The top two seeds held true in the District One AAA Tournament. Top-seeded Pennridge – the defending district champion – will face second-seeded Council Rock North in the district title match at Council Rock South High School on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Souderton and Christopher Dock will face each other in the third place game at 6 p.m.
#2 Council Rock North 3, #3 Souderton 0 (25-19, 25-18, 26-24)
HOLLAND - Revenge was sweet indeed for Council Rock North.
It turns out none of the players had forgotten it was Souderton that sent the Indians packing in last year’s consolation game for the third and final berth in the state tournament. On Tuesday, it was payback time.
Five days earlier Rock North had settled the score with a Pennsbury squad that upended the Indians in last year’s district semifinals.
“This is really great because last year we were really disappointed with what we did,” senior co-captain Hunter Stevens said. “We had a tough time with Pennsbury in the semifinals last year, and then we had Souderton for third place to get to states.
“Having Pennsbury last week and Souderton this week – it was a good revenge factor for us.”
The win propelled the Indians into Thursday’s title match against defending district champion Pennridge, and according to senior co-captain John Whitman, winning a district title has been on the team’s mind for a long, long time.
“Last year the last day – they sat us all down to fill out a sheet that said – what are your goals for the next year,” Whitman said. “It was – beat Pennsbury, win the league and win districts.
“It’s amazing to me how from that point we had our sights set on this, so even in the summer when we were just playing around, we kind of had our sights set on this idea in our heads that everything matters up to this point, and tonight was just another step that we had to take in order to achieve that goal.”
Rock North had little difficulty winning the first two games, rolling to a 25-19 win in game one and then opening up a 12-4 lead in game two after Eric Stettner delivered a back row kill.
“A lot of times it’s about attitude,” Whitney said. “Seeding doesn’t really mean anything at this point.
“We came out feeling pretty good, and once you get a lead, you just keep pushing and pushing.”
Rock North still led 18-10 after a Whitney block and went on to earn a 25-18 win, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
“I think when we come out to play – we haven’t see Souderton all season – we have to always worry about what we’re doing, making sure we’re playing our game,” Rock North coach Susan Kim said. “Being aggressive is something that has helped us all season.
“Our biggest focus was to go out there and play our game, so that’s what we did tonight.”
The Indians, meanwhile, were struggling to find their game.
“I think we were timid at first,” Souderton senior Cody Leatherman said. “They’re a good opposite hitting team, and we didn’t do a good job covering their opposites. We got a couple of blocks, but it wasn’t enough against their diverse hitters.
“We came out real cold, and our passing was really bad. We didn’t really have an answer for them.”
Souderton extended Rock North to the limit in game three, turning a 5-3 deficit into a 9-7 lead after a Leatherman kill. The Indians led 17-14 after a Leatherman block, prompting the Indians to call a timeout.
Garrison Lovely broke Souderton’s run with a kill from the middle, but Leatherman answered with a kill for the Indians. Back-to-back kills by Nick Siokalo and Stevens made it an 18-17 game, and when the Indians delivered a block at the net, the two teams were deadlocked 18-18.
A Leatherman kill out of a timeout put the Indians on top by one, but Stevens answered with a kill for the Indians. Back-to-back kills by Stevens and Ryan Garven put Rock North on top 24-21, but Souderton rallied to knot the score, sparked by a Trevor Bishop kill and a Leatherman block.
Souderton was whistled for a carry, and Rock North won it on a Garven kill for match point.
“It was disappointing,” Souderton coach Brad Garrett said. “I don’t think we played with the intensity and the heart we have played with the last few matches.
“One of the things we thought we had an advantage with was ball control against Council Rock North. They’re a big team – good blockers and a good hitting team, but we have been passing the ball really well, and that was one of the things we could have done to outplay them, and we didn’t.
“They out-controlled the ball with us. They out-set us, they out-hit us, and they out-blocked us. Anyone who has been to our last few matches knows we took a step back in terms of our game play. It’s disappointing to get to a big game like this where so much is on the line, and you just don’t have your ‘A’ game.”
It didn’t help, according to Garrett, that his team was playing without a whole lot of fan support.
“None of our student body was here,” he said. “Against North Penn, we really had a good cheering section that was encouraging to our players.
“That’s certainly not an excuse. We have to generate the energy on the court, but it’s a long drive for us, and we didn’t have the support of the student body that we’ve had at our home district games. The reality is we have to be able to step up on the road. The whole state tournament is played on the road.”
Leatherman acknowledged that the absence of fan support had an effect on the Indians’ play.
“We do a good job in our own gym when we have our fans, and we have support behind our backs,” he said. “It’s disappointing. We definitely needed some people behind our backs in this one.”
According to Stevens, it was not Rock North’s high-powered offense that was the difference in Tuesday’s match but rather the Indians’ defense.
“Our defense was really great,” the George Mason-bound middle hitter said. “We have been working on it in practice every day. We have been pounding balls at our defense, and our defense has been getting them up.
“I think our defense has improved the last few games, and that helps our offense get better swings, which we haven’t always been having, and that makes it harder for the other team to dig it up.”
Rock North continues to make history. It is the first time since the school split that the Indians have advanced to the district final.
“I think this means a lot,” Kim said. “It was Souderton that knocked them out of states last year.
“It means something to the school, to the boys – knowing what we set our goals out to be and accomplishing them one by one. We’re doing it one step at a time.”
“It’s awesome,” Stevens added. “I was just in (the district final) for basketball at Villanova, so that was a great success. Being here again – we lost in districts there, so I’m hoping to get a victory whoever we play against on Thursday.”
Garven led the Indians at the net with 14 kills and nine digs while Stevens added 10 kills and seven blocks. Whitman had 25 assists, five kills and three blocks. Dan Ford had 18 assists, seven kills, six digs and two blocks. Stettner had a team-high 13 digs while Chris Richards had 11 digs to lead the Indians’ defense.
Souderton was led by Leatherman with 11 kills and three blocks. Bishop added eight kills. Christian Benner had 11 digs, and Chris Kluka had four blocks.
#1 Pennridge 3, #5 Christopher Dock 0 (25-18, 25-17, 31-29)
HOLLAND - There wasn’t much of a celebration after the Rams swept the Pioneers in three straight in Tuesday’s district semifinal match.
Perhaps that’s because the Rams won’t be satisfied until they defend a district title they own. Some of it also had to do with the fact that they weren’t especially happy to be extended to the limit in the third game after rolling to relatively easy wins in the first two.
“It was just stupid stuff – serving in the net, not great passes, not great sets,” senior setter Matt Trumbower said. “That causes hitting errors.”
Coach Dave Childs echoed those sentiments.
“Just too many stupid errors,” the Rams’ coach said. “We need to finish matches, and we don’t do that well at all.
“In general, we haven’t been doing that. Again, we just struggled finishing the match.”
The Rams may have struggled to finish the match, but they proved they knew how to finish in the first two games.
In game one, the Pioneers pulled to within one (16-15) after a Travis Moyer kill, but the Rams went back on top 20-16 after a Mike Shenk kill. An Erik Moyer kill made it a 24-17 game, and the Rams won it on another Shenk kill.
In game two, the Rams sprinted to a 6-0 lead and led 15-5 after a Dock hitting error. Shenk followed that with a block and a kill to put the Rams on top 17-5 only to watch the Pioneers go on a 12-8 tear before Shenk closed out the game with a kill.
“We’re the ones that have to defend something,” senior libero Jake Braun said. “The other teams have nothing to lose. Teams see us as a threat this year.
“We did pretty good in the season, so Dock comes out with nothing to lose because they’re the underdogs.”
Playing with a renewed sense of confidence, Dock gave the Rams all they could handle in the third game. The Rams led 12-6 after a Shenk kill, and they still led 15-9 after another Shenk kill. The Pioneers pulled to within two (15-13) and still trailed by two later in the game (22-20).
It looked as though the Rams were home free after Derek Rush delivered an ace just inside the end line, putting the Rams on top 24-20. The Pioneers – benefitting from three consecutive Ram miscues – rallied to knot the score 24-24.
The Rams had a chance to close it out after a Dock hit in the net, but a hitting error of their own made it a 25-25 game. Dock had game point (26-25) after a Ram hitting error, but Shenk delivered a kill to knot the score.
A Travis Moyer kill put the Pioneers on top 27-26, but this time Matt Beck answered with a tip for a winner.
“Matt Beck was really effective from the middle,” Childs said. “He flies under the radar but does a nice job every time out.”
Dock led 29-28 after a Ram net serve, but Kemmerer delivered a kill to knot the score. Another Kemmerer kill was followed by a Moyer kill for match point, and the Rams were back in the district final for the third consecutive year.
“It’s great to be in the district championship game, but it’s kind of like the whole season we were expecting to be district champions, and I guess that’s a really bad thing,” senior Jake Braun said. “That’s why we end up in games like game three of this match where we fall apart and we don’t finish it out well.
“We had similar games throughout the season that we thought we’d just cruise through, and we can’t do that.”
Statistically, Braun led the defense with 16 digs while Trumbower handed out 34 assists. Shenk led the attack with 15 kills while Erik Moyer had 10 kills and four blocks. Derek Kemmerer had six kills and four aces, and Beck had six kills out of the middle. Kalin Nelson added four kills and six digs to a balanced attack.
“I can set anybody, and they will put the ball away,” Trumbower said. “I don’t even remember who hit the last ball.”
It was Moyer, but no one was worried about that. The Rams had more important things on their minds – like Thursday’s district final match against a Council Rock North squad they edged to capture the title in the Dallastown Tournament.
The key, according to the players, is simple.
“Staying intense and making sure we’re on top of our game,” Braun said. “We haven’t had too many matches throughout the season where we’ve played the way we should, but Council Rock North was one of the games we actually showed up.
“I hope we can do it again on Thursday.”
“They’re a big team,” Trumbower added. “They have good blockers, so if we can somewhat match that with what we have, we’ll be good because that’s what we did at Dallastown. Our blocking was so much better than it was all season.”
The Rams know that anything less than their best will not be good enough on Thursday.
“(We need) to bring some intensity and the mental game,” Childs said. “We have the talent to play well, but we have to bring the intensity and the mental game to play too.
“We have to play smart against a team like that. We have to hit around them and through them. We’re not going to hit over them too often. We have to be creative offensively. I think if we go out and play our game, we’ll be fine. That’s what we have to focus on.”
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