PW defeated Downingtown West Friday to earn a trip to Tuesday’s District 1 4A semifinals and also ensured the Colonials a berth in states. Photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of both matches. All SOS photo galleries for GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
#2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, #3 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-21)
They are, to steal a phrase from their coach, “in rare air.”
The Colonials – who boast a perfect 21-0 record and own the SOL American Conference title - punched their ticket to the PIAA 4A State Tournament, thanks to Saturday’s win over 10th-seeded Downingtown West.
It is the program’s first trip to states since 2016 when the Colonials advanced to the district final where they fell to Bishop Shanahan.
“Prior to that it would have been 2001,” said PW coach David Stewart, who was at the helm from 1998-2004 and returned in 2020. “What I tell the kids is this – the program has been in existence for 53 years. Less than 25 percent of the teams have a Suburban One title, so I said, ‘You’re in rare air.’
“Then to go and do what we’ve done in district playoffs – we’re definitely in rare air again. Maybe four times in the program’s history have we been in the semis. To have a state berth – this will be the third time in the last 25 years that we’ve made states. I just try to get them to really appreciate the moment – this isn’t something that happens all the time. This isn’t one of those things where our program consistently has the opportunity to go and do this. We certainly every year play hard, and we try to do the best we can with who we have. This year we just happen to have a great group of kids.”
Friday’s win over the Whippets wasn’t easy, and the Colonials, according to their coach, could have made things easier for themselves if they had been on top of their service game.
“It was a lot tighter than I would have liked,” Stewart said. “Honestly, it was one of our roughest serving outings of the season. We just really struggled with it.
“We served at 77 percent – we normally serve at 89-93 percent, so it was really a struggle for us back there. I don’t know if the kids were nervous or if they were trying too hard or whether it was just one of those days. It definitely impacted the match. We gave away a ton of points.
“I tell the kids all the time – you just can’t give away that many points in these types of matches. We had 23 service errors and only nine aces. That’s uncharacteristic of us and has been all season long. That impacted the match as a whole, and when we aren’t getting those kind of points, the kids really had to bear down and play some really solid defense, which they did. Fortunately, for us, that was enough to get us through.”
PW eked out a win in the opening set but then dropped a tightly contested second set. They went on to win the next two.
“It was definitely a rough day for us,” Stewart said. “It wasn’t one of our better performances in terms of service, but it was in terms of our resiliency and other aspects of the game. I was definitely proud of the kids for digging in and fighting through when they were struggling, and things weren’t going the way they normally would that they were still able to find a way to pull it out.
“Even the second set losing 27-25, it was one of those things – it could have easily gone the other way. We could have been done in three. It’s just unfortunate that at the end of that particular set – we had a couple of things not go right and we had to play an extra one.”
Leading the way for the Colonials was senior Neve Straff with 14 kills and 13 digs. Adriana Storti added nine kills while Natalie Small had eight. Senior Kayla DiGuglielmo led the defense with 18 digs. Rylie Watton (25 assists) and Ryenn Mamrosch (18 assists) shared setting duties. Senior Caroline Veon had a team-high four aces.
“Downingtown West was a very good team – well coached, well disciplined,” Stewart said. “That was one of the things we talked about going into the match – all the tape that I had seen of them, I was super impressed with their defense.
“Wow, they were tenacious, and we really had to play well to be able to come out on the top side.”
This year’s team is a veteran squad.
“We have a ton of seniors, and we have a ton of juniors,” Stewart said. “We’re a very top-heavy team as a whole, so we’re hoping that maybe for this year into next year we’ll be able to maintain this momentum a little bit.
“I’m really trying to get the kids to appreciate – this isn’t something that happens all the time. You’ve got to find a way to enjoy it, appreciate and know that at some point in time we’re probably going to come up against a team that’s going to be better than us, and that’s okay. If not, that’s just icing on the cake.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (21-0) will host Garnet Valley in Tuesday’s district semifinal match at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 27
WEST CHESTER EAST 3, PENNSBURY 1 (17-25, 25-27, 25-19, 21-25)
The Falcons challenged the Vikings throughout the match, losing the first set and a back-and-forth battle in the second set but battling back to win the third set.
“The girls really played their hearts out” Falcons head coach Tim Paulson said. “When we were down in the fourth set, I challenged Steph (Stephanie Adamousky) to fight for the win. Her strong serving really helped us make a comeback after being down by 11 points (7-18) to help bring us within two (16-18). The team fought hard, and it is always disappointing to lose especially in playoffs.”
Jocelyn Fang led the Falcons with 16 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Kiersten Adair had a strong night with 13 kills and seven digs. Ainsley Dysart had six kills and one block. The middles were strong contributors with Ella Visco’s five kills, two assists, four digs and five blocks, and Claire McElroy had five kills and one block.
Other contributors for the Falcons were Stephanie Adamousky (one kill, three aces, two digs) , Natalie Johnson (two kills, three digs, two blocks), Jadyn Rogan (five digs) Sami Love (three digs). Brynn Magee added two kills, five assists and 16 digs for the Falcons.
Faith Szumigala led the Falcons in assists with 22 along with one kill, 13 digs and two aces. Caroline Croteau led the Falcons defense with 17 digs and also contributed 17 assists.
Pennsbury (10-2 SOL) closed out its season with a 14-5 record.
#10 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 3, #7 ABINGTON 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-13)
The Ghosts fell in four sets, but according to coach Dan Marsh, the scores don’t tell the story of this match.
“It was an amazing match,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “It was back and forth all night. I’m very proud of our kids, but they were just a tad better.”
Kenya Lucas had a monster night at the net, finishing with 22 kills. Sasha Moody added 15 kills in an impressive showing of her own. Elle Pennecamp, Shayla Moody and Liz Tanis each had two blocks. Iris Winegrad led the defense with 12 digs, and setter Mary Carter handed out 34 assists.
Abington closed out its season with a 16-4 record, 9-3 in the SOL.
#2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, #15 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 0
#1 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 3, #2 MaST CHARTER 0 (District One 2A)
#13 STRATH HAVEN 3, #4 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1
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