Upper Dublin defeated Neshaminy to earn the program first ever trip to the District One 3A title game. Photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos.
#2 UPPER DUBLIN 3, #3 NESHAMINY 1 (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-17)
The Flying Cardinals – who made history by capturing the program’s first conference title – continued to make history, defeating the visiting Redskins in Tuesday’s District One 3A semifinal to earn the program’s first ever trip to the district title game. In what has been a season of firsts, the Cardinals also have punched their ticket to the state tournament for the first time.
Both teams gave the large crowd in attendance plenty to cheer about, but in the end, the night belonged to the Cardinals.
“The atmosphere was electrifying,” coach Paul Choi said. “It was a fun environment. The fans got into it. There was a lot of cheering. It was just a loud gym.
“Every season you have goals to make it to playoffs, have a winning record, win the conference. Winning the conference is something that we’ve been pushing for. We’ve been close – we’ve been second a few times, and then COVID happened. It was more so, ‘Hey, we have the opportunity to play. Don’t take it for granted.’ We still keep these goals in mind because we want to play with high expectations.”
The Cardinals were strong out of the gate, winning the first two sets before dropping the third and then winning the fourth.
“Tonight was probably one of the best matches I’ve seen them play, so that was awesome,” Choi said. “Right from the get-go, they came out with a lot of fire, a lot of energy.
“The third set we were a little bit out of system so we made a little bit more errors. The scores show that, but they regrouped, they never lost their confidence. They kept attacking. They executed the game plan very well tonight.”
Trevor Molloy’s 17 kills led the Cardinals at the net. He also had 12 digs, one ace and one assist. David Levin added 11 kills, 17 digs, three aces and one assist while Colin Dowdell had five kills and six blocks. Sean Bainbridge led the defense with 21 digs and one assist, and Sean Seabrook had 10 digs, one ace and one kill. Setter Spencer Beidner had a busy night, finishing with 43 assists, 20 digs, two aces, three kills and two blocks.
“Everyone is contributing in some way or form, and I think that’s what’s special about this team,” Choi said. “We’re pretty deep. Everyone is able to step up, and each night it might be a different person.
“My outsides have been very consistent, but the middles can get hot. The right side does a great job more on the defensive end. Everyone has their role, and they kind of roll with it.
“Everything just aligned. The kids work hard. I’ve never seen a team so into it. Their chemistry is just through the roof. Everyone is there for each other, and that’s what makes this team so great.”
For the Redskins, setter Nick Storz (30 assists, two kills, one ace, three digs, one block) spread the ball around. Kieran Edwards (eight kills, three blocks), Josh Clendening (eight kills), Paul Allen (six kills, three digs, one block), Josh Hamilton (six kills, seven digs) and Ben Clendening (five kills, one dig, one block) all made important contributions. Jesse Kovaschetz (11 digs, one assist) and Stephen Fario (10 digs) led the defense. Josh Adler and Aaron Benjamin chipped in with one dig each. Benjamin also had an ace.
Upper Dublin (21-1, 13-1 SOL) will host Pennridge in Thursday’s District One 3A title game.
“We’re excited,” Choi said. “We know Pennridge – they’re in our conference. This will be our third time playing. We know it’s going to be a tough one, but we’re grateful to be in this position.”
Neshaminy (15-3, 10-2) will travel to Council Rock North with the winner earning the final state tournament berth.
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