Check out Tuesday’s SOL volleyball results.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, PENNSBURY 1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-21)
Rachel McLaughlin-McManis admits she let out a sigh of relief when Elena Flynn delivered a kill for match point, giving Rock North the huge win that spoiled the Falcons’ Senior Night celebration.
“I think it all came down to our confidence,” the senior tri-captain said. “We’ve never really had this much confidence or energy or motivation before. We came together and finally became a team.”
Both teams came into Tuesday’s match with one conference loss. The win gives the Indians (9-4 overall, 8-1 SOL) sole possession of the conference’s top spot.
“We knew there was a lot riding on the game,” senior tri-captain Elena Flynn said. “But what we stressed most was not getting too caught up in the hype and to just play our game. We realize we play so much better without nerves, and we play better when we’re playing relaxed.”
In the first set, it was the Falcons looking the part of a relaxed team as they opened up a quick 3-0 lead after a Jae Jackson block and still led 12-9 after a Sarah Sweetland kill. A Jackson kill put the Falcons on top 19-12, and they never looked back.
The Falcons appeared to be on their way to taking a 2-0 lead in the match when they sprinted to a 12-6 lead in the second set after a pass fell between two Rock North players, but a Flynn kill brought senior Jessica Charlton to the service line. Charlton delivered a seven-point run that was capped by a Flynn kill, and the Indians were off and running, going on to earn a 25-20 win.
“I started finding the spots to hit around the blocks they have,” said Flynn, who led the Falcons with 14 kills. “They have really big middle blockers, and they were all a big front row.
“I had the confidence, and I knew I could go up there and hit around them. I could find the spots on the court.”
The Indians owned the third set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead after a Lauren Blachowski kill. They never looked back, coasting to the 25-13 win with McLaughlin-McManis putting the finishing touches on win by delivering a kill for set point.
“(In the first set), they struggled passing, and they were out of system, and we were taking care of the ball and capitalizing,” Pennsbury coach Michael Falter said. “Halfway through the second game, we were doing the same thing, but then they got their serve receive under control and were in system.”
Armed with confidence, the Indians opened up a 17-10 lead in the fourth set after a Flynn kill. The Falcons pulled to within three (23-20) after the Indians after a Taylor McCartney service ace, but a Flynn block made it a 24-20 game. The Indians won it on a Flynn kill for match point.
“I just think it was a change in confidence,” Rock North coach Kinsey Lynch said. “I don’t think the first game was necessarily the worst, but we were playing very uncharacteristic of ourselves.
“We didn’t have a lot of energy or very much court presence. Volleyball is a sport all about momentum and dealing the shifts of momentum, and they were able to run with it.”
Blachowski, a senior tri-captain, led a standout defensive effort with 21 digs to go along with 12 kills. Charlton had seven kills and sophomore setter Krista Campbell had 38 assists, but defense was the story of this match.
Making life easier for the Indians’ defense was the fact that their front row players were getting touches on almost every Falcon kill attempt.
“It slows the ball for your team, but at the same time, you’re frustrating the hitters on the other team,” McLaughlin-McManis said. “If anyone touches my hit, it’s a letdown that I couldn’t put it on the court, so when you take a lot of speed off for your passers, it boosts your whole team’s confidence.”
“It helps us so much with defense,” Blachowski said. “We’re so fast on the court, so we can anything up when we get a touch on it.”
McCartney led the Falcons at the net with nine kills while Olivia Aizen had seven and Sweetland, five kills and two blocks. Jackson had five blocks. Cara Reilly led the defense with 12 digs, and Kate Webb added 11 digs.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, PENNRIDGE 0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-16)
The Bucks (10-0 SOL, 14-0 overall) clinched sole possession of the Continental Conference title on Tuesday night with their sweep of the Rams.
Rachel Baker led the Bucks with 13 kills, four digs and one ace. Others contributing to the win were Alicia West (10 kills, nine digs, three aces), Maddie Klun (six kills, five aces, four digs), Courtney King (six aces, seven digs, three kills), Jess West (31 assists, one ace) and Rachel Farnin (eight digs).
HATBORO-HORSHAM 3, UPPER DUBLIN 0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-17)
The Hatters used a team effort in their sweep of the Flying Cardinals. Leading the team offensively were Lauren Laucella (seven kills), Sam Jones (six kills) and Quinn O’Donnell (four kills). Caitlin Klotzbach led the defense with 16 digs while Candyce Riley had 12.
As a team, the Hatters served for 11 aces, led by Hannah Steiger with five. Steiger also had 15 assists while Laucella had five blocks and Laura Calvin added three.
For the Cardinals, Melanie Phifer had one ace, two kills and one dig.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-21, 25-12, 28-26)
Courtney Kauffman and Lindsay Mcintosh led the Patriots at the net with nine and eight kills respectively. McIntosh also served for five aces while Caroline Davis and Haley Echelmeir each had three aces. All told, the Patriots had 16 service aces. Laura Kennedy led the defense with 12 digs while Caitlin Quon had nine and Erin Lane, seven digs.
NORTH PENN 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-14)
Courtney Gill led the Maidens with 11 kills to go along with two aces. Isabelle Kerr had a big night with eight kills, eight digs and three aces. Stephanie Elechko had five aces and four kills while Alyssa Chiodo had nine digs and three aces.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, NESHAMINY 1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-21)
The Redskins put up a valiant fight against the streaking Panthers, winning the first set and hanging tough in the fourth before falling.
“They were much improved, and I give them a lot of credit,” Tennent coach Brian Bassler said. “We toughed it out though and picked up a big road league win.”
Neshaminy coach Kate Livingstone was pleased with her team’s effort.
“It was really a great match,” she said. “Tennent is a strong team, so we knew tonight would be tough. The last time we played them, we played very poorly, so we came out ready to redeem ourselves tonight.
“We wanted to win, and we played our hearts out, but Tennent was just too good.”
Bassler lauded the efforts of several players.
“Maura Carr played very well defensively, and Hannah Washam came up with a big serving run for us in the fourth set,” he said. “We were down 14-18, and she gave us the lead for good.”
Livingstone acknowledged the standout effort of Jen Harasim, who had 19 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Julia Staub ahd 25 assists and eight digs. Morgan Oberholtzer had 11 digs, four kills and three aces. Molly MacDonald had four kills, nine digs and two aces. Sophomore Sam Orr had her best match of the season with four kills and four blocks. Danielle Catapano contributed eight digs, three kills, one ace and one block.
ABINGTON 3, WISSAHICKON 0
The Ghosts were led by the standout performances at the net of Liz Gassman (14 kills, eight digs, four blocks), Regina Seweryn (nine kills) and Carley Cooper (eight kills, three digs and two blocks). Daniel Dyjak led the defense with nine digs. Emma Garg was credited with 21 assists.
UPPER MERION 3, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17)
Emily Houck and Ryan Haney led PW at the net with four kills each. Haney also had a team-high 17 digs while Houck added 10.
Monday, Oct. 8
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, WISSAHICKON 0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-12)
The Bucks were led by Jess West (four aces, 16 assists, seven digs, one kill), Alicia West (four kills, four aces, five digs), Maddie Klun (six kills, one ace), Courtney King (three kills, two aces, three digs), Rachel Baker (four kills, four digs) and Rachel Farnin (11 digs). With the win, the Bucks improved to 13-0 overall (9-0 SOL).
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-11)
Maria Jose Alanis led a balanced attack with eight kills and six aces. Chelsea Gallagher had seven kills, and Jaime Bonner added six. Hannah Washam had 25 assists.
For the Indians, Jen Spause and Grace Pinto led the way with two kills each. Cori Watson had three assists, and Bekah Ford had two blocks.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, ABINGTON 0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-21)
Hannah Lunak led the Patriots attack with 11 kills while Courtney Kauffman added nine. Caroline Davis had five service aces, and Kauffman had three. Laura Kennedy led the defense with 12 digs while Erin Lane had 10.
NORTH PENN 3, METHACTON 1
Courtney Gill and Isabelle Kerr led the offense with 13 kills each. Kerr also had seven digs. Stephanie Elechko had 11 kills, 4.5 blocks and six digs. Sammy Powers had six service aces.
CHELTENHAM 3, ACADEMY OF NEW CHURCH 0
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