It was an exciting night of volleyball for SOL teams in the opening round of the District One AAA Tournament. Check out all of Tuesday’s results.
#8 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, #26 ABINGTON 0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-23)
It’s a rare match when both teams are satisfied with the outcome, but that might well have been the case in Tuesday’s all-SOL opener pitting the Indians against the Ghosts.
The Indians were understandably happy to move on while the Ghosts took satisfaction from the fact that their program had taken major strides this season.
“The last time we went to districts I was a sophomore, so it definitely meant a lot to make it my senior year,” Abington senior Liz Gassman said. “This is one of the best teams I have played with here, so I was really glad we made it. We did a lot better in this game than we did my sophomore year, so that was an achievement too.”
The Indians, meanwhile, have elevated their game as the season progressed.
“Kinsey (Lynch) always says, ‘Play your best volleyball at the end of the season, not at the beginning,’” senior captain Rachel McLaughlin-McManis said. “We’ve been growing as a team, and we’re working together more lately. It’s great to say we’re playing our best volleyball at the end of the season.”
McLaughlin-McManis led the Indians with 10 kills while teammate Elena Flynn added six kills and five blocks out of the middle. Erin Stewart led the defense with 15 digs while sophomore setter Krista Campbell had 21 assists.
“We had some issues with passing the third game,” Rock North coach Kinsey Lynch said. “I made some substitutions, and sometimes that leads to different chemistry, but I’m happy that the girls didn’t panic.
“I think it’s important for them to experience that sense of urgency moving into the rest of the playoffs.”
For the Ghosts, Gassman led the way with nine kills, 12 digs and two blocks. Senior Regina Seweryn had seven kills, three digs and three blocks. Allison Rooney had six digs, and freshman setter Emma Garg had 16 assists.
“In the beginning, we had butterflies, but we started to calm down a little bit, trusting our hitters,” Abington coach Jea Lee said. “We started relying on our outside hitter, Liz Gassman. She’s a leader, she’s our general.
“Our setter, Emma Garg, shows a lot of potential, and I believe she will be one of the top setters. Carley Cooper is only a sophomore, and she’s the real deal too. I think we will be an even stronger team next year.”
It looked like the Ghosts could be in for a long night when the Indians sprinted out to a 7-0 lead in the first set, but they made it a one-point game after a Gassman kill and knotted the score 11-11 after a Rock North hit out of play. The Indians led 21-14 after an Erin Stewart service ace and won it when Jessica Charlton delivered an ace, closing out the set with a 14-4 tear.
In the second set, the Ghosts led 8-6 after an Indian net violation, and they still led 13-11 after a Rock North net serve, but the Indians went on top 14-13 after the Ghosts were whistled for a carry, and they never looked back, this time closing out the game with a 12-4 run.
The Ghosts led 12-8 in the third set after a Rock North hit out of play, and they still led 16-13 after a Seweryn kill. A service ace by Danielle Dyjak put the Ghosts on top 18-15, but the Indians rallied to knot the score 19-19 after a Flynn block of Gassman in the middle. They went on top 20-19 after a McLaughlin-McManis service ace and never looked back, earning the 25-23 win and the sweep of the Ghosts.
“We definitely discussed playing them and how tall they were overall,” McLaughlin-McManis said. “Liz is a powerhouse up there, so we prepared ourselves for an opponent with a bigger front row.”
That preparation paid off, and the Indians have advanced to Thursday’s second round where they will host Central Bucks West in a 3:30 p.m. contest.
#9 PENNSBURY 3, #25 CONESTOGA 1 (25-11, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21)
The Falcons owned the middle of the net against the Pioneers with middle hitters Jae Jackson (18 kills) and Sarah Sweetland (10 kills) combining for 28 kills. Jackson is once again playing at full strength.
“She’s healthy, she’s finally healthy,” coach Michael Falter said. “About 10 points into game one, Conestoga’s coach made sure every single girl in their front row knew where number one (Jackson) was, and they double teamed her every single time, but she was still putting the ball away.
“She’s getting better every match. When you’re not healthy, it takes a while for your body to feel right and to get your legs underneath you. She’s getting more and more aggressive every game. Teams know we’re going to give her the ball. They just have to try and stop her.
“Sweetland owned the net as well. She probably played her smartest game of the season. She was just making smart placements and being active. Our middles were a big difference tonight. Having those two big middles makes it a lot easier for everyone else.”
For the Falcons, Cara Reilly added nine kills and Taylor McCartney, eight kills. Paige Misawic had 39 assists, and libero Kate Webb had 15 digs.
“The first game we probably played one of our better games of the year, and they also made mistakes, so that’s why the score was so lopsided,” Falter said. “The rest of the match, we dug ourselves a five or six-point hole right from the get-go and had to climb out of it.
“We gave up some runs, but we had runs of our own, and that’s what kept the games close. We clawed back and would go up by four or five points but then would give four or five right back.”
The Falcons will host ninth-seeded Sun Valley in Thursday’s second round.
#10 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, #23 RADNOR 0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-17)
In one of the opening rounds most lopsided matches, the Bucks made easy business of the Red Raiders. West was led by Alicia West (six kills, five aces), Courtney King (five kills, one ace, one block), Rachel Baker (three kills, two aces, six digs), Maddie Klun (three kills, two aces, one block), Jess West (16 assists, one kill, eight digs) and Rachel Farnin (nine digs, one ace).
The Bucks will travel to Council Rock North for an all-SOL matchup at 3:30 p.m on Thursday.
#20 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, #13 HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 (25-16, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22)
The Patriots pulled off the upset of Tuesday’s opening round, sending the 13th-seeded Hatters home for the season.
“This is huge,” first-year coach Scott Geller said. “I was actually talking to the former coach, and she said they’re pretty sure that CB East hasn’t had a district playoff win in at least six years, possibly 10 years.
“The direction we are taking this program is just going to continue to build their esteem and just pretty much continue to play with a high level of confidence as a team and not for the individual. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Hannah Lunak led the Patriots at the net with 10 kills while Courtney Kauffman added eight and Lindsay Mcintosh and Rachel Clow, six each. Clow also had five service aces while Mcintosh and Caroline Davis both had three. Defensively, Laura Kennedy (19 digs), Clow (18 digs), Davis (14 digs), Erin Lane (eight digs) and Haley Echelmeier (seven digs) all had big games.
“We won the first two and then we lost the third, and we started losing a little bit of momentum,” Geller said. “We started the fourth set a little slow, but I took a timeout. I told the kids what we had been telling the kids the last couple of days – we expected to lose a set, and we knew it would go to four or five games, so I think the kids were prepared mentally for that.
“Once they started to get their confidence back in the fourth set and basically started playing our game, we got going and never looked back.”
The Patriots came into the match with a flawless game plan.
“Myself and my other two coaches had a very good scouting report on this team,” Geller said. “We game planned to take their outside hitter, number four (Sam Jones), out of the game as well as also challenge their libero (Caitlin Klotzbach) as much as possible and keep her moving.
“From a practice perspective, we were pushing all of our attacks to one to keep them honest, moving them shorter on the court and then when they moved up on defense to swing deep. In other words, we tried to keep them on their toes, and we served strong.”
The Hatters were led at the net by senior Lauren Laucell (14 kills, five blocks, two block assists), sophomore Sam Jones (12 kills) and junior Quinn O’Donnell (six kills). Klotzbach dominated the defense with 13 digs. Klotzbach and sophomore Candyce Riley led the team in passing, and Riley also had six digs. Laucella and Jones both had a pair of aces. Laucella served 12 points, Jones served 11 and freshman Cassidy Quattro served 10 points. Hannah Steiger dished out 20 assists.
The Patriots will face fourth-seeded Strath Haven on Thursday.
#14 NORTH PENN 3, #19 BAYARD RUSTIN 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23)
The Maidens earned the win in the tightly contested match.
“It was back and forth for the most part,” coach Bryan Yost said. “We had momentum, they had momentum.
“In the third game, Rustin jumped out to a huge lead, and it was 13-6 when I used my second timeout. After I used that timeout, the girls went on a 19-6 run to close that game out.
“We had been struggling with our confidence. We started backing off, making unforced errors and really not taking care of the ball. I think we got a little timid. During the timeout, I said, ‘It’s on you now,’ and they went out there and they ran every ball down. They didn’t give up, they started going after it more and weren’t afraid of making mistakes, and good things happened.
“Rustin had a huge block in the middle, and she was controlling us a little bit. We started doing a much better job of hitting off the block instead of into it, and once they found away to get around her, they gained a lot more confidence and rolled with it.”
The Maidens’ serving game also picked up in the third game.
“We closed out the match with really tough serving and really got them out of system,” Yost said. “That was the biggest difference.”
Alyssa Chiodo led the Maidens defensively with 24 digs and two kills, including a kill for match point. Stephanie Elechko had a team high six aces to go along with 11 kills and three blocks. Isabelle Kerr had a team high 16 kills as well as nine digs and two aces. Courtney Gill had 13 kills, five digs and three aces.
The Maidens will face third-seeded Garnet Valley in Thursday’s second round.
#15 WILLIAM TENNENT 3, #18 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2 (26-24, 20-25, 22-25, 25-21, 19-17)
In a marathon two-hour battle between the two SOL powers, the Panthers edged the Titans in a classic battle.
“It was unbelievable,” Tennent coach Brian Bassler said. “We were down for much of the match. This was one comeback after another.
“Both sides were unbelievable. We could have played for another three hours and probably would have been tied. It was a match where you never knew what was going to happen.
“Neither team would let the ball hit. Abby (Mummert) was unstoppable for South, and MJ (Alanis) was great for us. It was just like two heavyweights going at it. It was really great to watch.”
The match was not without its share of controversy, and that controversy began in earnest when – with the score tied 17-17 in the fifth set – the Titans were called for a back row attack. But not, according to Bassler, in the most timely manner.
“I was screaming for the back row attack and didn’t get it,” the Panthers’ coach said. “I’m not sure what happened, but they scored the point, and then the referee called the back row attack.
“As you can imagine, it turned the place upside down. It was the right call, but it just didn’t happen at the right time, so it looked off. There was a big long rally at 18-17, and we got a kill off a block that went out of bounds and we won. It was pretty wild.”
Alanis led the Panthers with 19 kills and six blocks. Jaime Bonner added 13 kills and Chelsea Gallagher, 11 kills. Senior setter Hannah Washam had 46 assists, and junior libero CC Weir had 39 digs.
“We had a ton of serving errors all night, and we really dug holes,” Bassler said. “Down the stretch in the fifth game, we really didn’t have any.
“In years past, that’s kind of what would have gotten us. Tonight our girls really came through, stepped up and made plays when they needed to.
“This is historic, it’s unbelievable for us. It’s pretty special. To get a district playoff win – not every team has one of those. It’s hard enough to make the tournament, let alone win in it. You have to be good to beat a team like South. They played smart, they played hard, they cover the court, and they block extremely well. It was just two great teams. It’s a shame somebody had to lose.”
The Titans were led by Mummert (14 kills, 11 digs, one ace), Jax Babezki (15 kills, one ace, three digs), Heather Kobrzynski (nine kills, 10 digs, two aces), Ally Horvath (nine kill), Larissa Keer (15 digs) and Madi Conroy (55 assists).
“Mummert played five games and sustained a cut cheek digging the ball in game two,” coach Ulana Keer said. “She played tough and led the team with passion.
“Babezki played big with blocking, shutting down their middle attack. Kobrzynski and Horvath sustained excellent shots from the outside and right side, moving the ball well.
“Mummert, Keer, Jess Berton and Kobrzynski played back row, sustaining difficult shots at them while Madi (Conroy) moved the ball well to the hitters and found our hitters. Both teams did not give up.”
The Panthers have earned a date against second-seeded Upper Merion on Thursday.
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