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QUAKERTOWN – In the midst of a jubilant post-game celebration scene, Neshaminy’s Ethan Chase shouted to no one in particular, “Not a bad way to finish out our senior year, baby.”
The Redskins had just defeated highly regarded Pennridge 2-0 (25-20, 25-19), and as endings go, the Redskins’ first place finish in the Quakertown Tournament was just about as good as it gets.
“This means a lot,” Chase said. “We are the only team in Neshaminy history to win two tournaments.”
The road to the title game included the Redskins compiling a 7-1 mark in pool play, thanks to 2-0 wins over Lower Merion, Liberty and Masterman with their only loss in a split with Pennridge. By merit of a tiebreaker, the Redskins’ were the winners of their pool while Pennridge – with an identical 7-1 mark – finished second.
“We knew our pool would be one of the toughest pools,” Chase said. “We just had to keep our heads. A lot of us have been together for three years, so we had to keep our cool and good fundamentals. We had to put the ball down – pass, set, spike.”
In the quarterfinals, Neshaminy defeated Emmaus in a one-game playoff while Pennridge downed William Tennent (25-21).
In the semifinals, Pennridge defeated Souderton 2-0 (25-23, 25-16) while the Redskins knocked off Council Rock North 2-1, setting the stage for the title match between Neshaminy and Pennridge.
“The key today was teamwork,” said assistant coach Kevin Roode, who was filling in for Craig Schneider. “Everybody played together as a team.
“We always had the parts – they always had the talent, but we never really played as a team before today. Today I think they really reached their full potential. They blocked better than I have ever seen them block today.”
Talk to Ethan Mawhinney, who led the Redskins with 43 kills to go along with five aces and a team-high 15 blocks, and he says it was an unexpected block that ignited the Redskins in the final.
“There was a lot of intensity on both sides of the net, and the whole time it could’ve gone either way,” the Redskins’ middle hitter said. “The most definitive part of the second game – at which (point) we knew we were going to win – was when setter Brent Jamison put up a ONE-HANDED block and definitively threw down the ball.
“At that point, we all had overwhelming intensity and confidence that Pennridge just couldn’t stop.”
Jamison was credited with eight blocks, nine kills, four aces and 84 assists. Chase, who plays opposite, had 25 kills, 13 aces and six blocks.
“Ethan Chase was probably team MVP today,” Roode said. “Every ball he got set hit the floor.
“Ethan Mawhinney had a lot of great blocks and a lot of great kills. Ryan Vaccaro passed really well and had a lot of key kills, and Brent Jamison probably had a thousand assists today.”
Vaccaro had 13 kills, three aces, 11 digs and two blocks.
“It’s amazing,” Vaccaro said. “Everyone on our team really pulled through. We knew this year could be something special, and we’re really making something special out of it, so it’s really a great feeling.”
Others making important contributions were middle hitter Greg Korhonen (seven kills, 12 blocks) and defensive libero Greg Schumann (24 digs).
“I have been playing since ninth grade, and I knew we had the ability to win,” Mawhinney said. “It’s a matter of execution. In the past, we would get to the semis in tournaments, and we stopped playing well.
“Today we came out, executed and did our job and got the job done. Our passing was pretty good, and when it came down to it, our hitters were throwing the balls down. Our blocking was awesome. When you block a ball and it goes straight down, there’s nothing better. There’s no feeling better than that.”
As in all tournaments, it’s the team with legs at the end that has the advantage.
“We do a lot of endurance training,” Vaccaro said. “It was definitely good we had the energy we had in the last game, but personally, I thought our defense won us the games.
“We have the best hitters in the league, I think, and everyone all around can hit, but our defense was outstanding. We barely let them put a ball down that we didn’t get our hands on, so defense was key.”
Pennridge was led by Zech States (51 kills, 27 digs, nine aces) and Austin Jacoby (34 kills, 14 digs). John Algeo (21 kills, 15 blocks), Ben Nyce (13 kills, 10 blcoks), Jake Braun (19 digs) and Will Jager (109 assists) also came up big for the Rams.
“Pennridge is 12-0, and they’re a very good team in the league,” Mawhinney said. “Once we get into districts we know we can play up, and we can hang with any team we play against.
“This (win) got us the medals. We knew Rock would be a tough opponent, and we knew coming into this final game that this was it, and we had to get the job done.”
“Everybody on this team believed we could win as soon as we got on the bus this morning,” Roode said.
And that belief as well as standout play led the Redskins to a tournament crown. Earlier this year, Neshaminy won the title at the Reading Tournament.
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