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PERKASIE – The 2010 volleyball season was only five days old when Pennridge played host to neighboring North Penn on Tuesday night. Surely, there’s no such thing as a key match on the fifth day of the season.
Or is there?It certainly felt like a key match as the neighboring schools entertained fans with their own version of ‘Can you top that?’
Early on, it looked as though the Knights might be too tall for the defending conference champion Rams as they controlled play at the net, but in the end, the Rams had too much big game experience to let this one slip away, earning a hard-fought 3-1 win over the pesky Knights (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17).
“We definitely underestimated them and didn’t come out strong enough,” Pennridge junior setter Will Jager said. “We felt like we knew we had it in the bag, but they definitely came out with a lot more emotion than we did.
“We eventually got it in our heads that we needed to step up and play or else it was going to be a long night. We got our heads back in the game. We got some kills and blocks that got our spirits back up and got on a roll from there.”
Jager kept the Knights guessing by spreading the wealth to a long line of Ram hitters – all of whom delivered. Senior Austin Jacoby led the way with 20 kills while Zech States had 14 kills and eight aces. Sophomore Erik Moyer had 10 kills while Mike Shenk had six kills and three blocks and Cory Chinnici, three kills, three blocks. Jake Braun led the defense with 18 digs.
“I liked that Will was spreading the ball around,” Pennridge coach Dave Childs said. “He’s gotten a lot better – he’s a strong setter. He’s smart – he got our middles going and spread the outside, which is what we want him to do.”
By spreading the ball around, it opened things up for the Rams’ big guns – Jacoby and States, who were pretty much kept under wraps in game one.
“I think they keyed on us early, and that was probably their game plan,” Jacoby said. “With Mike, Erik and Cory swinging hard, it really helped because they couldn’t just key on me and Zech because other people were putting the ball away.
“I think that really opened up things for me and Zech, and it really helped that everyone contributed.”
On the other side of the net, senior Kyle Sinding was having a big night for North Penn, matching Jacoby with a game-high 20 kills. Bhavit Vora added 11 kills while Chris Davidson had eight kills. Sophomore setter Matt Elias had 32 assists, and the defense was led by Kevin Cannon with 16 digs while Matt White was credited with 11 blocks.
One thing was certain - the Knights served notice that they will be a force to contend with in the Continental Conference.“They came in here expecting to beat us real easily,” Sinding said. “We came out tonight and we wanted to bring our intensity at a high level.
“It disappeared a little after the first game. We’re just getting into the season, and I think as we go on, we’ll be better and better.”
The Knights showed off their firepower in game one. They went on top 2-1 on a Scott Dickenson kill and led 8-5 after a Davidson kill. A Vora kill made it an 11-7 game, and they led 14-11 after a Sinding kill hit the tape and rolled in for a winner.
A Jacoby kill was followed by back-to-back service aces from States, knotting the score. The Knights went on to open up a 19-15 lead after a resounding block at the net by Vora and Elias, prompting Childs to call a hasty timeout.
Shenk delivered a kill out of the timeout, but Vora answered with a block. The Knights opened up a 24-18 lead after an ace down the line by Vora, but the Rams began to gain momentum they would not lose, reeling off four unanswered points to make it a 24-22 game before Sinding closed out the game with a big kill.
“I think we just thought we were going to roll over them, and that’s the wrong approach to take in volleyball,” Jacoby said. “You never want to say it’s good to lose a game, but I think that was a wake-up call we needed.
“I think losing that first game helped us more than it hurt us because it woke us up. I thought we came ready to play, but losing that first game showed us, ‘Hey, we could lose tonight. We have to pick things up,’ and that’s what we did.”
In game two, the Rams opened up a quick 5-2 lead after back-to-back kills by Moyer, and they still led 15-10 after another Moyer kill. The Rams went on top 18-12 after a net serve by the Knights. They led 24-19 after a States kill before the Knights cut the lead to three. Jacoby finished it out with a kill for game point.“Volleyball really is a head game with me,” Jacoby said. “I tend to get frustrated when I hit a couple of balls out, and that’s not what I need to do to help my team.
“After the first game, I was really frustrated, and that only hurts us. I pulled the guys in and said, ‘Hey look, I’m going to pick things up. Everybody is going to pick things up. We’re just going to be positive for the rest of the game. No more negativity.’ They look to us to be leaders, so it really helps to stay positive. That’s what I tried to do the rest of the game.”
In game three, the Rams led 4-2 after a Chinnici kill, but the Knights - after knotting the score 5-5 – used a five-point service run by Sinding to go on top 10-5. Included in that run was a pair of White blocks as well as a Davidson kill and a back row kill by Sinding.
A Chinnici kill broke the Knights’ momentum, but the Rams still trailed by 14-12 until back-to-back kills by States knotted the score 14-14. Jacoby delivered a kill out of the timeout, and Moyer came up with a block to put the Rams on top by two.
“Coming in, our plan was to spread the ball around and use Zech and Austin as little as we could, but we started forcing stuff, and the middles weren’t working,” Jager said. “We resorted to going back to Zech and Austin because we know they can get kills.
“Once we got Cory going weakside and got our middles going, it definitely made it easier for everyone to get kills.”
The Knights led 17-16 after a Sinding block, and they still led by one (19-18) when States stepped to the service line and – after a Knight hit into the net – reeled off four straight aces, putting the Rams on top 23-19 and giving them momentum they would not lose. Jacoby put an exclamation point on the win with a kill for game point.
“That (serving run) was really key, especially in this scoring system,” Childs said. “If you want to win a match, you have to go on a serving run, and that’s what separated us tonight. We’re going to get everyone’s best effort. I told them – we have to play every game.”The Knights opened up a 6-3 lead in game four after a Jacoby kill, and they upped that lead to five (11-6) after a Jacoby kill. They went on top 16-9 after a Knight passing error and led 21-14 after States – on first contact – delivered a kill on a Knight free ball. The Rams never looked back, rolling to the 25-17 win.
“We want to earn our points, and we want the other team to earn their points,” North Penn coach Kevin Eck said. “When we don’t pass well and give free balls, we’re earning their points for them. They have a good opportunity to smash the ball right back at us, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
“I certainly am not taking anything away from our guys. Defensively, we did exactly what we wanted to do. We blocked a lot of balls down, guys were digging balls. Let’s face it – they’re our target. They’re the conference champions. We’ll play them again. We’ll make some adjustments.”
Stay tuned!
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