The SOL volleyball season got underway on Tuesday night. Check out all the SOL action. To view photos of the Upper Dublin/North Penn match, please visit the Photo Gallery.
NORTH PENN 3, UPPER DUBLIN 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15)
Despite the loss to graduation of several key players from last year’s squad, expectations are decidedly high for the Knights this season, and they kicked off their season with an impressive sweep of a vastly improved Upper Dublin squad on Tuesday.
“The excitement in the gym – you can tell we’re going to be good this year,” senior Matt Elias said. “We’re working hard, and this year it’s really going to come down to serve receive for us.
“When we serve receive, we have a lot of big guns offensively, so we’re going to get them the ball, and they’re going to pound it down.”
Elias – who will be playing setter at the collegiate level - is one of the players who will be asked to ‘pound it down’ for the Knights this season.
“I really feel that if we’re going to go anywhere this year we really need to use Matt as more of a hitter and let him really run the show,” North Penn coach Tim Moyer said. “He’s going to draw a lot of attention when he’s on, so if he can pass, set, hit, we’re very tough to stop.”
In Tuesday’s season opener, Elias did a little bit of everything, contributing seven kills, five solo blocks and four aces.
“I’m just here to do whatever I need to do to help the team,” he said. “Whatever I can do to make us better – I’m willing to do it.
“Granted, I love setting, but if I need to step in and hit – by all means, I’m willing to do it.”
Moyer has replaced Kevin Eck at the helm, and the first-year coach liked some of the things he saw as Tuesday’s match progressed.
“My concern is us playing our game,” he said. “First match of the season – we were a little emotional in the beginning and got away from our game plan a little bit.
“We just tried to slow them down and have them make good quality volleyball decisions. We have a ton of talent on this team, but if we’re going to give the other team points just by hitting the ball out and serving the ball out, then anybody will play with us at times.
“If we’re patient and allow ourselves to get into a groove and build a lead, we obviously can take more chances. When we’re in the position to take chances, we’re very tough to stop.”
That was the case in Tuesday’s match. In the first two games, the Flying Cardinals, under first-year coach Anthony Moon, gave the Knights all they could handle. The third game belonged to the Knights.
“In the third game, you could really see us start to make the right decisions and go to the right spots, especially on the broken plays,” Moyer said. “What I’m really concerned about is us making the right decisions at the right time.
On the other side of the court, Moon – himself a player on Upper Dublin’s first varsity team 12 years ago - is looking to change the fortunes of a struggling program.
“Honestly, we don’t have a volleyball culture at Upper Dublin,” he said. “These other schools – I don’t know what they do, but the kids think it’s ‘cool’ to be a volleyball player.
“At Upper Dublin, we have other things. Volleyball is not one of them.”
A pair of Flying Cardinals – seniors Dror Barket and Brian Day – played club in the offseason, a positive step for the program.
“We’re building more of a culture,” Moon said. “Even above the physical skill set, I think just the mentality of how to approach the game is what I have been trying to work on.
“We have a lot of new guys, guys that the only time they pick up a volleyball is in February. It’s just a mindset and just the culture is what I’m trying to build.”
Moon acknowledged that he was disappointed to see his squad lose in three to the Knights after extending Quakertown to five games in their opening match on Friday.
“In our first two scrimmages and our first match against Quakertown, we looked really good,” the first-year coach said. “I know North Penn is always good, so I was concerned about them because they’re always a great team.
“However, I honestly believed we would be able to contend today. Losing 3-0 was definitely not an expectation of mine.”
The Flying Cardinals certainly kept things interesting for a while. In game one, they led 7-6 after a Bareket kill, but Zach Gery answered with a winner for the Knights to knot the score. An Elias service ace put the Knights on top 12-9, but Day made it a two-point game with a kill. The Knights extended their lead to 17-12 after an Upper Dublin passing error, but the Flying Cardinals, benefitting from back-to-back North Penn hits out of play, made it a 17-15 game.
A tip for a winner by Andy Willits gave the Knights a three-point edge, but when a remarkable dig by Upper Dublin libero Jake Komins of a monster Elias kill attempt ricocheted off a Knight player for a winner, the Cardinals were once again within two.
“They were real scrappy defensively,” Elias said. “We really had to work for our points.”
An Elias block sparked a 4-0 Knight run that culminated with a Mark Elias service ace, prompting Moon to call a timeout with his team on the short end of a 22-16 score. The Cardinals would get no closer than five the rest of the way as the Knights rolled to a 25-18 win.
In game two, the Cardinals led 5-4 after a Day kill, but a Gery tip knotted the score, and a Willits kills put the Knights on top 6-5. It was still a one-point game after a Jake Gibbons kill (9-8).
The Knights went on top 15-10 after a Matt Elias service ace. The Cardinals still trailed by just two (21-19) when Elias delivered a kill and followed that with a service winner and yet another kill. The Flying Cardinals were not heard from again, falling 25-20.
Game three belonged to the Knights, who turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 lead. They led 18-9 after a kill by Scott Dickenson, and the Flying Cardinals never threatened.
“We came out initially with a lot of emotion,” Elias said. “It was our first match, and we really wanted to make a statement.
“Personally, I think we were a little overexcited. We were trying to bounce balls when the set wasn’t there, and we were trying to force things, but as the match went on, we started to settle down a little bit and our serve receive solidified a lot, so that took care of a lot of problems in itself.
“Plus, we started figuring out what they were doing and what we wanted to do in terms of our lineup. That match was really about adjusting on our side.”
For the Knights, Willits also contributed seven kills and one ace. Dickenson, back in the lineup after being sidelined all of last season, was a presence in the middle, contributing six kills, three solo blocks and one ace. Freshman setter Mark Elias, the brother of Matt, handed out 12 assists.
“Playing with my brother is going to be great,” Matt Elias said. “He’s the man, so I’m looking forward to it.”
While the Flying Cardinals saw their record fall to 0-2, the Knights are 1-0.
“I’m looking forward to a good season,” Moyer said. “We have a very athletic team, a crazy athletic team.
“Once we all get on the same page and everybody is making the right decisions and we’re playing our game, we’re going to be tough to stop. I’m very much looking forward to hopefully a long season.”
Bareket led the Flying Cardinals at the net with 10 kills and two blocks while Brian Shim handed out 16 assists and also had three aces.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, NESHAMINY 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-15)
The Indians received a balanced attack in their win over the Redskins. Dan Ford contributed seven kills to go along with 16 assists while Christian Kiselica had six kills. Chris Richards and Tyler Burns both had five kills, and Dan Rafalovitch had 15 assists.
“We started off a little slow,” coach Susan Kim said. “We were down the majority of the first set, but we came back at the end. I was happy that they stayed in it. They didn’t give up, and they stayed calm the entire time.
“It took them a while to get riled up, but they finally got it together. Neshaminy didn’t let up. They played hard.”
PENNRIDGE 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-17)
Ryan Chinnici had a big night for the Rams, contributing nine kills, three blocks, six aces and seven digs. Teammate Evan Jacoby added seven kills, two blocks and two aces while Erik Moyer had five kills. Austin McVaugh had 24 assists, five digs and two aces. Christian Lizana led the defense with eight digs.
For the Panthers, Ryan Mease had a team high nine kills. Casey Rosbenner (five kills), Nick Grossov (four kills) and Mike Whittington (three kills) also made important contributions. Setter Nate Stout was credited with 16 assists.
The Rams are ranked fourth in the first PVCA State Volleyball Rankings.
SOUDERTON 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-10)
Chris Kluka led a balanced Souderton attack with eight kills and four blocks while teammates Tim Jones (seven kills, three aces), Ryan Davison (seven kills, two blocks) and Andrew Diesel (seven kills) also came up big. Defensively, the Indians were led by the 18-dig effort of Greg Mazza.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-15)
Nick Bennett had a big night at the net for the Patriots, delivering 15 kills and one block. Teammate Kyle Dolf added eight kills. Defensively, the Patriots were led by the 12-dig efforts of Colby Tallia and Dolf while Mike Donovan added 11 digs.
ABINGTON 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-22)
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