Pennridge and Pennsbury advanced to Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal round with wins on Tuesday.
#1-1 PENNRIDGE 3, #3-4 DALLASTOWN 2 (25-13, 25-23, 25-16, 30-28, 15-12)
With the outcome of the fourth set as well as the match hanging in the balance, Ben Chinnici saw the play on the opposite side of the net developing and knew exactly what was coming.
“Right when he set that ball, it was pretty tight, and I knew I’d be able to just go up there and grab that ball,” said the Rams’ outside hitter, whose block for set point evened the match at two games apiece. “It takes a huge amount of perseverance when it’s going to extra innings.
“Everyone needs to be calm but at the same time go big and make the play in that situation. You can’t be conservative. That’s what loses points. That was a huge momentum swing for our team to win that fourth set.”
There were momentum swings galore on a night that saw the Rams roll to a win in the opening set only to drop the next two.
“We were blocking great in the first set – we had a ton of blocks,” Chinnici said. “Everyone was serving really well, and we were also playing defense from the block. Those three things were clicking really well in the first set.
“(In the second and third sets), we had some miscommunications between the hitters and setter, and our serve receive was not good at all at any point throughout the second and third game, and it was evident. We just reset and refocused and came out strong in the fourth set, and that’s what we had to do.”
The Rams’ 30-28 win in the fourth set was an emphatic response after falling behind two sets to one.
“We’ve been there before, and the guys know what was happening, why we were a little bit off there,” coach Dave Childs said. “It was ball control issues, some mental lapses, and against a good team, that’s the difference.
“Even if it’s not a close game, that’s the difference in giving them momentum to expand a lead that really shouldn’t be there.”
In the winner-take-all fifth set, the Rams had an early 4-2 lead, but the Wildcats came back to take an 8-6 lead after a Ram hit out of play. They still led 10-8 after a Pennridge serve sailed out of bounds, but a Chinnici kill was followed by a Corey Quaste block that knotted the score.
“A big block in a game like this with a huge crowd – that’s a huge momentum swing for either team,” Chinnici said. “When a team gets a big block like that, it boosts the confidence of the team, and everyone is ready.”
A Ram serving miscue was followed by a mishit on serve receive, and the Wildcats led 12-10, prompting Childs to call a timeout. The Rams dialed Chinnici’s number out of the timeout, and the senior outside hitter delivered, slamming down a kill to pull the Rams to within one. A Wildcat hit out of play knotted the score, and then it was Chinnici slamming home a first contact kill to put the Rams on top 13-12.
“They just passed it a little tight, and I happened to be watching, and those are also huge momentum swings because everyone loves those,” Chinnici said.
A Dallastown hit out of play gave the Rams match point, and on a night that saw the Rams put up 33 blocks, it was senior Josiah Friesen delivering a monster block to win it for the Rams.
Chinnci led the Rams with 26 kills, eight aces and four blocks in another stellar performance.
“He’s such a phenomenal player,” Childs said. “It’s one of those situations – the other team knows where the ball’s going, we know where the ball’s going, everyone in the whole gym knew where the ball was going. It’s just a matter of – can he overpower the block? They had very good blocking in there, especially towards the end, but Ben just comes through.”
Cross Edwards added 15 kills and six blocks, and Friesen had eight kills, 10 digs and five blocks. Zach Detweiler added three kills and eight blocks, and Kevin Jones had two kills and six blocks. Danny Rutter led the defense with 26 digs.
Quaste finished with 48 assists and four blocks and served for the final four points of the match.
“We’re still finding out who we are as a team, and Corey is a big part of that because he’s the one controlling where the ball goes,” Childs said of the Rams’ setter. “We need to get Ben his swings. There are times we lean on him, but we need to get everyone else involved as well to be effective. I think he did a really good job of that.”
While some may have been surprised to see the Rams extended to the limit by District 3’s fourth seed, Chinnici was not in that number.
“District 3 is such a solid district, so we knew even if they were coming out the fourth seed from District 3, they’re going to be a one seed in a lot of other districts,” he said. “I don’t think we were surprised at the level of play these guys brought.”
Pennridge (18-5) will face District 11 champion Emmaus in Saturday’s quarterfinal round at a site and time to be determined.
#1-2 PENNSBURY 3, #12-1 WASHINGTON 0 (25-19, 25-9, 25-19)
#3-1 CENTRAL YORK 3, #1-3 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-14)
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