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KING OF PRUSSIA – The scene was a study in contrasts.
On one side of the net, Upper Merion’s players were mobbed by their jubilant fans who made a mad dash onto the court almost before Pennsbury’s final hit landed out of play for match point.
On the other, tears flowed freely as Pennsbury’s players consoled each other, the disappointment of seeing their season end too soon written all over their faces.
This is the cold, stark reality of the playoffs. One team lives to see another day. The other doesn’t.
On Tuesday night, it was the Vikings earning a 3-0 sweep of the National Conference champion Falcons (25-17, 25-18, 28-26), and the win not only meant the Vikings had earned a spot in Thursday’s District One AAA semifinal but, more importantly, a berth in the PIAA AAA Tournament.
“It’s the most amazing feeling I have ever had playing volleyball,” senior libero Katie DeLone said. “This is our big year. “
The trip to states has been long time coming for the Vikings, who have finished second to Merion Mercy in the District One AA Tournament since capturing their school’s first and only district volleyball title in 2004. This year, the Vikings are competing in Class AAA, and so far, the script is going exactly as planned.
“I have been on the team four years,” senior Lisa Ridgeway said. “Our freshman year we had the chance – we had awesome seniors, and we let it slip by, and we haven’t had a chance until now, but it doesn’t stop here.”
This was the final home match of the season for the Vikings, whose wildly enthusiastic fans give new meaning to the phrase ‘home court advantage.’
Looking for a stretch that underscored their value? Look no further than the beginning of game two when the Falcons found themselves playing in front of the Viking student section.
“We missed our first couple of serves in game two,” Pennsbury coach Tim Paulson said. “We missed three serves in a row when we were on their side.
“That crowd – it’s great to see. I wish we had crowds like that, so we would be used to that. It’s great for Upper Merion. I thought their fans were great.”
The importance of the home crowd is not lost on the Vikings. 
“It makes it so much better,” Ridgeway said. “We have a lot of support.
“I know if I went to a gym and played a team with fans like ours…”
Ridgeway didn’t finish the sentence, but teammate Alex Galdi did.
“It would be really rough,” she said. “Our fans mean everything to us.”
On the other side of the court, senior Stacey Wooden admitted the fans had an impact on the game.
“Your players have to be smart enough to ignore the crowd when the pressure is on,” she said.
The Vikings just had too many weapons for the Falcons. Junior Elizabeth DiValerio led the attack with nine kills. Sophomore Devyn Ingram added seven and Galdi, six. DeLone had a team-high 15 digs while Ridgeway had five block kills and 10 digs.
“We just need to go in and play relaxed and pumped up,” Galdi said. “We have confidence in each other, so it’s a lot of fun to play.”
For the Falcons sophomore Brittany Bigos had eight kills, but no other teammate had more than three. Shelby Aleksejczyk had seven blocks while Drew Jolly and Emily Merrick each had four.
It was a pair of blocks late in game three that gave the Falcons life, and for a while, it looked as though they might prevent a Viking sweep. The blocks – both by Aleksejczyk – came after back-to-back big plays by DiValerio that put the Vikings on top 24-21, but then the Falcons’ middle hitter stepped to the fore.
A Stacey Wooden winner made it a 24-23 game, prompting Viking coach Tony Funsten to call a quick timeout.
“I think we listened to the fans ‘Start the buses. It’s all over.’ – different stuff like that,” the Vikings’ coach said. “We have done that at different times, and it’s something we need to work on.
“Being ahead at the end of the game – the one thing you can’t have is hitting errors. If they block one, big deal, but don’t hit it out if they’ve blocked one. They need you to make mistakes for them to come back five points, and we accommodated.”
The Falcons knotted the score on a Merrick kill, and a service winner by Bigos gave the Falcons a 25-24 lead and game point, but a Falcon net violation knotted the score. The Falcons went back on top after a Merrick kill, but a bad pass gave the Vikings life, and this time they took advantage.
A Ridgeway block on a volley that included a remarkable dig by DeLone gave the Vikings match point.
“Our mindset is basically just don’t let the ball hit the floor,” DeLone said. “We all hustle so much, we all want to win so badly that hits that should be kills we get anyway.”
The Vikings capitalized on a Falcon passing miscue for match point and the big win.
“At the end, we really pulled it together,” Wooden said. “We thought we had another game after that one.
“As a senior, it’s definitely disappointing because we know we won’t be back next year for another season. Especially when your team didn’t play up to its potential – it’s definitely a disappointment. To a certain extent, we get some satisfaction (from battling back), but other than that, we could have played a lot better. The team that played better won.”
The Vikings played better from the outset, although the Falcons hung tough. Upper Merion led 11-7 after an Ingram kill, but the Falcons came roaring back, going on top 13-12 after a Bigos kill. Ridgeway dumped it over the net for a winner to knot the score, and the Vikings led 16-14 when the senior middle hitter delivered a block kill.
“How good was Lisa?” Funsten asked. “She just makes plays that somebody her size (5-9) shouldn’t make. She’s our leader.”
The Vikings went on to open up a 19-15 lead after an Ingram kill, and that lead grew to 21-15 after a Galdi kill. The Falcons would get no closer the rest of the way.
Game two saw the Vikings go on top 8-5 after an Ingram kill. The Falcons rallied to knot the score 9-9 after a JeanAnne Carey ace. They went on to open up a 13-11 lead and still led 15-12 after an Aleksejczyk block, but the Vikings refused to go away.
A DiValerio kill knotted the score 16-16, and an Ingram service winner gave the Vikings a lead they would not lose as they went on to earn a 25-18 win.
It looked as though game three might be more of the same when the Vikings opened up a 16-10 lead, but the Falcons rallied to knot the score 17-17, and they went on top 20-19 after a Bigos block. A Cassidy Koenig winner into the opposite corner of the court knotted the score, and the Vikings went on top by one after an Ingram kill. DiValerio came up big on three straight points – including a dig that fell in for a winner – as the Vikings opened up a 24-21 only to watch the Falcons battle back before the rallied for the big win.
“Right now we’re disappointed,” Paulson said. “When we won the league, we were very pleased, but when we won that, it was over, and our next goal was to go to states. You might say it was a long shot, but I thought we were playing real well, but we were (playing) at home.
“We hadn’t really faced a team as complete as this team.”
And in the end, the team with weapons at every position earned the win.
Unionville 3, Hatboro-Horsham 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-14)
Hatboro-Horsham saw its dream season end when the Hatters fell to second-seeded Unionville on Tuesday night. Ashley Morgan led the Hatters with 12 kills while Julie Harvey had 11. Setter Lauren Schmickle handed out 35 assists. Senior libero Sara Dougherty had eight digs.
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