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STATE COLLEGE – The scene was a poignant one.
While State College celebrated capturing the PIAA Class AAA title, Pennsbury’s players sat silently on their team bench, most staring into space while others spoke in hushed tones.
Not far away, senior co-captain Dom Tricoche – making no attempt to hide his tears – was accepting comfort from teammates Dan Salinas and Joe Yasalonis.A state title that appeared to be within the Falcons’ grasp had slipped away as a result of their 3-1 loss to State College in an emotionally-charged match in front of the Little Lions’ home fans at Penn State University (25-19, 25-16, 20-25, 25-19).
“As you can see, I’m in tears right now,” Tricoche said. “It’s not just losing the match, it’s the fact that this is the last time a lot of us will be on the court, period, and it’s the last time we will be on the court together as a family. It’s heartwrenching.
“Those eight seniors I have been on the court with since seventh and eighth grades. We have come so far from those little seventh graders that were playing in gym class to the number two team in the state, the state runner-up.
“We’re the first team in Pennsbury history to win a game in a (state championship) match, so that technically makes us the best Pennsbury team ever. That makes us feel good. Still, it’s bittersweet.”
Making the loss especially hard to swallow was the fact that the Falcons handed this same State College squad a pair of losses in Friday’s pool play, but in Saturday’s rematch, the Falcons – who swept Pennridge in the semis earlier in the day - never found their stride.
“I don’t think we hit very well – we hit .143 as a team, which was very uncharacteristic of the way we were playing up here, and that hurt us a lot,” Pennsbury coach Justin Fee said. “I don’t think we were serving tough enough. They have a great middle hitter (Trevor Stark) that we had to slow down at some point either with our serve or by committing a lot of people to him blocking.“We did it later on, but that opens up other people when you take gambles like that. I think the big difference is we weren’t putting the ball away offensively.”
Offensively, the Falcons were a one-man show with Yasalonis delivering 31 kills in a dazzling offensive performance. The next closest Falcon in kills was Adam Flick with six and just one hitting error.
“Everybody else was .000 or negative,” Fee said. “We became a little one-dimensional. We became – Joe, Joe, Joe, and we need it to be Joe, Jeremy (Rhoads) and a little bit of our middles.
“Against a great team – Joe’s a great player, but you have to have other options. When you look at the numbers, the offense wasn’t there. That’s the big story.”
Yasalonis also had 11 digs. Ryan Burns was credited with 41 assists as well as nine digs, and Salinas had a pair of aces.
Mike Mamzic had 15 digs – several of the spectacular variety on monster kills that went untouched at the net.
“He played well all weekend,” Fee said of his libero.
Although no one was using it as an excuse, the Little Lions benefitted immeasurably from their ‘home court’ advantage. Their rabid fans who packed the stands had the house rocking on every big play by their team.
“Any team that can go home and sleep on their home bed at night is going to have a little bit of an advantage,” Yasalonis said. “It’s not that that had anything to do with the win or the loss, but that plus the crowd – it’s not easy.
“Honestly, emotion aside – the mental part of volleyball is 90 percent of the game. Ten percent is talent. If you can’t control yourself, your feelings and your emotions, then you’re not going to win the game.”From the outset, State College – fresh off a win over top-ranked North Allegheny in the semifinal – was on fire. The Little Lions led 6-3 after a Kerem Demirci kill, and the Falcons spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.
“We couldn’t get a side block,” Tricoche said. “They were hitting through us and around us. Our defense wasn’t up to par as it was earlier in the day, and they have so many weapons.”
It was a 9-8 game after a Yasalonis kill, and the Falcons knotted things up 15-15 after another Yasalonis kill. The final tie came at 20-20 after a Flick kill, but the Little Lions answered with three straight points and won it on a big block at the net.
Game two was more of the same. The Little Lions opened up a 4-0 lead after a Stark block, and although the Falcons knotted the score 9-9 after a Yasalonis kill, they would get no closer as State College rolled to the decisive win.
“At the beginning, they were getting lucky hitting off our hands and things like that,” Yasalonis said. “As a team, that doesn’t happen very often to us.
“It’s probably because they were hitting a lot harder than we have seen them hit before. Things like that happen, and we have to move on in the game.”
In game three, the Falcons – down but not out - led 11-10 after a Zaluski kill. A Yasalonis kill put the Falcons on top 12-11, and they led 13-11 when – on a miscommunication – a pass fell between two State College players. The Little Lions regrouped to go on top 16-14, but a Yasalonis kill and a State College carry knotted the score.
The teams were still deadlocked 19-19 after a Yasalonis kill, and the senior outside hitter followed that with a tip to give the Falcons a lead they would not lose. Zaluski delivered a monster block of a kill attempt in the middle to put the Falcons on top 23-19, and it looked as though momentum was swinging the Falcons’ way.
They won it on a Yasalonis line kill, and the Falcons, according to Yasalonis, believed a comeback was within their grasp.“For most people – they would say it’s impossible, but you have to go out like you want to win every game,” he said. “That’s all you can do.
“Things happen. Teams get runs. You have to do the best you can.”
The Falcons hung tough in the fourth game, and things looked promising when they took a 13-10 lead after a Zaluski block, but the Little Lions answered with an 8-1 run on their way to the win and a state title.
“Volleyball is a game of momentum,” Yasalonis said. “I thought we had it in game four, but we let up a little run of three bad passes.
“Those little runs – if you get down by more than two, it’s really hard to come back, but that’s what the best teams do, and that’s what they did obviously.”
The senior standout was asked to reflect on the season just completed.
“Obviously, none of us sat down and started thinking about everything that has happened,” Yasalonis said. “It hasn’t hit most of us. It will take time to realize that it’s over. It’s not an easy thing to deal with.”
Fee echoed those sentiments.
“Any normal human being would be disappointed losing the state championship if you have an opportunity to get it,” the Falcons’ coach said. “The one thing I am happy about is we did take a step forward as a program getting our first win (in a state title match). It’s a step in the right direction.”
Fee looked down at the stats on the screen of his PDA.
“Somebody in that group has come up big in so many different matches,” the Falcons’ coach said. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t pull out that one last final match, but when you look at the big picture, there are so many more positives than negatives.”
Like the silver medals hanging around their necks or the large runner-up trophy the Falcons were taking home. Only one team in the entire state had more hardware.
It hadn’t been a bad weekend at all.
*For a game summary of the Pennridge semifinal match, click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/content/rams-fall-falcons-semis
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