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QUAKERTOWN – Tori Beck’s serve had just ricocheted off a Souderton player for a winner when the celebration began. Quakertown’s players and coaches converged to celebrate capturing at least a share of the school’s first ever SOL Continental Conference volleyball crown.
No one cared if the Panthers – who entered the match in a three-way tie with Souderton and Central Bucks East – were solo champs or co-champs, contingent on the results of East’s match against Central Bucks South.
This was a moment to savor for everyone on Quakertown’s side of the court.
“It’s amazing,” Quakertown senior setter Bria Thamarus said. “It’s my Senior Night, my last year here. It’s a great feeling.
“We have been playing together for years, and we made school history. We just really showed a lot of heart tonight.”
If ever a match lived up to its billing, this one did. This was an epic battle of wills between two teams refusing to give an inch. While the Indians had the big stats when it came to kills – Jess Coll had 19 and Devon Sparks, 17, while Jen Parmer and Jennie Mariani had eight each, it was the Panthers who made the least mistakes.
“They worked really hard this season, and I’m proud of all of them,” Quakertown coach Wendy Mahler said. “I had nine seniors this year, and this is the year we had to do it if we ever were going to do it, and they did.
“We had a lot of injuries, we started the season without a gym – it was a tough season, but they’ve done really well. First time in school history – it’s wonderful.”
Making the match even more special was the fact that it was played in front of a large and spirited Senior Night crowd.
“It was very intense, very exciting,” Beck said. “It was so much fun.
“The fans mean a lot. It really brings the atmosphere up and gets everyone pumped.”
“It’s really intense,” Thamarus added. “Your adrenaline is pumping, you’re so aggressive. Everybody wants to win and is trying to put all their might into it.”
The Panthers were led by the 10-kill effort of Sam Cowan. Nicole Burke added eight, and defensively, they received stellar efforts from Beck and Taylor Diaz. Both had 17 digs. Souderton was led defensively by the 17-dig effort of Brianna McMichael while Coll had 12 and Mariani, 10 digs.
“It was a nice, spirited, intense match,” Souderton coach Brad Garrett said. “We showed a little bit of inexperience when the game was on the line. We made too many errors when it mattered. Too often we had momentum, and we would make a mental error.
“It was a big game, it was Senior Night. There was a lot of energy, and I think we just got nervous, especially in the first two games.”
There were early signs this match was something special when the Indians – two years removed from a one-win season – rallied from a 24-22 deficit to knot the score in game one, thanks to a Coll kill and a Panther hit out of play.
Quakertown went on top 25-24 after a Souderton hitting error, but Sparks delivered a kill for the Indians to knot things up yet again. The Panthers closed it out with a Cowan kill and a Beck service ace.
“We’re a strong serving team,” Thamarus said. “Our coaches always stress serving, so we are a pretty strong serving team.”
Game two was a marathon struggle. The Panthers led 19-15, but the Indians knotted the score on a Coll kill. There would be nine more ties before a winner would be determined.
Three times the Indians had game point – 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, but the first was wiped away on an Indian net violation, the second on a Cowan kill and the third on an errant serve.
The Indians fought off three straight game points for the Panthers –two on Coll winners and the third on a Quakertown miscue. The Panthers won it with a familiar one-two punch as Cowan delivered a kill and then Beck followed with a service winner.
“Serving is really important,” Beck said. “If you hold the serve, you’re in control of the game.”
The Panthers appeared poised to go for the sweep, but the Indians had other ideas, jumping out to an 8-3 lead in game three after a Sparks ace. That lead grew to 15-4 after a Mariani block.
The Panthers staged a mini-run to make it a 16-9 game after a Diaz ace, but Coll stepped to the line and reeled off eight straight points to all but close it out. The Indians won it on a Sparks kill.
The Panthers were unfazed.
“We just said, ‘It’s a new game, a new start. This fourth game is ours,’” Beck said.
In game four, the Indians kept it close and trailed just 12-11 after a Sparks kill. It was still a 17-14 game after a Coll kill, but a Thamarus block put the Panthers on top 19-15, and a Burke kill upped that lead to 21-15. Another Burke kill into the opposite corner of the court put the Panthers on top 23-16 as they went on to earn the 25-19 win that gave them at least a piece of the conference crown.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” Beck said. “It means so much. It’s the first time ever.
“We knew we were going to have a good year this year because everybody played together last year. We wanted to play our best, and one of our goals was to do this.”
On the other side of the court, the Indians were left to deal with the disappointment of a heartbreaking loss.
“We were so close,” Coll said. “We fought really hard, and we put everything we had on the court. We wanted to win so badly – more than anything.”
On this night against a fired-up Panther squad, that wasn’t quite enough.
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