To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
KING OF PRUSSIA – It was ‘White Out’ night at Upper Merion on Thursday, and the Vikings’ student section was packed with rabid fans wearing white who came out to cheer on a volleyball team that quite simply refuses to lose.
Oh, the Vikings certainly had a chance to fold after archrival Hatboro-Horsham rolled to a convincing 25-16 win in game four to even the emotionally-charged match at two games apiece, but it didn’t happen.
With the Vikings on top 14-10 in game five, Cassidy Koenig’s two-handed push landed just inside the end line for match point, giving the Vikings the hard-fought 3-2 win (22-25, 25-13, 25-23, 16-25, 15-10).
The win all but clinched yet another SOL American Conference crown for Upper Merion as the undefeated Vikings now have a two-game lead over the Hatters in the conference standings.
“It’s so exciting,” senior Liz DiValerio said. “It’s my senior year, and to get another league championship – I’m thrilled.
“We live for these matches. We have some other good matches, but this is definitely our best one of the year. We prep for this, and we live for this.”
DiValerio certainly did her part to ensure that it would be a memorable night, delivering a game-high 18 kills – many of those line kills - to go along with 19 digs in a stellar effort.
“I had some great sets,” the senior outside hitter said. “It’s really hard for a lefty to hit line, but they were pushed so far out that I was just slamming it down the line.”
Teammate Devyn Ingram had 13 kills while Alex Galdi had nine. Koenig handed out 35 assists and also had 22 digs on a night that saw both teams play dazzling defense, delivering one impossible dig after another.
“You just have to time it,” said Koenig, who had several spectacular pancake digs. “I have been playing for a while, and I have been practicing them. My sister (Allison) helped me.”
Coach Tony Funsten admitted that Koenig can sometimes do the impossible on defense.
“She has such a sense of the ball,” he said. “When you run a five-one, there’s such responsibility on you. It’s hard to be as good as you can be all the time, whether it’s serving, defending or setting.
“It’s hard to be great at all of them, and for your setter to have 22 digs – she kept an awful lot of balls from hitting the floor.”
On the other side of the court, Hatboro middle hitter Julie Harvey had a team-high 15 kills while Kathryn Lucca had 11 kills and Ashley Morgan, 10 kills and four aces.
“I told the players after the match this is just one roadblock in a long season whereas districts is what we’re working toward, trying to get to the state tournament,” Hatboro coach Diane Lucas said. “These things we have to learn from, recover from and try to fix those mental errors going into another big match.“It was a good match. It was fun to coach, fun to watch, and I know the girls had a good time too. Even though they’re bummed now, they can’t deny they had fun.”
It looked as though the Hatters had all the momentum when they opened up a quick 9-1 lead in game four as Morgan served for seven straight points. That remarkable stretch included four kills by Harvey as well as a pair of kills by Lucca.
“We have to work on our serve receive,” Koenig said. “We weren’t passing very well, and we were getting down on ourselves because we were messing up, but we picked it up.”
“(Serve receive) is our biggest challenge,” DiValerio added. “We had to take a deep breath, pass the perfect ball and then execute the perfect play.”
The Vikings did mount a comeback, trimming the Hatters’ lead to 14-11, but the Hatters went back on top 17-11 after a Morgan kill. They won it on a Lucca kill, setting up the winner-take-all fifth game.
“They executed some plays perfectly and made us so nervous,” DiValerio said. “They blocked really well. Some of my best swings were blocked straight to the ground.
“I think they prepped for this game. They wanted to win just as much as we did.”
If the fans were enjoying the high drama of the match, at least one player wasn’t.
“These matches are really scary,” Koenig said. “They’re fun when you win, but during it – I hate these kinds of games.”
In game five, the Vikings took a quick 2-0 lead after a DiValerio service ace, but the Hatters went on top 3-2 after a dump by setter Lauren Schmickle. The Vikings evened it up on a DiValerio kill, and then Ingram delivered a monster block at the net.
Lucca answered with a kill to knot the score, but then came the first of three Hatter serving errors. Hatboro’s Carly Black delivered a kill to knot the score 5-5, and the Hatters led 6-5 after a Lizzie Myers block in the middle.
Another Hatboro serving error was followed by a Lucca kill, but the Hatters could not capitalize on the sideout as they had yet another service error, allowing the Vikings to knot the score 7-7.
“It’s crucial in a 15-point game to not make any service errors because they’re just handing us a point,” DiValerio said. “I think that’s why we stepped up and won that game. “It takes some weight off of our shoulders.”
The Hatters took their final lead (9-8) after a Morgan kill, but DiValerio answered with a kill for the Vikings.
Back-to-back big plays by DiValerio – a kill and a block – put the Vikings on top 13-10, and according to Funsten, his senior outside hitter is back in top form after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her knee this summer.
“She’s much healthier than she was three weeks ago when we played them,” the Vikings’ coach said. “Last year she was never healthy. She had gotten hurt in the summer and was healthy enough to play but wasn’t healthy enough to play the way she’s capable. “
It was Koenig putting the finishing touches on the big win with her winner just inside the end line for match point.
“They’re ready for a short dump, and they have their front row player up, but when she dumps it deep, they’re not going to get a good touch on it or they’re not going to get a touch on it at all,” DiValerio said of Koenig’s match point.
In the end, the Hatters – so consistent all night – just could not find their rhythm in the fifth game.
“We started off missing a couple of serves in the beginning, which I think killed us,” Myers said. “We kept it tight – it was 9-9, and we had momentum, but we weren’t necessarily smart with our plays.
“We could have hit some balls that we tipped, and we just weren’t ready when 30 (Koenig) just set that ball in the back corner. My heart dropped. It was horrible. If I could go back to when it was 9-9, I would change what we could do, run different plays. I just wish we could have finished it off.”
The Hatters, according to Myers, are already looking forward to a possible rematch.
“I love playing Upper Merion,” she said. “I wish every game was like this, but it’s disappointing. We trained a lot for them, and to lose to them again just really hurts.
“They won the league, but we could still see them again in districts. The third time’s the charm.”
Despite the loss, Lucas had no complaints with her team’s performance.
“The girls played hard in all five games, and the fifth game just got away from us,” the Hatters’ coach said. “We have been working on our confidence and our recovery, and we have improved with that.
“In the fifth game, I don’t think there was a lack of confidence or mental toughness. A couple of things didn’t go our way – a couple of missed serves, a couple of balls were hit in the net. It’s tough in a 15-point game. It’s something we’re going to continue to work on.”
NOTES: Funsten acknowledged the big block in the middle by Brianna Alvarez for game point after the Hatters rallied from a 17-8 deficit to knot the score 23-23 in game three. “She just bailed us out at the most opportune time,” he said. “Her athleticism around the net helped us block some balls. They are such a good defensive team. It’s so hard to put the ball down against them.”
- Log in to post comments
0
