s very exciting.”
The Maidens still have plenty of unfinished business in the second half of the league season that includes a showdown with Central Bucks South. The Titans suffered their only league loss at the hands of the Maidens.
Ask coach Bryan Yost the keys to his team’s success, and he points to good chemistry as well as the passion and desire of the players to keep their undefeated string alive.
“When we first started – we were 4-0 or 5-0 when the girls first started throwing around about being undefeated,” the Maidens’ coach said. “I’ve kind of been jumping on them a little bit at practice, pushing them a little harder, and they’re responding.
“As we’re coming back around for the second round, I was kind of skeptical – are we going to push harder or are we going to ease back a little bit. The last two games I’m seeing these girls do things as a team on the court that I haven’t seen yet, moving as a unit and doing all the little things – making themselves available for every play. No one is taking a play off, and that’s really been it.”
The players put in their time during the offseason, playing club volleyball, attending camps and joining forces to play in a summer league.
They are reaping the benefits of their efforts, and they have all parts of their game working.
“Our whole team is good at hitting,” said junior tri-captain Kendra Allen, the team’s setter. “Our passing is doing well.”
“And we have an awesome setter,” Kratz interjected. “We’re also a great serving team.”
It’s all added up to a storybook September.
“The difference between this year and last year is we play as a unit,” Kratz said. “You have to trust the person that’s next to you at all times, or your team will fall apart if you don’t believe in each other.
“You have to believe in yourself, but most of all you have to believe in your team.”
“We’re talking to each other the whole time,” Allen added. “We’re giving each other feedback and taking criticism well – trusting each other and knowing where everybody is on the court.”
“We all have confidence in each other,” Redilla said. “We have a lot of depth and good chemistry on and off the court.”
Yost credits his three captains for setting the tone for the squad, and no one, according to Yost, better typifies the type of leadership that has led the Maidens to the top than Kratz.
“We’ll be in practice and someone will make a nice play, and in the middle of the drill, she will stop, look at the girl, say what she did right and congratulate her and start clapping,” Yost said. “If they take a play off, it’s the same thing. She’ll stop the play and direct everyone. I don’t have to say a word. She jumps on it for me. She’s been an unbelievable energy force in practice.
“If someone saw Nicole practicing, they would think it was the biggest game of the year. She’s always 100 percent, go, go, go, and Devon and Kendra are both right there doing their things. All three of them in their own way command the team. They’re all handling their business.”
And, according to the team’s captains, everyone is friends.
“We hang out,” Kratz said. “When you play with the same person for years – if your personalities mesh, you’re going to be friends.
“Volleyball is such a tight-knit sport. In soccer or basketball, you can be the top scorer, you can be number one and control the game. You can’t do that in volleyball. You have to trust your teammates, you have to believe in them.”
You also have to trust your coaches, and the Maidens, according to Kratz, trust theirs.
“Our coaching has helped us a lot,” she said. “We run practices really successfully, and that carries into the games.”
So far, so good for a Maiden squad that is atop the Continental Conference standings.
“It’s a blast,” Yost said. “It’s been a blast.”
Central Bucks East’s youth hoping to shine
Don’t be fooled by the Patriots’ 1-6 record after one go-round in the Continental Conference. The team – with just one senior on its roster – is improving with each outing.
“We hang with everybody,” coach Margie Arm said. “We’re always there, and we’re improving like crazy.”
There are 26 players in East’s program, and all of them played club volleyball.
“We have worked our tails off in the offseason, or imagine where we would be,” Arm said. “These kids have put in between 250-300 hours each between club and camps.
“We filled a whole hall at Juniata (volleyball camp). Eighteen kids went for a week. They’re just very, very committed, and there’s good teamwork between the kids. I’m proud of them pretty much every day. Many days, the team that’s on the other side of the net is just better, and you can live with that.”
Several players have stood out even in defeat for the Patriots.
Sophomore setter Caroline Davis has been a steadying presence on the court, and her favorite target – sophomore middle hitter Courtney Kauffman – is described by Arm as the team’s ‘best terminator’ who boasts the highest kill percentage night in and night out.
“I could name 10 kids that are improving and are key,” Arm said.
One player who is returning to form for the Patriots is defensive libero Ilana Bershteil.
“She was out of school with a concussion from the first week of softball season until school started,” Arm said. “Especially in the last couple of weeks, she is really coming back to being herself again.”
Madi Staub, according to Arm, has been the team’s most consistent passer and also contributes out of the middle. Kelsey Arm has made important contributions at outside hitter.
“I’m just proud of them,” Arm said of her squad.
Redskins looking forward to second go-round
Neshaminy finished the first half of its season with a 3-3 record (7-4 overall).
Leading the team offensively is senior middle hitter Jess O’Donnell, who has a team-high 139 kills (2.57 per game) to go along with 38 blocks, 110 digs and 17 aces.
Ally Warhola was sidelined for a week with an injury, but the senior outside hitter has returned to the lineup. She has 79 kills, 95 digs and 27 aces.
“She is the vocal leader of our team,” coach Kate Livingstone said.
Senior libero Brooke Diegel leads the Redskins with 225 digs (4.17 per game) and aces with 31.
Senior middle hitter Alicia Kucey has 62 blocks in 54 games to go along with 66 kills.
“She’s a strong middle hitter who just keeps improving as the season goes on,” Livingstone said.
Sophomores Morgan Oberholtzer and Julia Staub are sharing setting duties for the Redskins. Together, they have combined for 286 assists, which translates into almost five a game.
“They have been playing very well,” Livingstone said. “Even though they are young, our team has really grown to trust them on the court.
“We are a team with excellent senior leadership and a promising group of young talent. We’re fired up about the second half of our league schedule holds for us.”
Stay tuned!
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