To view photos of the CB West/Souderton match, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Central Bucks West 3, Souderton 2 (20-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23, 15-10)
Momentum appeared to be firmly in Souderton’s corner after the Indians earned a 26-24 win in the second game of Monday’s SOL match to take what appeared to be a commanding 2-0 lead over the Bucks.But Colin Baxter and his West teammates had seen enough close matches slip away, and they decided to do something to change that trend, rallying for the emotional come-from-behind win over an Indian squad that brought a 7-1 mark into the match.
“At the beginning of the season, we lost a lot of matches that were really close in five games, and I was sick of it,” Baxter said. “I was just sick of losing the close ones we should have been winning.
“That’s what got me riled up more than anything, and I tried to spread that intensity to the rest of the team.”
So what changed in the third game?
“I think we came in and we knew we could beat them,” sophomore Mike Fehrs said. “I wouldn’t say we were fully confident, but coming from a bad season last year, we really wanted to pick up our intensity and level of play.
“We just wanted to push it to the limit and make the best of it.”
In game three, the Bucks capitalized on some Souderton miscues to open up a 20-12 lead. Souderton pulled to within five (23-18) after a Trevor Bishop kill, and it was 23-19 after a West hitting error, but the Bucks would not be denied. A Baxter kill out of a West timeout was followed by a Zach Clemmer kill for the Indians, but the Bucks won it when Martin Kuna delivered a kill for game point.
Game four was a war.
The Bucks led 5-3 after a Souderton net serve, but the Indians knotted the score 5-5 on an Andrew Diesel kill. A block by freshman Christian Rupert – who finished with 14 blocks – put the Bucks back on top by one.
The Indians regrouped to go on top 11-10, but a Fehrs kill knotted the score. The Indians led 15-11 after setter Alex Long dumped the ball over the net for a winner, and they still led 20-15 after a West miscue, but the Bucks simply refused to go away.
A Rupert kill sparked a 7-0 West run that culminated with a Rupert kill on first touch. The Indians knotted the score on a Diesel winner, but Rupert answered with a block for the bucks. The Bucks closed out the game with back-to-back blocks by Baxter, evening the score 2-2.
“Everybody pulled together as a team and worked hard,” West coach Todd Miller said. “They really turned things around after being down 2-0.
“To do that takes heart. They pulled it out by believing in each other and working hard.”
In the winner-take-all fifth game, the two teams were deadlocked 4-4 after a West hitting error, but the Bucks went on top 5-4 after a Rupert tip. A Souderton hitting miscue was followed by a Rupert block, and the Bucks led 7-4. The Indians pulled to within two (10-8) after a Bishop kill, but a Kuna kill gave the Bucks a three-point edge.
A West serving error was followed by a Souderton serving error, and it remained a three-point game. The two teams once again exchanged hitting errors before Chris Kluka delivered a winner for Souderton to make it a 13-11 game. An Indian serve out of bounds put the Bucks on top 14-11. Clemmer delivered a kill to make it a 14-12 game, but Rupert closed it out with a kill for the big win.
Baxter and Fehrs finished the night with seven kills while senior Scott Finch – West’s libero – led a standout defensive effort with 20 digs.
“We knew that we could get anything up,” Finch said. “That’s the mentality for defense – you can get anything up.
“As long as you’re thinking that, you can do it.”
The win gives the Bucks, who evened their league mark at 4-4, a renewed sense of purpose as they complete the second go-round in their league schedule.
“We want to beat every team that we lost to and then some,” Finch said.
“If we play with the intensity we played with tonight, we know we can,” Baxter said.
According to Miller, this is what the Bucks have been working toward all season.
“This is what we started working toward at the beginning of the season, and because they all work together and are starting to believe each other as a team, they can do this,” the first-year coach said. “This is what happens when they work hard as team.
“It’s all them. They’re the ones out on the court, they’re the ones pulling together to do what they need to do.”
Central Bucks East 3, Upper Dublin 0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-12)
Jeff Wolf led the Patriots with eight kills and four digs while Shane Donovan had four kills, one block and three digs. Mike Donovan led East's defense with 25 digs.
"CB East is a solid team, and we were never able to get on track against them," Upper Dublin coach Matt Ehlers said. "Our passing was not as good as it needs to be, and we could not efficiently get out of serve receive, which cost us too many points and put us in a hole playing catch-up on the scoreboard."
The Flying Cardinals, according to Ehlers, were without several regulars who were away for spring break.
"That forced us to continually juggle out lineup to try and best match up against them," the first-year coach sadi. "I thought everyone on our team played hard, and some of our players stepped up to play in other positions than they're used to playing, filling in for missing players."
Brian Day led the team serving with three points and one ace. Senior Dave An had 11 assists, and junior Brian Shim contributed seven assists. Senior Curtis Carter led the Flying Cardinals at the net with nine kills and seven blocks. Defensively, Jordan Walden led the team with 10 digs, and Brian Day and Jon Lee had seven digs each.
Pennsbury 3, William Tennent 0
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