Pennridge was the lone survivor in the opening round of PIAA Class AAA Tournament play on Wednesday.
#1-1 PENNRIDGE 3, #3-3 RED LION 0 (25-20, 25-23, 27-25)
Dave Childs is a proponent of spreading the ball around on offense, but when Ben Chinnici – the Rams’ version of the ultimate finisher – has the hot hand, the veteran coach is not opposed to feeding his junior standout the ball.
Chinnici finished with 24 kills to go along with two aces.
“Ben’s a beast,” Childs said. “That’s what he does every match.
“It’s great that he can do that, and we want him to continue to do that. I think the key for us is getting everyone else involved and playing efficiently. That’s really the key. Each team is different, and whatever it takes on that given night to win – we’re going to do that.”
Although the Rams had not faced Red Lion during the season, there was a degree of familiarity.
“We saw them a little bit throughout the year, so we kind of had an idea what we were going up against,” Childs said. “But we didn’t play them at all, so it’s different when you see them up close.
“They have a couple of really good hitters, and they got their kills, but we got enough points in between to win the match.”
Senior setter Jesse Smith had a hand in many of Chinnici’s kill, contributing 35 assists to go along with three kills. Cross Edwards had six kills, two aces and six digs, and Aaron Nelson had four kills and five blocks. Kevin Jones chipped in two kills and three blocks, and Josiah Friesen had five kills and three blocks.
“Aaron had five big blocks, and he blocked really well,” Childs said. “Cross came up with some big kills in big moments.”
Defensively, Austin Rush led the way with 16 digs to go along with two aces. Jeremy Baum had four digs, and serving specialist Ryan Spangler had a pair of aces and a clutch serving run when the Rams were trailing in the second set.
“Ryan brought us back in game two when we were down six or seven points, and he finished off the match with an ace,” Childs said. “Even though Ben’s getting the kills, everyone else is contributing in their own little way.
“Without those little contributions, we don’t win.”
Although it was hard to tell based on the final outcome, Childs said that his team was not clicking particularly well on offense.
“But we kept pushing through it and continuing to give the effort,” he said.
Pennridge (19-3) will face District 11 runner-up Liberty in Saturday’s second round match at Quakertown. Liberty was extended to five games by District 12 champion Washington an opening round match Wednesday.
Childs admits he doesn’t know a whole lot about his next opponent.
“I watched them a little bit at the Bobcat Tournament, but that was two months ago, and I think they were shorthanded,” the Rams’ coach said. “I’ll do a little research.”
#11-1 PARKLAND 3, #1-2 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-19)
Their disappointment was unmistakable.
Granted, their team was a decided underdog against the District 11 champions, who returned the nucleus of last year’s state championship squad, but the Indians were hoping for a whole lot different outcome.
“It’s heartbreaking,” senior co-captain Eric Van Thuyne said. “You always want to go farther and farther, and when it ends – volleyball personally is my life.
“Pretty much all I do is school and volleyball. That’s my last high school game, and it’s pretty depressing. Obviously, you want to go farther and farther.”
“You just don’t imagine it would be this way at the beginning of the season,” added senior co-captain Jason Yakimiv. “It’s just tough.”
For the second time in as many years, the Indians faced the District 11 champions at Liberty High School in the second round. Last year, the Trojans edged the Indians 3-2.
“That’s definitely the best team we have played this season, and we knew coming into it that this was going to have to be our best game because they’re amazing,” Van Thuyne said.
For a while, the Indians kept things close. A Will Desautelle kill gave the Indians an early 4-3 lead, and they rallied from an 8-6 deficit to go on top 9-8 after a three-point run that included a kill and service ace from Yakimiv and a dump for a winner by Logan Fuglestad.
The Indians stayed within striking distance and trailed by just two (14-12) when Garrett Weigel delivered a block of a Desautelle kill attempt. The Indians were whistled for a double hit, and then – out of a Rock North timeout – Jack Dreisbach came up with another big block, this of a Yakimiv kill attempt.
“Any time you get blocked – it’s a mental game,” Van Thuyne said. “You really just have to swing again, but it gets hard, especially when you get blocked twice back to back.”
The Trojans went on to open up a 19-12 lead, and the Indians never threatened.
The Indians spent the second set playing catch up. They once again trailed by just two midway through the set (12-10), but the Trojans closed out the game with a 13-4 tear.
“I don’t think we were very efficient – we had a lot of unforced errors,” coach Greg Marchetti said. “Against a team like that, you have to play a very efficient game.
“I think they had a little bit more confidence than we did with their serves. We missed some serves, and that kind of slowed us down a little. They made some plays when they had to.”
In the third set, the Trojans delivered the defensive play of the night, somehow digging up a kill that everyone in the gym assumed had fallen in for a winner. The Indians stayed close, trimming a six-point Trojan lead to four late. That’s as close as they would get.
“I think the first 10-15 points of each game were very close, and they got a little service run and separated a little bit,” Marchetti said. “Hats off to them – I think they’ll be a tough out in the state tournament.
“They’re big, they’re physical, they’re composed, and they control the ball very well. They’re a very good team.”
Yakimiv (six kills, 10 digs, one block, one ace, one assist), Van Thuyne (five kills, four digs, two blocks, one assist) and Desautelle (four kills, even digs, 1.5 blocks) led the Indians at the net. Fuglestad had 18 assists, four kills and seven digs, and Aaron Knotts had 10 digs and two assists. Sean Helmlinger (three kills, three digs, .5 blocks), Harry Wyatt (three digs, one block, one assist) and Alex Saraceno (two digs) also contributed.
Marchetti loses a senior class that set the bar high for the future. Those seven seniors – Van Thuyne, Yakimiv, Fuglestad, Desautelle, Saraceno, Knotts and Tommy Angelina – provided the nucleus of this year’s SOL National Conference championship squad. Under their watch, the Indians (18-4, 11-1 SOL) won 36 games over the last two years.
#3-1 PENN MANOR 3, #1-3 PENNSBURY 1 (25-23, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22)
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