Neshaminy 3, William Tennent 1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-21)
Redskin coach Kevin Roode isn’t sure when Neshaminy last defeated Tennent on its home court. The first-year coach is guessing it hasn’t happened since 2006, but the Redskins – after dropping the first game of Monday’s match – broke that trend with a big win over the Panthers.
“It’s huge,” coach Kevin Roode said. “Tennent is a state playoff team from a year ago, and we don’t usually win there.
“I think a lot of it is just defensive intensity. We’re not real overwhelming on offense, but we really scrap, we block really well, and we get a lot of balls up that might hit the floor against some other teams.”Setter Brent Jamison had 51 assists in the win.
“I really think he’s one of the better setters in our league,” Roode said. “He’s 6-3, so he really blocks well for a setter, and the other thing is he’s really emotionally mature, and he keeps things pretty level out there.
Vladimir Flys led the attack with 23 kills.
“He had a big night,” Roode said. “He’s probably our most consistent hitter.”
Anthony Kirk added 15 kills, and Drew Keeling had four service aces to go along with 43 digs.
“William Tennent was hitting the ball,” Roode said. “They just pounded the ball.”
The Redskins kept digging it up and improved to 2-1 on the season.
“I’ve coached all of three games, and it’s my biggest win,” Roode said with a laugh. “For the guys that played jayvee starting in ninth grade – they’ve never gone into William Tennent’s gym and seen the varsity win, so just for the confidence of the guys, this is tremendous.”
Pennridge 3, Souderton 0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-17)
Pennridge rode its offense to the district championship game last year where the Rams ran into a Pennsbury team that not only had a potent offense but also a superb defense.
Coach Dave Childs has made defense a point of emphasis this season, and in Monday’s sweep of the Indians, the Rams showcased their defense, repeatedly getting touches on balls at the net and making it hard for the Indians to finish off plays.
“We have the ability to hit whenever we want to, but we’re focusing a lot more on defense and a lot of soft touches,” senior Zech States said. “We’ve been working on that a lot at practice, and every soft touch helps because it gives the defense a chance of getting the ball up.”
The Rams also showcased their balanced offensive attack that included 12 kills and three aces from Austin Jacoby while States added 10 kills and four blocks. Cory Chinnici contributed five kills and three blocks, and middle hitter Mike Shenk had three kills and two blocks.
“It’s great that we have that many hitters that Will (Jager) can have somebody to depend on no matter where he goes,” Chinnici said of the Rams’ junior setter. “Last year we had two big hitters – Austin and Zech, but this year, we’re mixing it up with Erik (Moyer), Mike and myself, and it makes it a lot easier for the whole team because we always have the blockers guessing where to go.”
Defensive libero Jake Braun had nine digs, and Will Jager had 27 assists for the Rams, who improved to 6-0 in the SOL.
“We just had trouble putting the ball away,” Souderton coach Brad Garrett said. “They’re well- balanced.
“They have four guys that jump serve and keep you on your toes defensively. Cory Chinnici is a good right side. They have two pretty good middles and Zech and Austin (Jacoby) on the left side, so it’s hard to defend all those different (weapons).
“They’re going to go far because they have balance. They don’t rely too much on any one person, but yet they have three or four guys that can take over a game if given the opportunity. They really make it hard to do what we need to do.”
The Indians were led by senior Luke Pinto, who had 14 kills in another strong outing. Jeff Bishop added five kills and two blocks while Jake Shoemaker led the defense with seven digs.
The Indians – despite the outcome – were much happier with their performance against the Rams than they were with their effort in last Thursday’s 3-1 loss to North Penn.
“We re-evaluated where we’re at after the game against North Penn,” Garrett said. “There are teams in the league unless you come out and play with heart and want to win, you’re not going to do it. There are too many good teams.
“The thing I’m most pleased with is we played with a lot of heart. Luke (Pinto) cramped up at the end, but he didn’t want to come out of the game even though he could barely walk. Defensively, Jake Shoemaker played a great game. He stepped in there and dug a lot of the hard balls. As a team, I just thought we showed a lot more heart, desire and emotion than we showed against North Penn. Every point it seemed like we cared.”
Central Bucks South 3, Cheltenham 2 (26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 10-25, 15-11)
The Titans outlasted the Panthers in a marathon match on Monday. Senior Kevin Williams led the team offensively with 15 kills. Everett Zaluski added 11 kills, five digs, and two aces while Jeff Sharp led the defensive charge with 13 digs and added eight kills and an ace of his own.
Setter Colin McNamee tallied 45 assists throughout the night. South came out strong in its first two games but let Cheltenham back into the match with two straight losses in games three and four. South jumped out to an early lead in game five, but Cheltenham fought back to tie the game and pulled ahead before South was able to get the lead back and close the game out 15-11.
Central Bucks East 3, Upper Dublin 0
Chris Baccash led the Patriots with eight kills, six digs, an ace and an assist. Jeff Wolf was a force in the middle, delivering seven kills, two blocks and four digs. Kyle Dolf had 16 assists, three kills, two digs, one ace and one block. Nick Bennett added six kills, one block and six digs. Mike Donovan had two kills and nine digs, and Trevor Clemons contributed 12 digs.
Pennsbury 3, Council Rock South 0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-16)
Joe Yasalonis had 11 kills, two digs and two blocks to lead the Falcons to the convincing win. Adam Flick had five kills and six blocks while Jim Zaluski had four kills and seven blocks. Dom Tricoche had four kills, five blocks and two digs. Mike Mamzic led the defense with eight digs. Ryan Burns had 22 assists, one kill, four digs and three blocks. Jeremy Rhoads had four kills, two aces, four digs and one block. Chris Evans added an ace for the Falcons.
North Penn 3, Quakertown 1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 25-21)
For the Panthers, Brent Landis, Adam Spinieo and Ian Jones each had nine kills. Jones also had three blocks. Donnie Thomas had 30 assists and two blocks.
Council Rock North 3, Bensalem 0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-16)
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