Pennridge defeated the top-ranked Central Dauphin in the semifinals and extended second-ranked Chambersburg to five games before falling in Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA Tournament.
The 2012 Pennridge volleyball team made history this weekend.
No, the Rams didn’t win the state title, but they certainly made believers out of everyone on their way to a second place finish in the PIAA Class AAA Tournament at Penn State University, notching one big win after another and proving they are indeed among the elite high school programs in the state.
“This was our goal from the beginning of the year,” coach Dave Childs said. “We fell a little bit short, but it was definitely a successful season.
“Another coach said to me – this was the hardest path possible to get to the finals. We won the district and we get Hempfield. We beat them and then get put in that tough pool. We come out of that and play the number one team in the state and then play Chambersburg.
“Even when Derek (Rush) left on Friday, Evan (Jacoby) and Ian (Kehs) stepped in and contributed. Mike (Bollinger) had a huge weekend. Really, everyone just stepped up. We went down swinging. We made errors in game five, but we went for it, and we went down swinging. You can’t fault them for that.”
The Rams - who held a 2-1 edge in games in Saturday’s title game against Chambersburg - led 23-22 in game four after a Trojan hit out of play. Just two points separated the Rams from a state crown, and the Trojans, recognizing it was do-or-die, called a hasty time-out.
It paid immediate dividends.
A Ram serving error was followed by a mishit, and momentum - so crucial in the sport of volleyball – began slipping away. A Trojan kill gave Chambersburg the win and, and suddenly, the match was deadlocked at 2-2.
“That was kind of a downer for the last game,” senior Kalin Nelson said. “We were two points away from winning the state title and then we lost.
“We still had a chance, but it kind of crushed us, and we didn’t come out strong in the fifth game.”
The Rams opened the winner-take-all fifth game with a pair of hitting errors and then were victimized by a Trojan serve that rolled off the tape for an ace, giving Chambersburg a quick 3-0 lead.
It was not the start the Rams were hoping for in a 15-point game.
“You have to play perfect after that to win the match,” Childs said. “You can’t afford to start slow, especially against a team like that and expect to be able to come back. In a 25-point game, we have a shot in that game, but 15 points – that’s really tough.”
The Rams made it a 3-2 game after Erik Moyer and Derek Rush combined for a block, and it was still a one-point game (6-5) after a line kill by Nelson. A costly serving error and a Trojan kill gave Chambersburg an 8-5 edge, and the Rams would get no closer than two the rest of the way as the Trojans went on to capture the state crown.
“It seemed like in the fifth game, we kind of backed off a little bit,” senior Ryan Chinnici said. “They had a lot of momentum from game four. That was the game we really needed to win. Whoever won that game was really going to have momentum, and in such a short game, it’s all about momentum.”
“It was disappointing because we fought back in (the fourth) game,” Childs added. “We were down (8-2) at one point, and to come fighting back and then take the lead late only to lose – it’s disappointing, but you have to give Chambersburg credit. They closed it out, and they earned the points.”
Earlier in the match, the Rams showed their mettle, rallying from a 14-9 deficit in game one to earn a 25-23 win.
“We started serving better, and it led to them not passing as well,” Nelson said. “They just kind of had to get it over the net instead of taking a really big swing at it, and that gave us a chance to really go back at them.
“We had a couple of good runs, and that really helped boost our confidence. We finished the game strong.”
Childs acknowledged that winning game one was huge.
“Especially to come back like we did,” the Rams’ coach said. “We figured out their blocking a little bit. They’re very big – they’re a huge team, and they hit very high. Mike (Bollinger) and Erik (Moyer) did a great job on their middles, and that’s what really helped us win.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I told Erik, ‘You have number eight (6-8 Mitch Stahl). He’s going to get his kills, and you’re going to get your kills.’ I’m going to put my best on your best and see what happens, and Erik really came through. He really stepped up and did a great job on him. He got his kills too.”
The Trojans regrouped to win game two 25-20, but the Rams came roaring back in game three. They led 5-3 after a Chinnici tip. A Bollinger kill made it a 9-6 game, and they still led by three (11-8) after a Rush kill. A Moyer kill gave the Rams a 13-9 advantage, and they stretched that lead to 21-14 after a back row kill from Nelson.
“He was swinging real well out of the back row,” Childs said. “He’s that guy we give the ball to when we need a kill.
“That’s what I’ve been saying to the guys all season and for the past how many years that I’ve been coaching – ‘You have to go for it, you’ve got to swing. You can’t play not to lose. You have to go earn it.’ You have to be smart, but you have to be aggressive. That’s why I made a switch to Kolby Smith serving for Erik, and he went on a couple nice runs for us. I wanted more aggressive serving.”
Libero Christian Lizana served for the final three points of game three, which included a pair of Moyer kills.
Moyer had seven of his team-high 17 kills in the third game.
“Erik Moyer in the middle did a fantastic job,” Nelson said. “He probably blocked that kid (Stahl) 15 times in the game. Maybe not quite that many, but he had a lot of big blocks on him.
“They weren’t necessarily big stuff blocks, but he had touches, and we forced him into a bunch of errors, the third game especially.”
Nelson acknowledged that the way the Rams attacked the game was a key in their success.
“That’s one of the most important things because as soon as you start playing soft, that gives the other team a chance to come back stronger,” he said. “The harder we play, the softer they’re going to play.
“I think that may have been one of the things that lost it for us in the last game. We started playing soft.”
In game four, it looked as though the Rams might go down without much of a fight when they fell behind 8-2, but they battled back, pulling to within two (11-9) after a Nelson block and then service ace. The two teams were deadlocked 11-11, but Chambersburg went back on top 14-11. The score was knotted 17-17, but the Trojans reeled off three straight points, which included back-to-back Stahl kills. A Nelson kill out of the timeout sparked a 6-2 Ram run that included kills by Moyer and Chinnici as well as a Bollinger block. The Rams led 23-22 after a Trojan hit out of play, but they could not close it out.
“It’s a bummer we didn’t win, but we’re happy we made it this far,” Nelson said.
In addition to leading the Rams with 17 kills, Moyer also had seven blocks. Nelson finished the match with 14 kills and 14 digs. Bollinger had eight kills and six blocks, and Rush had nine kills and 12 digs. Chinnici added five kills and 10 digs. McVaugh had 47 assists, 17 digs and floor blocks, and Lizana had 22 digs.
“It’s a tough way to lose,” Chinnici said. “But you have to learn from it. Most of us are looking forward to playing volleyball in the future, and it’s something to learn from.”
***
Pennridge has struggled to win morning volleyball matches.
All that changed on Saturday morning when the Rams delivered a win for the ages, downing Central Dauphin, the state’s top-ranked team, to become the first ever Pennridge squad to earn a spot in state finals.
“Truthfully, we never come out and win before noon ever, but we came out and jumped on them early,” Childs said. “We went up 3-0 in game one, and we pretty much had our way the first two games with them.
“They adjusted and won the next two, which were back and forth games the whole time. We jumped on them early in game five and never looked back. It was very important for us to come out strong right from the beginning, and we haven’t done that in the past.
The Rams defeated Central Dauphin 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 26-28, 23-25, 15-9).
“All day we blocked,” Childs said. “We blocked like crazy. Game five was tied 3-3, and Ryan (Chinnici) or a combination of Ryan and Mike (Bollinger) had three straight stuff blocks to get us to 6-3.
“All day Austin (McVaugh) blocked, our middles blocked. That was what we did best against Central Dauphin. Offensively, they couldn’t really stop us. They slowed us down a little in the later games, but we passed well enough that they couldn’t stop our offense.”
Chinnici echoed that sentiment.
“I know a lot of us stepped up our blocking,” the Rams’ outside hitter said. “And our floor defense – Christian (Lizana) was insane. He dug everything.”
Nelson credited the play of middles Moyer and Bollinger in the win.
“Our middles match up real well against Central Dauphin,” he said. “We have Erik Moyer in the middle, and he was a big part of that. We ran him a lot, and that really helped in the beginning of the game.
“As soon as they realized they had to stop him, it opened up the outside for me, Ryan and Derek. We all had a lot more room in the second, third, fourth and fifth games.”
Moyer (22 kills, 5 blocks) and Nelson (24 kills, 11 digs) had huge performances at the net. Chinnici (11 blocks, 11 digs, 4 kills), Bollinger (eight kills and nine blocks) and Rush (8 kills, 11 digs also had big games at the net. Lizana led the defense with 29 digs and McVaugh had 59 assists.
Although the Rams came up short in their bid for a state crown, it had been quite a ride.
“It was just awesome,” Nelson said. “This is my third year in a row going to Penn State, and it’s the first time I played the second day.
“Two years ago, I was there watching Zech States and Austin Jacoby playing, but today just being out there on the court, it was crazy, it was intense. It was something we have been working really hard for all season, and we were ready for it.”
“This is what we wanted,” Chinnici said. “This is what we have been fighting for all season was to be in that (state title) game, and the fact that we got there is just so exciting.”
The Rams closed out the season with a 24-2 record. Their only two losses came at the hands of Chambersburg.
“It’s been great,” Chinnci said. “The whole high school experience, the whole state experience – it’s been huge. Playing at that level with all the guys I’ve been playing with, and the guys I played with last year were there this weekend.
“The whole experience of everyone coming back was awesome, and all the kids I’m playing with now – it’s been so much fun playing with all these people. I love it.”
Moyer, Nelson and Chinnici were named to the all-tournament team. Souderton’s Chris Kluka also earned a spot on the squad.
To read the game story from PhillyBurbs.com, please click on the following link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/pennridge/pennridge-falls-in-state-final/article_99af8722-241b-59ae-b54d-5a81dbdacc04.html
- Log in to post comments
