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LOWER GWYNEDD – Sarah Kiely insists the idea of playing for a district championship was always in the back of her mind.
“I knew we had the ability to get to the district finals,” the Council Rock North senior said. “But we have been in some ruts this year, we have played some difficult teams, but I think the level of competition we have played has helped us build momentum to this point.
“In the back of my mind, there’s always been a chance.”That chance became a reality on Thursday night when the sixth seeded Indians held off a gutsy St. Basil Academy squad to earn a hard-fought 3-1 win (25-20, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20).
“It’s so exciting,” Kiely said. “Going to the district final, getting that state berth – it’s the best senior year.
“It’s a great feeling.”
Kiely finished the night with 15 kills and nine blocks in yet another superb outing at the middle of the net. Junior Rachel Friedman had 17 kills and 17 digs in a stellar showing. Junior Caroline Anderson had six kills, 13 digs and three blocks while Bailey Dowd had five kills and five blocks. Dani Borgia had 15 digs and Danielle Stewart, 10 digs.
Senior setter Jackie Davies had 41 assists, and that, according to Friedman, is where it all begins for the Indians’ offense.
“I think our team has a lot of chemistry,” she said. “To be able to have a setter who can place the ball and hustle after every ball and get the ball up to all of our hitters is really important.
“If you don’t have a setter who does that, you can’t execute the play.”
The Indians will face top-seeded Bishop Shanahan in Saturday’s district title match.
“We have been preparing for this the whole time,” Friedman said. “None of our (volleyball) teams have made it this far.
“Our (quarterfinal) Penncrest game was as far as any of our teams have ever been. It feels great to finally make it past that point.”
For a while, it looked like the Indians might be in for an easy night when they jumped out to 10-2 lead in game one. The run began with a Kiely tip and included three Friedman winners.
But a funny thing happened on the way to an apparent Indians’ romp. The Panthers came to life, trimming Rock North’s lead to two (13-11) after a Jenn Blake kill.
It was still a 19-16 game after an Indian hit in the net, but a Friedman kill was followed by a Dowd block and kill, and the Indians were off and running as they went on to earn a 25-20 win.
In game two, momentum swung in the Panthers’ favor as Rock North began to struggle with its serve receive. The Panthers led 7-5 after a Laura Kuhlmeier service ace, and they upped that lead to 13-6 after back-to-back aces by Maggie Greenberg.“Since all of them jump serve, they serve top spin, and it’s short,” Friedman said. “We start back, so we were back on our heels a lot.”
“We were expecting deep serves,” Kiely added. “When they served us short, that was our Achilles heel.”
The Panthers led 19-11 after a Jess Dembeck kill, but a pair of winners from both Friedman and Kiely made it a 19-15 game. The Indians, however, would get no closer as the Panthers went on to earn a 25-19 win.
“They’re good at moving the ball around,” Friedman said. “You can’t really say, ‘She hits down line, and she’s going to hit line again.’
“You have to be ready for anything and on your toes all the time. When we were in that rut, that’s what we were doing wrong. They’re also a great blocking team.”
Coach Kinsey Lynch, for one, was not surprised to see the Panthers come back strong.
"Winning that first game is great," she said. "Volleyball is all about momentum, but I knew even though we won that game - they were a very good team, and they would be able to come back after a loss, and we needed to react and adjust quickly."
In game three, the Panthers opened up a quick 3-0 lead and led 16-11 after a Blake kill.
“After the first game, our energy was high, but our passing got us in a rut,” Kiely said. “We got to a point where we were kind of looking at each other like, ‘What is going on?’
“The fact that they stepped up and played defense – it took away our momentum. Passing was the key to winning this game. When they started stepping up and passing, that district final bubble was getting further and further away.
“We definitely snapped back to reality. It was like, ‘We have to pass, we have to set, we have to hit.’”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Dowd got things started with a kill and then Kiely delivered a kill and back-to-back blocks. A Panther hitting error was followed by another Kiely winner before Allison Lang delivered a tip that fell in for a winner for the Panthers.
The Panthers led 21-18 after another Blake kill, but a serving error gave the Indians life, and they capitalized. Davies delivered a service ace to make it a one-point game. Colleen Fedorowicz answered with a tip for the Panthers, but Anderson delivered back-to-back big plays – a kill and a block – to knot the score 22-22.
Again, the Panthers went on top by one, but kills from Dowd and Kiely set the stage for an Anderson service ace for game point.
"After we lost that second game, I told the girls that we were making mistakes that were so uncharacteristic - like not calling the ball, hitting the ball in the net, serving in the net," Lynch said. "I always tell the girls we want to make aggressive mistakes, so it was very surprising to see some of those mistakes they were making during the second game, but we were able to rebound."
Game four was another war.
The Panthers led 7-4, but a Kiely tip sparked a 6-0 Indian run that included kills from both Friedman and Anderson as well as several Panther errors to, allowing Rock North to go on top 10-7.
Down but not out, the Panthers rallied to knot the score 12-12, and it was still a 16-15 game after a Lang line kill. Kiely answered with a kill, and the Indians had a lead they would not lose. A Kiely block put the Indians on top 21-17, and they led by five after a Friedman kill.
Friedman put the finishing touches on a monster performance when she delivered a kill just inside the end line for match point.
According to Lynch, her players never lost their confidence, even when things were not going their way.
"They had been in that situation throughout the year, and I think they knew they'd be able to come back," she said. "They really played unified as a team, they had good chemistry, and they knew they could win, but they knew they had to work hard to do it."
Saturday’s title match against Shanahan will be held at Wissahickon, beginning at 5 p.m.
"This is the furthest our program has been in at least 10 years," Lynch said. "This has been a goal for them, and we had the right group of kids to take us there. We have strong leaders, we have a great core of strong seniors that would be able to take us to the next level."
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'Family comes first' has always been a point of emphasis for Lynch, and the Rock North coach will be putting that principle into practice on Saturday. Lynch will not be in attendance at her team's title game. Instead, she will be traveling to Frederick, Md., to attend a memorial service in celebration of the life of her sister, Kaitlyn Wilson, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Nov. 5, 2008.
The 17-year-old Wilson, affectionately known as 'Wilso' to her teammates, was a standout field hockey and lacrosse player.
"It was really hard for me last night as a coach," Lynch said of the anniversary of her sister's death. "My sister was a really amazing athlete. She had scholarship offers for field hockey and lacrosse.
"Unfortunately, being her senior year when the accident took place, things were never able to come to fruition."
Lynch informed her players of her situation after a jubilant bus ride back to school.
"I always tell my players that family comes first," the Indians' coach said. "There have only really been two times in my life where I've had to step back from coaching, and that has been the birth of my daughter and the celebration of my sister leaving this earth and moving on to another place. It's something I simply have to do."
Although she will not be present, Lynch has a world of confidence in her team.
"They know what they need to do," she said. "We have a great coaching staff. They've done it before without me being there. I think they're going to play great volleyball.
"I love this group of kids. They're just a phenomenal, phenomenal group of kids to coach. I love going in every day to coach them. These are the kind of life lessons - as players and coaches, that relationship you develop over the years and the conversations you have - it's so much more than a game."
All the players will be wearing purple ribbons in their hair in memory of Kaitlyn. Purple was her favorite color.
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Bishop Shanahan (1) 3, Hatboro-Horsham (4) 0
Hatboro-Horsham saw its bid to earn a spot in the district final come to an end when the Hatters were defeated by top-ranked Bishop Shanahan 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-20).
"We played really well," coach Diane Lucas said. "I just think we put a little pressure on ourselves, and we just couldn't pull it out.
"They have a very powerful team, a very strong offensive team. We played tremendous defense, but in some parts, we got a little tentative when it came to finding the floor. I know Shanahan was nervous during the match, which is a big compliment to the girls - always coming out strong, always playing hard and never giving up."
Ashley Morgan led the Hatters with nine kills and six digs while Julie Harvey had eight kills and one ace. Setter Lauren Schmickle had 28 assists.
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