SOL Boys' Volleyball Wrap: 4-10-10

Pennsbury captures title at Bobcat Invitational

The Falcons staged a heroic run through the playoffs to capture the tournament title, downing Cumberland Valley in the title match 24-22, 21-14. The win avenged a 30-28 loss to the state's 10th-ranked squad in pool play where the Falcons were 3-1, downing Brandywine (30-15), Freedom (30-20) and Dover (30-22).

After a bye in the opening round of playoffs, the Falcons played Erie McDowell and fell in three games (15-4, 13-15, 12-15). As a result, the Falcons were sent to the play-in seed list to determine which four of the six losing teams from the second round would move on and who will go to the silver bracket. A good point differential throughout the day propelled the Falcons to the championship bracket where they seized the moment.

The Falcons defeated defending state champion Central Dauphin (ranked 9th in the latest state poll) 15-13, 6-15, 17-15. In the quarterfinals, the Falcons defeated Erie McDowell 15-13, 15-8 and went on to defeat Hempfield in the semifinals (21-16, 21-17) before taking on Cumberland Valley in the title game.

"As a team, we played up and down early in the tournament," coach Justin Fee said. "I am most proud of the fact that my guys had enough character as a team to work through the adversity of nearly being eliminated and sent to the silver bracket.

"After our first match with Erie McDowell, everyone on the team could have easily started to point fingers at one another. It is a great sign when you see that your team is capable of focusing on the things they can control during a volleyball game like their performance on the next play of the game and not the previous play."

Pennridge falls in semifinals at the Bobcat Invitational

Pennridge rolled to a 3-1 mark in pool play, defeating Dallastown (30-11), York Suburban (30-16) and Cocalico (30-23). The Rams only loss came a the hands of State College (27-30).

In a play-in match, the Rams fell to Exeter (15-11, 13-15,10-15), but they came back to defeat Parkland (#8 in the PAVB Coaches Poll) 2-0 (15-13, 15-11). The Rams exacted a degree of revenge by sending State College (#6 in PAVB Coaches Poll) home with a 2-1 win in the quarterfinals (15-11, 10-15, 19-17).

In the semifinals, Pennridge fell to Cumberland Valley 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 13-15).

The Rams were led at the net by Austin Jacoby (41 kills, 3 blocks, 25 digs, six aces), Zech States (38 kills, 7 blocks, 25 digs, 3 aces), Erik Moyer (32 kills, 8 blocks), Cory Chinnici (21 kills, 6 blocks) and Mike Shenk (11 kills, 4 blocks). Will Jager had 126 assists while Jake Braun led the Rams defensively with 53 digs.

Neshaminy captures third place