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HOLLAND – Everything was riding on every point in a riveting match that kept fans on the edge of their seats.Mike Bowler stepped to the service line and delivered an ace that gave William Tennent – which had already fought off three match points – a 19-18 lead in the winner-take-all fifth game of Thursday’s night’s District One AAA consolation match against Christopher Dock.
One point separated the Panthers from a berth in the state tournament, and that point was theirs when a Dock hit sailed out of play, giving Tennent a 3-2 win over Dock in an emotionally-charged match at Council Rock South High School (25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 14-25, 20-18).
No sooner had the ball gone out of play when the players converged on Bowler for a wild and jubilant celebration.
“I honestly didn’t think it ended,” Bowler said. “It took me about three seconds until I saw my best friend Shane (Cooney) going crazy. It didn’t sink in until I saw that.
“I rarely celebrate on the court, but I love that feeling at the end. That’s what it’s all for – that last minute.”
This was a match that merited a celebration as both teams left it all on the court.
“Dock played an amazing match,” Tennent coach Jim Creighton said. “We had them down early, but they crawled back.
“We knew it was going to be close. We jumped on them early, but we knew they would come back.”
Tennent’s Shane Cooney had predicted a five-game match. Early on, it seemed as though the senior libero might be way off on that predication after the Panthers rolled to wins in the first two games, but the Pioneers – who downed the Panthers in five games during the regular season – came roaring back.
“I was prepared to go five,” Cooney said. “Against teams like that you have to have momentum at the end, and you have to have energy at the end, and that starts at practice. We practice hard every day.”The Panthers had to be thinking sweep after rolling to wins in games one and two. A pair of Pioneer hitting miscues closed out the first game, and Bowler put an exclamation point on the second game with a monster kill for game point.
In game three, the Panthers fell behind early and trailed by nine (17-8) after a Kevin Detweiler service ace, but they battled back. It was a 20-15 game after a Ruvim Volosevich kill. Dock led 21-16 after a Ryan Buckwalter kill, but another Volosevich kill was followed by a Matt Hartman kill. When Cooney’s serve hit the tape and rolled in for an ace, Dock’s lead was trimmed to 21-19.
Dock still led 24-21 after a Ben Richter kill, but Hartman delivered a kill and then Bowler came up with a block.
“Those plays are so big,” Cooney said. “That’s a game changer right there. Once you get that nice kill, your heart starts racing, and you just get into the game.”
A service winner by Kyle Sussman knotted the score. Richter’s kill put the Pioneers on top 25-24, and they won it when a Bowler kill sailed just wide of the side line.
“I was furious when I hit that game ball out,” Bowler said. “We worked so hard as a team coming back, and that breaks my heart.”
Buoyed by that win, the Pioneers rolled to a convincing 25-14 win in game four to even the match 2-2.
“I also take that,” Bowler said. “I was so upset I think I pulled my teammates out of their game.”
But not for long. Bowler was right in the middle of the action in the winner-take-all fifth game. His block put the Panthers on top 9-6, and Tennent still led by two (12-10) after a Hartman block. The Pioneers came back to take a 13-12 lead, but a Hartman kill knotted the score.
A Ben Richter kill set up match point for Dock, but Hartman delivered another big kill. A bad pass by the Panthers gave the Pioneers a 16-15 lead, but a serve out of play by Dock knotted the score. Bowler put the Panthers on top with a block in the middle, but Dock’s Ethan Martin delivered back-to-back winners, once again giving Dock a chance to close it out.
The Pioneers were whistled for four hits, knotting the score 18-18 and setting the stage for the Panthers’ big finish and the jubilant celebration.
“I’m a pretty emotional guy,” said Cooney, a captain. “I’m not a hitter or a tall guy. I play defense. That’s not a crowd pleaser or anything like that, but on my team, I get everyone into the game.
“This is big, this is definitely big. We never quit, and that’s why we won obviously.”
EXTRA POINTS: Cooney led the defense with 15 digs. Bowler had 12 digs and a team-high 10 kills to go along with one ace. Volosevich had seven kills and nine digs. Jeff Milnazik had 46 assists and seven digs. Hartman and Kazlauskas both had eight kills. Hartman had four blocks while Kazlauskas had two.
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