Conference champions Pennridge, Upper Merion & Pennsbury are featured in a girls’ volleyball opening round preview.
By DENNY DYROFF
Pennridge High’s volleyball team is embarking on a journey similar to the USS Enterprise on the “Star Trek” television series. But, instead of a mission to “boldly go where no man has gone before,” the Rams are looking to “boldly go where no Pennridge volleyball team has gone before.”
The stellar Pennridge team enters this week’s PIAA District 1 Class AAA volleyball tournament as the Number One seed. The Rams arrive for the tournament with a perfect 15-0 record. They finished 12-0 in the Suburban One League to win the Continental Conference title.
“Last year, we made it to districts as the 22ndseed,” said Pennridge coach Zech States. “Then, we lost to Sun Valley in the first round. Our one-and-done at districts last year has been a motivating factor this year.
“We set goals at the beginning of the season, and one was to go further than we did last year. We’ve already done that because we have a bye into the second round. But, we want to win some district matches.”
On Thursday, Oct. 23, the Rams will host the winner of the opening-round match between 16th-seeded Upper Dublin and 17th-seeded Lower Merion.
States said, “We have five returning starters this year — setter Meghan Keefe, middle hitter Lauren Drugotch, middle hitter Arianna Pryzbylowski, outside hitter Victoria Jones and outside hitter Steph Judkins.
“We also have a transfer from Lansdale Catholic — Libero Kelly Bergen — and an exchange student from Italy — defensive specialist Nene Scanavacca. Another key player is junior Ana Vitantonio, who plays opposite and defensive specialist.
“Our offense is a genuine 5-1 with Meghan setting back row and front row. It’s a quicker-paced offense than most. We run the middle a lot. The quick pace works to our benefit. Meghan runs the offense really well and uses all the hitters.”
Pennridge, which is the top seed in the Class AAA playoffs, also sits atop the most recent District One Girls Volleyball Power Rankings. The seeding for the District One tournament has been determined by the district’s power rating system. Here is a step-by-step description of the ranking process.
Only best of five matches are to be included; abbreviated matches, such as those played in tournaments, are to be excluded. Only best of five matches with PIAA schools are to be included — matches with non-PIAA schools are to be excluded. District One teams that play matches with PIAA teams that are outside of District One, are responsible for obtaining end of season win/loss records of those opponents to have them included in the ranking calculation. The ranking calculation weighs two factors; a team’s season win/loss record, and the pre-district playoff win/loss records of that team’s PIAA opponents (as defined in steps 1-3).
An index will be calculated using 55 percent of a team’s own win/loss record (percent matches won/total matches played), added to 45 percent of the combined win/loss records of its opponents. This formula is designed to reward teams that play competitive schedules. Each District One team will be ranked for district playoffs using the 55/45 index, with the team with the highest total index ranked first, the team with the second highest index ranked second, and so on until all available seeds are determined.
The top teams are Pennridge (0.7638), Upper Merion (0.7248), Garnet Valley (0.7203), Bishop Shanahan (0.7031), Downingtown East (0.7011), Strath Haven (0.6894), West Chester Henderson (0.6871), Downingtown West (0.6563) Central Bucks South (0.6364), and Unionville (0.6321).
The rankings for the other Suburban One district qualifiers are Pennsbury (13th, .6178), Hatboro-Horsham (15th, .6166), Central Bucks East (16th, .6146), Council Rock North (17th, .6089), Upper Dublin (19th, .6065), Plymouth Whitemarsh (21st, .5669), Central Bucks West (23rd, .5403) and Council Rock South (26th, .5243).
“I was a little surprised with us at the top of the power rankings,” said States. “At the start of the year, I didn’t expect to even be top four.”
States has already had experience with Pennridge volleyball and success at the district and state level.
“I played four years at Pennridge,” said States, who graduated in 2010. “In my senior year, we won districts and made it to the semifinals at states. We also went to the state tournament in 2009. Since graduating, I’ve been an assistant boys’ coach at Pennridge and also a club coach at Indian Valley.”
Now, he is looking to replicate some of that success with the greatly improved girls’ squad.
“The biggest difference between this year and last year obviously has been our experience,” said States. “The seniors have been together for two seasons now. And, adding Kelly (Bergen) as libero has been big. She’s very good at serve-receive.
“A main reason for our success is that we have two good captains — Meghan Keefe and Lauren Drugotch. They are really good leaders. The team chemistry is huge. And, this is a team that has the ability to come back well.
“Winning our conference this year was great. Now, a district championship is our next goal.”
Another goal for the Rams is the same as their coach’s name — States. The top four finishers in the District 1 playoffs qualify for the state tournament.
Another Suburban One team with serious intentions of playing in the state tournament this year is second-seeded Upper Merion — a team that qualifies for states as regularly as Alabama and Florida State football teams post winning records.
This year, Upper Merion won its eighth consecutive American Conference title — in unusual style. Usually the Vikings sweep through conference competition without a match losing a match and not losing very many sets. This year, they dropped a match to Hatboro-Horsham in conference play.
“Prior to the Hatboro match, we had won 107 Suburban One American Conference matches in a row,” said Upper Merion coach Tony Funsten. “We had seven consecutive undefeated seasons in the conference.”
The Vikings, who play one of the toughest schedules in the district, finished the regular season with a 16-2 record. Their only losses were to Villa Maria Academy, which is seeded second in the District 1 Class AA tournament and has a higher power ranking than Pennridge (.7671), and Hatboro-Horsham, which is seeded 12thin this year’s Class AAA tournament.
“Hatboro-Horsham played fantastic,” said Funsten. “It was a two-and-one-half-hour match and most of the sets didn’t stop at 25. The fifth game was 23-21 (in a 15-point set). Hatboro-Horsham played great and Samantha Jones was unstoppable. She played fabulously.
“I was happy with the way our girls bounced back after that match. And, we did a little tweaking. This is the tallest team we’ve ever had — tall in the middle and tall on the right side.”
In the middle, Upper Merion has 6-0 Niki Carpenter and 5-10 Carolyn Helinski along with 6-1 Eryn Brady on the right side. The Vikes also have decent size with their outside hitters — 5-9 Emma Andraka and 5-7 Emily Shannon. UM’s other key players are setters Kailyn McNamee and Carly Odorisio and libero Ashley Shannon.
“In addition to regular matches, we’ve played really good competition in tournaments,” said Funsten. “At the First Kill Tournament at Bethlehem Freedom, we tied Pope John Paul II and Emmaus in pool play.
“At the State College Invitational, Parkland didn’t lose a set and we were the only team to score more than 20 points against them. It was a good way to get ready for postseason. We’ve played the best.”
Upper Merion is seeded second in the district tournament and will open on October 23 with a second-round match against the winner of the match between 18th-seeded Council Rock North and 15th-seeded Penncrest.
“I saw North crush Pennsbury in a recent match,” said Funsten. “North has good size — and they’re improving. Penncrest did well in their conference (Central League). Our next opponent would then be Pennsbury or Downingtown East.”
Last year, Upper Merion defeated Downingtown East in the District 1 Class AAA championship match. This year, seventh-seeded East opens by hosting 26th-seeded Council Rock South
“Our kids are excited to challenge for the district title again,” said Funsten. “In the last 10 years, there has been only one team to win back-to-back district championships. That was us in 2010 and 2011. Bishop Shanahan won districts in 2012.
“The Ches-Mont is a really good league and Downingtown East always brings out the best in us. But, the Suburban One American was strong this season too. Upper Dublin improved a lot. P-W took a match from Hatboro-Horsham and Hatboro is the 12th seed.”
Hatboro-Horsham, which hosts 21st-seeded Mount Saint Joe’s, has fared well with a nucleus of solid players including Sam Jones, Candyce Riley, Cassidy Quattro, Alexa Kennedy, Dymond Black, Jen Nesbitt, Jamie Stoczko and Holly Owen.
Upper Dublin finished 10-4 in the conference and its only losses were to Upper Merion and Hatboro-Horsham. Some of the Cardinals’ key players have been Sarah Dennin, Melanie Phifer, Taylor Stec, Jenny McAneney, Allison Gouevia, Bryn Stec and Gabbi Johnson.
Seely Byler, the coach of 22nd-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh, has benefitted from strong play by Olivia Carbo, Cassandra Ward, Maggie Flaim, Rachel Isackman, Bridget Raimondo and Danielle Rippert. The Colonials play at Perkiomen Valley, which is seeded 11th.
The Suburban One League’s National Conference is also well-represented in this year’s district tournament with 10th-seeded Pennsbury, 18th-seeded Council Rock North and 26th-seeded Council Rock South. Pennsbury took the conference title with an 11-1 record wile North was runner-up with a 10-2 slate.
“We’re 12-5 overall and our losses have been to very good teams,” said Pennsbury coach Michael Falter. “In non-league matches, we lost to Garnet Valley, which is seeded third for districts, and Strath Haven, which is seeded fourth.
“Our other non-league losses were to Archbishoop Wood, one of the top teams in District 12, and Solehi, which is a very good team from District 11. Our only other loss came when we split with North in conference play.”
The Falcons, who open post-season play against 23rd-seeded Central Bucks West, lost an integral part of their team back in September when an auto accident knocked out senior middle Lauren Bransfield for the remainder of the season.
“Lauren suffered a broken clavicle, a broken pelvis and a broken wrist,” said Falter. “She was a team leader — our very vocal team leader. Fortunately, we have had some younger girls step up and some older players make adjustments to new positions.
“Brandi Steiner is very versatile and she moved back to middle. Ali Zinnen took Brandi’s place at opposite and is a hard worker. Our outsides are Ava Patterson and Elle Patterson. Both sisters are very talented. They can take over a match.
“Our setter is junior Kate Foley. She’ll run through a brick wall to get to the ball. Kayla Hadad is a 6-0 middle who is very athletic. And, our libero is Dagny Gould, who is a very good all-around player.
“We run a 5-1 offense and one of our strengths is our balance. We have girls who can put the ball away. Our biggest problem has been consistency. We average close to 30 errors a match — including three-set matches. We hurt ourselves too much.
“Everything is there. The big question now is whether or not we can put a streak together with consistent play.”
Some of Council Rock North’s top players this season are Samantha Rowan, Devon Ceslak, Aly Kuiken, Hailey Burns, Megan Hannagan and Krista Campbell while Council Rock South’s talented line-up includes Ally Goodwin, Donna Spiteri, Emily Liu and Maddie Henschel.
In addition to Pennridge, the Continental Conference will be represented in the district playoffs by all three Central Bucks East teams.
Central Bucks East, which is seeded 13th, will play host to 20th-seeded Great Valley in the “Battle of the Patriots.” The Patriots from Bucks County are led by Lauren Helveston, Hannah Lamond, Natalie Arm, Julia Gallagher and Krista Helveston.
Central Bucks South, the 14thseed, hosts 19th-seeeded Haverford in the opening round and, with a win, will advance to a match on Thursday against another Central League team — third-seeded Garnet Valley. The Titans will be counting on a trio of veterans — Larissa Keee, Taylor Danilowicz and Breana Jackson.
Central Bucks West, which knocked off South in the regular season finale, is led by Sophia Videva, Katie Hudson, Julie Schweibenz, Kelly McKinstry, Ashley Juliano and Kayla King.
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