The Plymouth Whitemarsh girls’ volleyball team earned a spot in Saturday’s District One 4A final.
The celebration was a long time coming.
Coach Seely Byler doesn’t know when or if Plymouth Whitemarsh has ever earned a spot in the district final, but that was of little consequence. The only thing that mattered was that the Colonials will be playing in the District One 4A title game against Bishop Shanahan on Saturday at Upper Dublin High School.
It’s uncharted territory for a gutsy Colonial squad that fought its way to a 3-1 win over Council Rock North 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21) in a spirited match in front of a packed house on their home court.
“We have almost the same team as last year, and we just improved and matured so much as a team,” senior Lauren Coscia said. “I didn’t imagine we would get this far, but I’m proud that we have.”
“I knew we would be a strong team, but I didn’t know we’d get this far,” senior Olivia Carbo added. “I knew we’d be successful.
“Coming into the season, we were already a strong family, and having that as a base helped us grow stronger on the court. It’s not all about your skills on the court – it’s communicating, bringing other people up in spirit. People overlook that it’s more than just skill. There’s so much more that goes into it, and we’re lucky enough to have it this year.”
The Colonials – who remained perfect on the season – will face top-seeded Bishop Shanahan in Saturday’s title match.
“We’re not a traditional volleyball school, so it’s wonderful to have this success,” Byler said. “We have been a team that’s been able to outlast other teams in tight matches like this. They’re very mentally strong.
“It’s a very unique team in that they can get down by six or seven points and still feel confident to dig out of that hole one point at a time.”
That was the case in Thursday night’s match as the Colonials repeatedly battled back from deficits, none more impressive than the first set with the Indians poised to steal the win with a 23-21 lead only to watch PW rally to earn a 26-24 victory.
The mental toughness, according to Carbo, begins with unwavering support.
“When I see someone getting down, you don’t leave them like that,” she said. “You go over and you build them up because without that one person on the court, everything else is not going to work correctly.
“A lot of it is mental, and we do a good job of making sure everyone is in a good state of mind while they’re playing.”
The Indians came back to win the second set, but the Colonials were unfazed, rallying from an early deficit in the third set to go on top 14-10 after a Lily Acquaviva kill. The Indians pulled to within one after a Morgan Collito kill (21-20), but a block in the middle by Corrine Kalala gave PW a two-point lead. The Indians would get no closer, and the Colonials had a 2-1 lead in the match.
The pivotal fourth set was a war. The Indians opened up a 13-10 lead after a PW passing miscue and went on top 17-13 after a clutch kill by Macenzie Tinner, but once again, the Colonials refused to go away. A Coscia winner that deflected off a block in the middle knotted the score 18-18. PW went on to open up a 20-18 lead.
North pulled to within one after a service ace by Tinner (22-21), but back-to-back Acquaviva kills gave the Colonials a three-point advantage on their way to the win. Coscia served for the final two points.
"When we get up to 20, we want to keep it in - no more service errors because that's the crucial part," she said. "We need to keep pushing, don't stop and don't miss any serves.
"Seely doesn't tell us where to serve. She lets us have our freedom and serve where we like.
"It's crazy. It's been before we were born (since PW went to the district final). We're just so happy we got there."
“This feeling – it’s surreal,” Carbo said. “I don’t remember in all four years of high school having a crowd like that, so it’s pushing me to play better – to go for that ball that is a couple of feet in front of me that I wouldn’t go for if they weren’t cheering me on. The crowd is a big part of it all.”
Acquaviva had a match-high 17 kills while Danielle Rippert had a monster match, finishing with 14 kills and a team-high 28 digs. Carbo added 22 digs while Bridget McTamney and Samantha Ward each had 15. Coscia contributed seven kills in the middle, and Emilee Waltz had 13 digs.
“We’ve always been a very defensive team and a very strong serving team, but the offense is really the difference this year that we’re able to move it around,” Byler said. “We’ve always had strong outsides, but the middles and right sides are picking it up as well.”
For the Indians, Mackenzie Tinner had 11 kills, two aces and three digs. Morgan Collito had 10 kills, 22 digs and one ace. Birdie Ligos added five kills, two aces and 16 digs. Dana Bandurick finished with six kills while Hadley Grundman added three kills. Maddy Moore finished with 21 digs and one ace, and Johanna Batterton had 10 digs.
“They’re a great team,” Rock North coach Mike Adams said of the Colonials. “They play great volleyball.
“They’re obviously very consistent as you can see by the scores. It was evenly matched. I’m proud of the girls. They stuck to our process, they played our game. I’m looking forward to Saturday. They know what they’re capable of doing. They know they’re capable of playing much better volleyball than that. They’re already excited about Saturday and states.”
Council Rock North will face Downingtown West in Saturday’s third place match. The Whippets fell to Shanahan 3-0.
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