Pennsbury advanced to Tuesday’s District One 4A semifinals.
#4 PENNSBURY 3, #5 BOYERTOWN 2 (17-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 15-13)
A veteran Falcon squad staged a heroic comeback, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to eke out a win over the visiting Bears in a five-set thriller. With the win, Pennsbury earned a coveted spot in the state tournament.
“Because we were so young last year, we didn’t lose any seniors, so this entire team has more playoff experience than any other team they’re going to face because they didn’t graduate anyone,” coach Michael Falter said. “I told them that maybe halfway through the match. I said, ‘Just relax, you’re fine.’ We started calming down and making sure what we needed to do. They persevered more than any other team I’ve coached.
“I’m not surprised these girls came back. The fact that we have nine seniors and even our juniors and sophomores – the sophomores that play for us are young in volleyball, but they’re varsity athletes since they were freshmen. Maggie Golder and Ava Sciolla are sophomores. Ava started as a freshman in basketball, and she’s an amazing athlete, and Maggie played varsity lacrosse, so class doesn’t faze them. It’s a great combination of senior leadership and young girls who pressure doesn’t really matter to them.”
Sciolla, a middle blocker, had a team-high 10 blocks, and Brooke Burns, who plays opposite, added seven blocks, seven kills and two digs. Both broke the Pennsbury program record for blocks in a match.
“We put them together on purpose because they are a very big block – they’re both very good athletes,” Falter said. “It was taking a gamble because we were trying to shut down number 19 from Boyertwon because we thought she was a really, really good player, so we put our best blockers on her, and she really didn’t do anything against us. It worked out.”
A pair of familiar faces to fans of Pennsbury volleyball – Izzy Marinelli and Elley Torres – came up huge at the net. Both had 20 kills. Torres also had seven aces, 21 digs and three blocks while Marinelli had four digs and one block.
“The fact that Elley and Izzy both got 20 kills – I’m not surprised,” Falter said. “The rest of the girls are just so good at their jobs. They’ve done it for so long.
“I’ve known this group of girls more than any other group I’ve coached through club. We’re just a very close program because we have such strong ties over a lot of years. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Things certainly didn’t look all that promising for the Falcons when they found themselves staring at a 2-0 hole after two sets.
“It was a mirror image of our match with (Council Rock) North in the first set,” Falter said. “North gave us a very hard time with their block because our players aren’t used to getting blocked.
“The second set was back and fourth, and they won 26-24. It would have been great to get that second set, but the girls were pretty positive. In sets three and four, we had more control of the sets. The first two sets we were digging ourselves holes and trying to get out. In sets three and four, we had a little more control. Our girls settled in, starting making some adjustments. In set five, it was back and forth. It was crazy.”
Carissa Van Veen (25 assists, two aces, one kill, seven digs) and Maggie Golder (18 assists, four digs) split setting duties. Abbie Drewes had 10 digs and two aces, and Bria Mullaghy had seven digs. Also contributing were Ashley Parry (four kills, one block) and Kat Croteau (two aces, one kill, three digs, two blocks)
Pennsbury will travel to top-seeded Bishop Shanahan for Tuesday’s semifinal.
#2 UNIONVILLE 3, #7 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
#3 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 3, #6 HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
- Log in to post comments
