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DOYLESTOWN – Nate Seidle was onto something.Central Bucks West’s senior middle hitter had just delivered back-to-back blocks out of a timeout in game one of Monday night’s match against Central Bucks East, and to the Patriots, it must have felt as though he’d been in their huddle.
He hadn’t been, but Seidle sure was getting good reads on their attack.
“They did a lot of slow sets, and they didn’t do too many fast attacks,” he said. “It’s easy to block because everything is slow.”
Seidle sure made it look easy, collecting seven blocks and a game-high 12 kills to lead the Bucks to a 3-0 sweep of their archrivals (25-15, 25-15, 26-24).
“We always want to beat East,” Seidle said. “The rivalry is great in every sport.
“We knew they were going to be really pumped up because it was West, and we just came out strong.
It’s built-in motivation for both sides when East meets West, and for senior captain Ryan Smith, losing to East was never a consideration.
“Through my career at West, we have swept East every single time, and to continue to do it is absolutely amazing,” the Bucks’ senior setter said.
Smith was credited with 30 assists, and in addition to Seidle, senior Lucas Cooper had 10 kills and Dave Dowdy had nine kills.
“I have all the confidence in the world in them – every single one of them,” Smith said.
East was led by the 11-kill effort of Dan Gepner. Anthony Cupo led the defense with nine digs, and setter Alex Tkatch was credited with 15 assists.Twenty-four hours earlier, the Patriots extended Souderton to five games before falling in a grueling match that may have taken its toll on the players.
“It’s hard,” East coach Jon Boyle said. “You hope that they’re mentally ready for a game, but it’s tough when you play a five-game match and come out against a rival school the next night.
“Obviously, it was a letdown game for us.”
The Bucks wasted little time before seizing control of the match.
An East hit out of play put the Bucks on top 6-5 in game one, and Cooper followed with a kill. Another East miscue was followed by a Dowdy kill, putting the Bucks on top 9-5 and prompting Boyle to call a quick timeout.
“To be honest, at the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect,” West co-coach Andy Douglas said. “They went five games last night with Souderton. They’re going four and five games with a lot of teams and coming out on the short end, so I was nervous in the beginning.”
A Sim Kashkalov winner broke West’s run, but not for long.
A West dig fell in for a winter, giving the Bucks a 15-8 lead and triggering another East timeout. This time it was Seidle coming up big out of the timeout as he delivered the back-to-back blocks and followed that with a kill that put the Bucks on top 18-8.
“The one thing my team does really well is we’re fast on offense,” Douglas said. “If we can get the ball to our setter and start our attack, we generally can get it going before the defense is ready to dig it. Even if it’s not hard, they really have to be lined up and ready to dig.”Cooper put the finishing touches on a dazzling eight-point service run by delivering an ace that put the Bucks on top 19-8. A Gepner tip was only a temporary reprieve as Cory Tanner followed with a kill for West. The Patriots would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as the Bucks rolled to a 25-15 win.
“Since Souderton took them to five, I believe they were a little tired, so I think that gave us a little edge, and we took advantage of it,” Smith said. “Everyone talked out there, everyone is basically part of the team, and everyone contributed to each other and to the success of the team.”
Game two was more of the same.
East kept it interesting for a while and trailed by just one (8-7) after a West serve sailed out of play, but Cooper delivered a winner, and when Dowdy delivered a kill at the end of a long volley, the Bucks led 11-7.
A Pat Farley service ace pulled East to within two (11-9), but West answered with a 6-0 run that once again featured Cooper at the service line serving for five of those points. Included in that run were a pair of Seidle kills as well as a kill by Dowdy, and the Bucks’ attack was operating on all cylinders in its seconds 25-15 win of the match.
“One thing that really helped – we went to the Hempfield Tournament, and we played Parkland, and no matter what we did – when we thought we had a kill, they dug the ball,” Douglas said. “In practice we try and simulate that – as soon as they get a kill or anything happens, I immediately put another ball in play.
“They tend to get used to the faster speed, so when we play a team that’s not as fast as us – even if they’re a good team, you can see quickly why we’re better because we can set up our offense quickly and run it before their defense has a chance to set up.”The third game was by far the most competitive. The Bucks turned an early 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead after a Dowdy service ace. The Bucks led 13-8, but the Patriots came roaring back with a 7-2 run to go on top 15-14.
The Bucks led 21-15 after a Cooper service winner, but again, the Patriots battled back, knotting the score 24-24 on an errant West pass. A Seidle winner was followed by a Tanner service ace just inside the end line for match point.
“We have to be able to change up our offense a little bit,” Boyle said. “Their blocks were great – you have to give it to them. They were the better team tonight.
“We got going a little bit in the second half of game three, but it was a little too late by then.”
While the Patriots fell to 2-6, the Bucks improved to 5-2 in league play.
“We have a strong team,” Seidle said. “Last year the team was heavily seniors, and they didn’t want to set any of the lower classmen. This year we have so many weapons available, and we use everyone.”
“Even myself,” Smith said with a smile. “I’m a hitter, but don’t tell anyone.”
East found out firsthand – the Bucks have a whole lot of weapons.
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