FAIRLESS HILLS –A Jeremy Rhoads kill for match point had barely ricocheted out of play off a Northeastern player when the Pennsbury fans who packed the stands for Friday night’s match charged the court and mobbed the Falcon players in a jubilant celebration scene.
In a battle of two of the state’s premiere teams, the Falcons had just defeated Northeastern 3-1 in a scintillating match (25-16, 25-27, 27-25, 26-24).
“It felt like we just won the state championship,” senior captain Dom Tricoche said. “Everyone was on cloud nine right there. I can’t even describe it. It was so awesome to know that whole crowd is cheering for you, and everything is coming down to this.
“You have to put everything on the line at this point. That feeling was just incredible. It’s what you live for – games like this.”
“Oh my god, it was unbelievable,” Rhoads added. “The whole side of the gym was packed. Kids couldn’t even get seats. We feed off that kind of stuff.
“It was absolutely great to see the turnout. Everybody in school was saying they were coming to the game, but our expectations are – everyone says that, but it’s never a good turnout. Tonight it was awesome.”
Friday’s match – pitting a Pennsbury squad that is ranked number one in the latest PVCA Class AAA state rankings against the state’s second-ranked team at the Class AA level - was one of those rare matches that actually lived up to its hype.
“Right now we proved we’re number one,” Trocoche said. “We came out and we showed that when we play up, there’s no one that can stop us in the state.”
One player the Bobcats never could figure out how to stop was middle hitter Jim Zaluski, who finished the night with 12 kills and – what coach Justin Fee said may be a school record – 13 blocks.
“It’s almost indescribable how much Jim helps our team,” Tricoche said. “He’s one of the best blockers we’ve ever had here as he showed tonight. He’s so good at moving laterally even though he’s so big, and that’s what helps us out. He’s been invaluable.
“He’s a difference maker against everyone we played all year,” Fee said of his junior middle. “It’s a ridiculous number (of blocks) he had, and that was totally the difference tonight.
“We were serving out at times. I told these guys, ‘The most important thing to do right now is to get that serve in play’ because we were blocking really well, and we were playing very good defense. We were really in tune to what was going on.”
Some of the luster of the big win wore off rather quickly when Zaluski emerged from the trainer’s room on crutches with an ice pack taped to his ankle. The 6-7 junior -who just recently returned to the lineup after being sidelined two weeks with tendinitis in his shoulder - injured his ankle in the post-game celebration.
“I hope he can get back,” Fee said.
Despite his dominance in the middle, Zaluski was hardly a one-man show.
Joe Yasalonis finished with a team-high 16 kills to go along with five blocks and two aces. Rhoads had nine kills, five digs and five block assists. Tricoche had six kills and just one hitting error for a team-high hitting percentage of .357. He also had two blocks. Setter Ryan Burns had 42 assists to go along with four digs, one block and one kill.
Yasalonis pointed to the Falcons’ blocking as the difference in the match.
“Our league doesn’t always push us, and we have to work on the little things when we play in those matches,” he said. “In games like this, we have to have those little things down. Every little part of the game – if we don’t play it right, we won’t win.”
The Falcons certainly did a lot of things right in the win.
In game one, they roared out of the gate to a 19-12 lead on their way to a convincing 25-16 win. Any thoughts that they might be in for an easy time were put to rest when the Bobcats rallied from a 23-20 deficit to earn a 27-25 win in game two.
Game three was another war. A Zaluski block gave the Falcons an early 3-1 lead, and they led by four (8-4) after an Adam Flick kill. That lead grew to 13-7 after an errant Northeastern pass, but the Bobcats didn’t go down quietly, rallying to knot the score 20-20 after a dump for a winner by Bobcat setter Dominic Shoemaker.
The Bobcats led 24-23 after an Ian Tyger kill, but Rhoads answered with a monster cross-court kill to knot the score. The teams exchanged errant serves, but a Falcon block was followed by a Northeastern hit out of play, and the Falcons had a 2-1 lead in games.
“When we lose to teams in tournaments, we always say, ‘You know what – I think we could get them in a five-game match,’” Rhoads said. “Tonight we dropped the second game, but we came back and took care of business.”
Game four could have gone either way. The Bobcats led 7-6 after a block, but Yasalonis answered with a kill. The Falcons led 11-9 after a Tricoche kill, prompting the Bobcats to call a timeout.
They responded with a 3-1 run to go on top 12-11 after a Falcon carry. Fee called a timeout, and Zaluski delivered a kill out of the timeout to knot the score. The Falcons led 19-17 after a resounding Yasalonis kill, and it was a 20-18 game after Zaluski slammed one straight down, igniting the fans and players alike.
“We passed really well tonight, which opens the middles,” said Rhoads, a senior captain. “One of their middles was hurt, so obviously, we had the advantage there, and our middles did a great job.”
The Bobcats didn’t go down quietly, knotting the score 22-22 and prompting Fee to call another timeout. Yasalonis delivered a huge kills out of the timeout, but the Bobcats knotted the score yet again. Northeastern led 24-23 after an Alex Reichard kill, but Rhoads delivered a line kill to knot the score.
Yet another Zaluski block – this one on a tip attempt – put the Flacons on top 25-24, and they won it on a Rhoads kill, setting off the kind of celebration reserved only for the biggest wins.
For the Falcons, this was a magical night on the volleyball court.
“They have been talking this match up all week in school,” Tricoche said. “This is the first time we really had that awesome crowd coming out and supporting us.
“The feeling we had when we came into the gym tonight - the crowd just pumps us up so much. That’s when we play our absolute best – when that crowd is roaring for you, and the adrenaline just keeps going the whole match.”
The Falcons acknowledged that Friday’s match win over Northeastern couldn’t have come at a better time.
“To win this match is just that fuel to propel us through districts and to the end of states,” Yasalonis said. “We have to use this to basically drive ourselves to get even better. We can’t stop right now.”
“It’s extremely important,” Rhoads added. “Districts is going to be tough. Hopefully we can pull through and win that. If we can make it to states, this is giving us the experience before states that we don’t have every year.”
NOTES: Last year, the Falcons traveled to Northeastern early in the season for a non-league match, and the Bobcats returned the favor this season. Fee is hoping to keep the tradition alive and possibly add even more high profile matches to his team’s schedule. Northeastern takes its volleyball seriously – the Bobcats had a fan bus that brought a large contingent of vocal supporters, but they were no match for Pennsbury’s student section, which was on its feet the entire match. “I was so excited to actually get a crowd that was into the game,” Fee said. “This is the best crowd I have seen in the 10 years I have been part of the team. Even their coach said, ‘I love your crowd. It was nice playing in an atmosphere like this.’”
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