Pennridge 3, North Penn 2 (28-26, 25-19, 22-25, 19-29, 15-9)
During a timeout early in Thursday night’s winner-take-all fifth game, a player in the Rams’ huddle could be heard exhorting his teammates with the phrase ‘This is our house.’ “That was me,” senior Mike Shenk admitted when it was over.
One fact was clear, the Rams – who have an SOL winning streak approaching 50 games and boast eight seniors on their roster – were not about to lose on their home court on Senior Night.
“It was our Senior Night,” Shenk said. “They’re the best team in our league, and it was definitely a big game.
“We won the first two games, and we were feeling good, but then we started slowing down a little bit. When we get in those huddles, we need to relax a little bit, but we also need to get fired up because our problem is we get down on ourselves, and we don’t play as well. Getting everybody pumped up – that’s really what we needed to fuel ourselves to do better.”
The Rams seized control of the fifth game and never let it go. They led 7-3 after a back row kill from Shenk, prompting a Knight timeout. Chris Davidson delivered a kill out of the timeout to make it a 7-4 game, but Derek Kemmerer answered with a kill for the Rams.
Another Shenk kill made it a 9-4 game, and although the Rams gave that point back with a net serve, they hadn’t lost their momentum. Shenk delivered a monster kill to make it a 10-5 game before Davidson returned the favor with a back row kill of his own.
A Jake Sisko block pulled the Knights to within three, but Shenk once again answered with a kill that put the Rams on top 11-7. The Knights pulled to within three (12-9) after an Evan Thompson kill, but another Shenk kill – this one between a pair of blocks – made it a 13-9 game.
Kalin Nelson’s kill put the Rams on top 14-9, and there would be no denying the Rams, who won it when Kemmerer delivered a kill that ricocheted off a Knight player and into the stands.
“The main thing was just coming out on fire,” Shenk said of his team’s strong showing in the fifth game. “It’s a short game, and the big thing was we needed to come out and play hard.
“They were covering the middles like crazy, so we tried mixing everything up – running the middles around, trying to run some fast shoots outside and just getting everybody the ball because everyone was on fire tonight. As long as we stayed intense, stayed fired up and positive, we did our jobs.”
North Penn coach Kevin Eck pointed to the play of Shenk as key.
“Mike Shenk stepped up big,” he said. “Our game plan was to take their middles out and make the other guys play. Mike did. He stepped up.”
Shenk just returned to action last week after being sidelined for two months with a stress fracture in his left fibula. He showed no ill effects from the injury in Thursday’s win. The senior outside hitter finished with a game-high 16 kills to go along with 13 digs and two blocks.
“I’ve been working hard to get back into it, and I think tonight was definitely a step up for me,” Shenk said.
“It’s nice to have him back,” coach Dave Childs said. “He’s been there before. He’s been a big part of what we’ve done the last two years, so it’s always nice to have someone like that back.”
Shenk certainly had plenty of help.
Kemmerer finished the night with 14 kills and 11 digs while Erik Moyer – the focal point of the Knights’ defense for the better part of the night – also had 14 kills. Ryan Chinnici had eight kills and two blocks, and Matt Beck had six kills. Jake Braun led the defense with 32 digs while setter Matt Trumbower had 54 assists and two aces.
“We spread the ball around,” Childs said. “We’ve done it all year.”
Sisko and Andy Willits led the Knights at the net with 15 kills each. Willits also had 15 digs. Davidson added 10 kills and 23 digs while Mark Kim had a team-high 24 digs. Thompson had five blocks out of the middle for the Knights.
When it was over, the Knights couldn’t help wondering what might have been if they had won the first game – something it looked as though they had done when Thompson laid down what appeared to be a kill that would have given the Knights a 25-23 win. Instead, it was ruled a net violation, and the Rams – who went on to win 28-26 – had life.
“It was all ball,” Knight coach Kevin Eck said. “He blew the call. It was all ball.”
In game two, the Knights trailed from the outset, and it looked like it might be another Ram sweep, but the Knights had other ideas.
Behind the strong service game of junior setter Matt Elias, the Knights came roaring out of the gate in game three. A Ram hit out of play was followed by a Willits kill. Then came a Sisko winner and an Elias service winner. A Thompson block in the middle capped the Knights’ 5-0 run.
The Rams rallied to go on top 18-17 after a block at the net, but Willits answered with a kill, and then Kim delivered a service ace. The Knights won it when Sisko delivered a line kill for game point.
It was more of the same in the fourth game. The Knights trailed 6-3 early but rallied to go on top 12-10 after back-to-back kills by Thompson and Sisko. They upped that lead to 14-10 before Moyer delivered a kill for the Rams.
The Rams made it a 16-14 game after a Moyer ace, but they would get no closer as the Knights rallied for the big win.
“In the third and fourth games, when Matt Elias went back to serve, we just couldn’t get a pass on him,” Shenk said. “We know we can pass. We just have to calm down and play our game. We came out that fifth game and brought it back together and played our game.”
Despite the outcome, Eck was pleased with his team’s showing.
“I think we’re evenly matched,” the Knights’ coach said. “I think it gives our guys some confidence – ‘You know what, we are for real,’ and if we keep our heads where they should be and we play every point, we’re in this until the end.
“They executed the game plan I wanted them to tonight, and I’m proud of them. They did exactly what I wanted them to do. I think it was there for us to take. If we win game one, everything changes.”
Prior to the game, the team’s seven seniors – Braun, Shenk, Kemmerer, Trumbower, Beck, Matt Nyce, David Spadaro and Damon Waslin – were recognized. Childs also shook up his lineup to give his senior reserves playing time.
“I was really pleased with my seniors,” the Rams’ coach said. “We hadn’t done that lineup ever, and they stepped up and did a nice job.
“Dave, Damon and Matt don’t play a whole lot, but they did a good job.”
Childs acknowledged that this year’s senior class is a special group of players.
“It’s a great group,” he said. “It’s a fun group. They love playing, and they all get along.
“It’s one of my favorite groups that I’ve had, and they do a nice job on the court. A lot of the seniors that don’t play are behind some pretty talented underclassmen.”
With the win, the Rams upped their record to 14-0.
Quakertown 3, Cheltenham 0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-23)
Setter Nate Stout handed out 36 assists. Ian Jones led the Panthers at the net with 11 kills to go along with six service aces. Ryan Mease had eight kills, and Zach Morgan had seven kills and two aces. Spencer Gysi contributed six kills, and Nick Grossov had four kills.
Neshaminy 3, William Tennent 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-14)
For Tennent, Mike Excell had three service aces. Jeff Piotrowski had seven digs while Kenny Rauchut and Logan Cloak each had six kills. Zac Puglisi had five kills and a team-high eight digs.
Council Rock North 3, Council Rock South 0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-21)
Dan Ford had 15 assists to go along with six kills and nine digs for the Indians. John Whitman also had 15 assists and contributed 10 digs. Ryan Garven led the Indians at the net with 13 kills. He also had 10 digs. Hunter Stevens and Nick Siokalo both had five kills. Chris Richards had a team-high 11 digs, and John Winslow added nine digs.
Central Bucks West 3, Central Bucks South 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-17)
Mike Fehrs delivered seven aces to go along with seven kills for West. Christian Rupert led the Bucks at the net with 15 kills while senior Colin Baxter had nine kills. Matt Hennigan had 15 assists.
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