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WARRINGTON – Joe Haffey acknowledged that his Central Bucks South squad has not exactly found its stride this season.
“We’re inconsistent,” the Titans’ senior said. “Once we get into that rut, we have trouble getting out of it.”
Anyone looking for proof might want to consider the fact that the Titans defeated Souderton 3-2 earlier this season. In Thursday night’s rematch on their home court, they were swept by the Indians 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-23).“After beating Souderton, I expected to be in the top two or three (in the conference),” South coach Mark Bohling said. “Even against (conference leader) Pennridge, we took them to four games, and it could have gone five.
“Halfway through the season, we were right where we wanted to be. We wanted to be in the top four. I felt good about it going into the last half of the season, and it’s been a decline since then. It’s a letdown for myself because I thought I had them more mentally conditioned. Physically, they seem okay, but mentally they seemed to break down this last part of the season.”
Leading the Titans at the net were Luke Mitchell and Ryan Parisi with seven kills each. Haffey and Kevin Williams each had nine blocks in a loss that dropped the Titans’ record to 7-8.
“We have had trouble keeping up the intensity throughout the whole match – just getting good passes, getting good hits,” said senior setter Mike Adamson, who had 18 assists. “We have the potential to do it, but out on the court, we have trouble keeping the momentum going, and when we lost our momentum, it kind of snowballs.
“We play teams close, but we have trouble getting over the hump and finishing. It’s just a mental thing. We have trouble rebounding. The games we’ve won – those are the ones we did rebound. That shows what we can do.”
Souderton has hardly been a picture of consistency either this season, but the Indians did improve to 11-4 in SOL play after Thursday night’s win and solidified their second place standing in the Continental Conference.
“The one thing that separates this team from other Souderton teams is just volleyball experience,” coach Brad Garrett said. “The problem is when we’re not as experienced as some of the other teams we play, we just make some errors you don’t expect Souderton’s teams to make late in the season.
“We played better this time against South, but we’re still not where we want to be because we’re still making too many errors. We don’t play with a lot of emotion. In the past, that’s been fine because we have been more talented. This year we have a lot of good hitters, but we don’t have that traditional Souderton outside hitter that can put the ball down no matter what.”The Indians are hoping their 3-0 wins over Central Bucks South and Central Bucks East the last two days are an omen of things to come.
“We needed this,” Souderton’s Dave Hayes said. “We came out of a three-game win last night, and tonight was a team we shouldn’t have lost to the first time. Coming back and getting it in three games is huge going into the homestretch of our season.”
Hayes was a presence at the middle of the net with five blocks. Outside hitters Luke Pinto (12 kills) and Nick Edgett (nine kills) once again led the Indians’ attack, but according to Hayes, they can’t do it alone.
“It’s always important to mix it up a lot,” the Indians’ middle blocker said. “Nick Edgett can put the ball down, but against the (top) teams like Pennsbury where kids are taller than him, you have to be able to trick the blockers.
“If they know it’s going outside all the time, they’ll be there every set. Not only is it important to mix it up, but it’s important you set middle because when you can that means your defense is doing great. When we do get the middles involved, we can run plays.”
After watching Souderton roll to convincing wins in the first two games, the Titans looked as though they might extend the Indians to four games. The Titans’ trimmed a three-point Indian lead to one (8-7) after a Mitchell kill. A block by Jeff Sharp knotted the score. The two teams were still deadlocked 12-12 after a kill by Souderton’s Jake Shoemaker.
A Williams kill put the Titans on top 13-12. The Titans still led 19-18 after a Sharp service ace. The Indians went on top 20-19 after a South passing error. South regained the lead on a Williams block, but back-to-back hitting errors gave the Indians a 22-21 lead. A John Bunyan kill gave the Indians a two-point edge, and another South hit out of play upped that advantage to three.
The Titans pulled to within one after a Souderton net serve and passing miscue, but the Indians won it on a Bunyan kill. “I thought we did a good job of mixing it up and getting our middles involved, and our ball control was pretty good,” Garrett said. “At a higher level, we can’t rely as much as we do on our outside hitters.
“When we play the better teams, we need more variety in our game.”
Defensively, the Indians were led by the five-dig efforts of Pinto – who also had five aces - and Christian Benner, and according to Hayes, a key for the Indians is working as a team.
“Our team has a lot of kids that haven’t played together before, and we are all so different,” Hayes said. “When we play as friends, we play great, but when we play as individuals, it crumbles because volleyball is such a team sport. We have to get over the differences we have and the lack of playing time we’ve had together and bring it in as one.”
South, meanwhile, will try to recapture its mid-season magic before the season comes to a close.
“We’re at that point where it’s really coming down to passion,” Bohling said. “When we played Souderton, we probably had the best intensity we have had all season – the most team cooperation where they talked and no one was blaming each other. Our passing was close to 80 percent, and that played a major role tonight in why we only went to three games.
“When you play a team of similar caliber, the team with the least amount of errors is going to win. Eighty percent of the game is either going to be a serve or a pass. If you can’t do one or the other, you’re going to lose. It’s unfortunate, but tonight was a good example. Our passes were not there.”
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