QUAKERTOWN – Matches don’t come much tighter than this one, and when a Quakertown hit sailed over the end line for match point, Central Bucks East’s players and coaches could at long last celebrate their grueling 3-1 win in Tuesday’s emotionally-charged SOL contest (28-26, 12-25, 26-24, 28-26).
“We knew they were going to come out and try to beat us since we had beaten earlier this year,” East’s Marie Madden said. “We had that intensity, and we were prepared for their intensity.
“With their fans and everything, it’s a lot different playing them on their home court, but I think we learned how to use the fans. That keeps our energy up.”
East’s players fed off the energy of the partisan Quakertown crowd, fighting off three game points in the pivotal fourth game. The Panthers led 24-23, but Caitlin Forest delivered a winner to knot the score.
Taylor Diaz returned the favor, giving the Panthers a 25-24 advantage, but a Panther hit into the net knotted things up yet again. An East hit out of play gave Quakertown a 26-25 advantage, but this time Madden delivered the big kill to even the score.
“We really wanted it,” Madden said. “Me and our libero, Jenny (Rank), were in the back row, and we kept saying to each other, “I really, really want this.’ I think we really just wanted it more than they did.”
Back-to-back Quakertown miscues gave the Patriots the dramatic win.
“We have a real problem staying steady,” Quakertown coach Wendy Mahler said. “We are an up and down team. Once there’s one error, then it just snowballs. They just go up and down so much.”
Quakertown senior Sam Cowan led all players with 18 kills while teammate Nicole Burke had 13. Burke also had 13 digs, but it was libero Tori Beck who led the defense with 28 digs. Setter Bria Thamarus had 37 assists.
According to Cowan, the Panthers sometimes become too tentative.
“Everyone gets nervous sometimes, and we play easy because we think we’re not going to hit it over the net,” the senior outside hitter said. “Instead of hitting it our best, we take it easy and just get it over the net.”For East, Forest and Madden each had 14 kills. Defensive libero Jenny Rank had 41 digs in a glittering performance, and it was her clean passes off those digs that resulted in some big plays at the net by her teammates.
“It’s so helpful because you know you can count on her,” Madden said. “If the ball’s coming to her, you’re not afraid because you know she’s going to pass it up. It’s really nice to have a libero like that.”
It didn’t take long to figure out Tuesday’s match was going to be another classic SOL war. By the time the two teams were deadlocked 13-13, there had already been 11 ties. The Panthers broke the tie on a Cowan block and went on to open up a 23-18 lead after a Diaz service winner, prompting coach Eric Headley to call a quick timeout.
The timeout effectively killed the Panthers’ momentum.
A Panther miscue was followed by a kill from East’s Grace Patterson. The Panthers went on top 24-21, but Madden delivered back-to-back winners, and a Panther hit into the net knotted the score. Burke gave the Panthers a 25-24 lead with a big kill, but Madden came up with a huge block of a Cowan kill to knot the score.
Another Burke kill put the Panthers on top 26-25, but Madden delivered a kill for East, and a win was in the books after another Quakertown miscue.
“We get down on ourselves,” Cowan said. “We cause a lot of our own errors.”
Game two belonged to Quakertown from beginning to end. The Panthers turned a 4-3 lead into an 11-3 lead. The run began with a Cowan block and featured a six-point service run by Olivia Infante. Included in the run were several East miscues as well as a Jackie Gibat block and winners from Infante and Krista Schlupp.
“In the second game, we weren’t making mistakes,” Mahler said. “In the first game, we made the mistakes. We made the serving errors, we were hitting into the net, and we weren’t putting the ball down.
“In the second game, we played our game. We were letting them make the errors.”
The Panthers rolled to a 25-12 win.
“I think we thought we had it in our pockets already or something,” Madden said. “We were really flat, but I think it helped us gain momentum because we realized we had to push hard.”
The Panthers appeared to carry that momentum into game three, opening up a quick 8-2 lead, but the Patriots came roaring back, pulling to within two (12-10) after a Forest winner. The Panthers went back on top 15-10 after a Burke kill and upped that lead to six after an East miscue.
The Panthers led 22-15 after a Schlupp block, but on this night, no lead was safe. The Patriots pulled to within one (23-22) only to see the Panthers go on top 24-22. A Madden kill knotted the score 24-24, and a pair of Quakertown hitting errors propelled the Patriots to the 26-24 win.
“I told them after the first game – you guys are not confident in yourselves to go in and kill the ball, to go in and swing away,” Mahler said. “They were doing little hits. They didn’t go in to get the kills. That’s what hurt us.”
Game four was another roller coaster ride. The Patriots opened up a 14-9 lead, but the Panthers battled back, rallying to knot the score 20-20 after a Burke kill. They went on top 22-20 after a Diaz service ace, but Forest delivered a kill for the Patriots.
A Madden kill knotted the score 23-23, setting the stage for the fantastic finish and the big Patriot win.
“I think both teams played tight towards the end, and you’ll notice it comes down to who tips it higher and who’s going to dig that tip and put it away,” East coach Eric Headley said. “I’d rather have them swing away, but what are you going to do?
“The girls really took advantage of us making adjustments, and they really took advantage of Quakertown’s mistakes. Quakertown’s a good team. That’s two wins over a quality program. I’m happy with that.”
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