CB West edged Neshaminy in a five-set thriller to capture the District One AAA volleyball championship. Pennridge downed North Penn to finish third, earning the final state berth.
#1 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, #3 NESHAMINY 2 (28-26, 23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-8)
Todd Miller couldn’t stop smiling as he reflected on what his volleyball team had just accomplished, capturing the program’s first district title since 1963 with a scintillating 3-2 win over the Redskins in a riveting match at Upper Dublin High School.
“In all honesty, we’re going to enjoy this for a little bit,” the Bucks’ coach said. “We need to enjoy it for a little bit.”
The Bucks should enjoy this win for a long time. Thursday’s was a match filled with extraordinary plays on both sides. The match contained its share of highlight reel kills, but equally impressive were the impossible digs to bring up some of those kill attempts. It took career performances by several players to bring this district title home for the Bucks.
Christian Rupert and Ryan Jamison took turns exchanging best shots, electrifying the crowd with their dazzling performances. Rupert finished with 25 kills and eight blocks while Jamison had 26 kills, two aces and 12 digs.
“I’m such great friends with RJ, who had a heck of a match,” said Rupert of Jamison. “He’s a great player and a great friend, so playing against someone like that it gives it a little more (emotion).
“It was the finals, which we lost last season (to Pennsbury). We knew we had the preparation, we had to players and knowledge. It came down to execution, and we got a couple of more points than them, and we won.”
Both team’s setters also came up huge with West’s Matt Hennigan contributing a career high 63 assists to go along with four kills, three blocks, three aces and five digs. Hennigan spent the night spreading his sets around.
“We can’t have them keying on one player,” he said. “We hadn’t seen them before, and they hadn’t seen us before, so it was a very new game for both of us, which made it very competitive. We were learning as we went along. We had to spread it around to show them that everyone had the skill. We weren’t a team that could be beat with one person. We all play a key part.”
Neshaminy’s Chase Fullen had 45 assists, six kills, two blocks and seven digs.
While those performances were all but expected from the senior standouts, what no one might have counted on were the stellar performances of several of West’s lesser known players.
Senior Keith Saunders turned in the best match of his career when it mattered most, contributing eight kills and three blocks.
“This is the best feeling ever,” Saunders said. “I have the most kills I’ve had all season. I just really turned it on.
“It felt great, and it was definitely a team effort. There was a ton of energy, and that’s what wins games for us.”
Senior Jackson Cox had seven kills and 10 blocks, including several during pivotal stretches in the second and third sets.
“We did a blocking drill yesterday in practice,” Cox said. “Today we just clicked. I kind of had a better instinct after that.
“We worked well as a unit to get a good block, and it helped that we were all together. I got lucky a couple of times and did my job. It’s a ton of fun. I’m having a blast.”
Freshman libero Ryan Alu had 16 digs with more than a few of the spectacular variety.
“With each touch of the ball, I think he got more and more involved and more excitable,” Miller said. “His excitement wasn’t like an up and down roller coaster.
“It was a nice little climb – a little bit at a time. He popped up some balls, and I think the other team just sat there and went, ‘Really, he just got that up?’”
Alu’s all-out play inspired his teammates.
“Ryan averages a ton of digs a game,” Saunders said. “With him just selling himself out like that – it just makes us want to do a lot better too. Our energy is what really won us the match.”
Joel Klapper turned in a rock solid performance, contributing 13 kills, 11 digs and one ace. Nic Atkinson (10 digs) and Jeff Strasburg (nine digs) also made important contributions defensively.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” Miller said. “The way they worked so hard together.
“My greatest wish for them is to see them succeed, and to see what they accomplished here tonight – it’s part of my wish for them. It’s one more step in the road. The way that I would define them is that ‘greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.’ They laid their own wants and desires down and said – we’re a team. I want to see you succeed. What can I do to help make that happen? They exemplified that tonight and played through some difficult games and pulled together and did a great job.”
For the Redskins, Steve Compton added seven kills, two blocks and five digs while Bailey Jones and Jake Murray each had five kills. Murray also had three blocks. Libero JP Fay had 11 digs.
“It was a great fight,” Neshaminy coach Kevin Roode said. “It was real high level volleyball. It was just a great fight the whole way through. We just came up a little short at the end.
“It kind of just went back and forth. No one really had a decided advantage until game five. They just had a little more in the tank than us.”
It’s hardly a secret that a key to winning the abbreviated 15-point fifth set is getting out to a quick start, and that’s exactly what the Bucks did. Hennigan stepped to the service line and served for five straight points – a pivotal stretch that included a pair of Rupert kills, one kill each from Saunders and Fran Poeske. The senior setter capped the run with an ace.
“For us, having that momentum at the beginning of the game is really a huge swing to our attitude throughout the whole game – not only how confident we are but how much we want it and how much the other team influences us,” Hennigan said. “The serving run at the beginning – I know I was having trouble with my serves. We were shaky about that, but once we all pulled together it was more of a team effort at the end than it was at the beginning.
“We all came together and had a lot of confidence in each other at the end, and I think that’s what really made the difference.”
The Redskins broke the Bucks’ run with a Jamison kill, but they would get no closer than three points, and that came at 5-2 after a West hit out of play. The Bucks led 10-4 after Cox delivered his 10th and final block of the match. The Bucks never looked back.
“We needed those blocks because they were just detonating on the ball, and he came through,” Rupert said of Jackson.
A look back would show that the Redskins fought off four West set points to earn the win in game one. The set was highlighted by monster kills from Jamison and Rupert.
Late in the second set, Cox began to establish himself as a presence at the net, combining with Rupert for three consecutive blocks. The ‘Skins trailed by just one (24-23) after a Jamison winner, but Rupert delivered a kill for set point to even the score at one game apiece.
In the third set, Saunders asserted himself, delivering a pair of kills and a block during an impressive stretch late in the set. Appropriately, it was Saunders delivering a kill for set point.
“Wow,” Miller said. “The way he desired the ball. You heard him calling for it and just so excited and just stepped up. That’s the best he’s played all year.”
The Redskins took a quick 2-0 lead in the fourth set after a Fullen kill. A Compton kill put the ‘Skins on top 6-3, and they opened up an 11-5 lead after a service winner by Compton. The Bucks rallied to make it a 19-19 game, but Jake Murray answered with a kill for the Redskins. The two teams were still deadlocked 22-22, but a kill by Bailey Jones was followed by a Pat Klingerman service ace. Jamison put an exclamation point on the game with a kill for set point, and the stage was set for the winner-take-all fifth game that the Bucks won.
“It’s amazing,” Hennigan said. “It’s been so long in the working. Last year we came in second here, and it’s so nice to come and take a stand.”
“It feels fantastic,” Rupert added. “They had a heck of a game. They came out with so much fire and were so explosive.
“They didn’t make too many errors, and we had to match that. I think we did a nice job of that tonight.”
The senior standout went on to credit his teammates.
“Keith Saunders had the best play of his life, so that was fantastic,” Rupert said. “Everyone stepped up tonight. It was a real team effort.
“Ryan Alu had a couple of those key points that could have swung it either way, and that’s what volleyball is – just a couple of those key points here and there.”
If the two teams can win their two opening round state matches, a rematch awaits on June 3. Roode, for one, is hoping that Thursday’s district final is a preview of the state semifinal.
“Boy, I hope so,” he said. “This was the best team we played all year. They’re a terrific team. Hats off to them for doing a great job all year and for taking care of business in the playoffs.”
The Bucks will face the fourth place team out of District 3 in the opening round of states Wednesday while the ‘Skins will take on District 11’s second place squad.
#2 PENNRIDGE 3, #5 NORTH PENN 1 (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 28-26)
The Rams earned their sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament, and in a testament to their character and determination, they did it without senior Alex Vellner – a first team all-league selection at opposite who suffered an injury in the Rams’ first game in Tuesday night’s semifinal match against Neshaminy.
“It’s huge for the young guys to experience it,” coach Dave Childs said of earning a berth in states. “Essentially, it starts in district in playoff volleyball, and just to have the experience of going to states is huge not just for the young guys but for the seniors who have played so well this season for us.”
In the absence of Vellner, Kolby Smith stepped to the fore, delivering a stellar outing in Thursday’s win-or-go-home match that included 19 kills, eight digs and two aces.
“This means the world to us, and I know the team feels the same way,” Smith said. “Being without Alex, as much as it hurt our team because he’s such a big player – he’s a captain, he’s everything to this team, but he fueled our motivation,” Smith said. “We went into the huddle and said, ‘This is for Alex,’ and that fueled us.”
If winning for Vellner wasn’t enough motivation, a trip to states certainly was.
“We pick our small goals, but in the back of our minds, this is definitely a goal,” Smith said. “We are a very young team. We’re a short team, but the guys on the team managed to step up big. Jon Long, specifically, played big off the bench, picking up the slack. He did a phenomenal job.”
Devon Rice added 12 kills, 16 digs and four aces. Henry Savage had eight kills and four blocks. Ben Chinnici had four kills while Jon Long had two kills and three blocks. Setter Bradley Nase had 42 assists. Steve Braun had 11 digs, and Vince Kauders had two aces.
“We moved Ben (Chinnici) to the right side – it’s the first time he’s ever played that position,” Childs said. “Jon (Long) stepped in the middle.
“We’re not going to beat a team like that if they don’t perform well, and then Vince (Kauders) coming in to serve – we missed Alex’s serve, and he ran off a couple of big points. Getting contributions from bench guys is what good teams need to do at the end of the season. You never know when you need other players to step up, and it’s a great thing that they did that, and not just them, but the starters. Kolby (Smith) was the best player on the court.”
For the Knights, Kyle Sucro led the way with 13 kills, five digs and two blocks. Gabe Stoler added nine kills, three digs and one block, and Eric Mellman had 10 kills and one block. Nathan Malecky had five digs.
“We’re still a little bit young as a program,” North Penn coach Tim Moyer said. “We’re still trying to get that winning attitude, that winning mentality. It’s a hard culture to build.
“You play a program like West and Pennridge that have built those things, and we’re still trying to get there. We’re taking steps in the right direction. We’re putting ourselves in a position to win these games, but we don’t seem to be able to close them out at the end.”
While the Knights see their successful season come to an end, the Rams will take on the first place team out of District 11 in Wednesday’s opening round state tournament game.
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