#1 Pennsbury 3, #8 Neshaminy 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-14)
Joe Yasalonis had a big night for the Redskins, delivering 18 kills with a .419 hitting percentage. Teammate Jeremy Rhoads added 11 kills, Nate Hall had seven kills while Adam Flick had six and Dom Tricoche, five kills.
“Joe Yasalonis got back on a roll again,” Pennsbury coach Justin Fee said. “He had a couple of games where he wasn’t hitting at a real high hitting efficiency.
“He seemed to get back on track. He spent some time watching film of himself trying to figure out what’s going. He made a couple of adjustments we’d been talking about, and it worked for him.”
Defensively, Mike Mamzic had six digs while Ryan Burns had four.
For the Redskins, Brent Jamison had 17 assists to go along with one kill. Vlad Flys had six kills, one block and three digs while teammate Anthony Kirk had six kills, one ace and three digs. Drew Keeling led the defense with six digs while Dave Baron had one kill and three blocks and Ryan Roedel, two kills and one block.
“I’m really proud of the way our team played tonight,” Redskin coach Kevin Roode said. “They showed a lot of character against a great opponent.
“Our hat’s off to Pennsbury. Justin (Fee) has done such a great job with that team. We wish them all the best for the rest of the season.”
The Falcons have earned a date in Tuesday’s semifinals with neighboring Council Rock North.
#2 Pennridge 3, #10 Chistopher Dock 0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-20)
The Rams controlled Thursday’s second round match from start to finish.
“We passed real well,” coach Dave Childs said. “Dock is usually a really good serving team, and we were able to pass really well. That was a big key for us.
“Jake Braun had a real good game passing. He’s our main guy back there, and he did a great job.”
The Rams’ big guns - Zech States (nine kills, four blocks and six digs) and Austin Jacoby (10 kills, two blocks, 10 digs) – had big nights, and so did Mike Shenk, who delivered four kills and eight blocks from the middle.
Erik Moyer added five kills and three blocks, and Cory Chinnici had four kills and three blocks. Setter Will Jager handed out 30 assists while Braun had nine digs and three aces.
“We tried to neutralize their outside hitters as much as we could since that’s a lot of their offense,” Childs said. “We wanted to key on their two good players.”
The Rams, who improved to 17-0, will face Souderton in Tuesday’s semifinal match.
#3 Souderton 3, #11 Haverford 1 (25-18, 25-11, 21-25, 25-18)
The Indians looked as if they were rolling to an easy win after two games but dropped the third game before rallying to win the fourth.
“It wasn’t as convincing as I would have liked, but it is a win,” coach Brad Garrett said. “The first two games were convincing, but I think we got a little complacent.
“There were two things. One is we’ve had nagging injuries for the last month of the season. Christian (Benner), Jake (Shoemaker) and Luke (Pinto) were all ailing at one point or another, and this was our first game back when everyone is healthy.
“We were jelling pretty good, and we just lost energy in that third game, and they won. We picked it up in the fourth game. It was a solid performance, but we will certainly have to play better if we want to stay with Pennridge.”
Luke Pinto, according to Garrett, turned in his one of his best performances of the season on Thursday. The senior outside hitter had 25 kills and 10 digs.
“The thing that Luke does best – everyone knows it’s going to him, but he still finds a way to put it down,” Garrett said. “They’re yelling out where he is on pretty much every possession, but yet he finds a way to find a seam or a hole through a block
“He had a lot of timely kills. Alex (Long) kept pumping it up there, and Luke kept finding ways to put it down. Haverford played good defense, especially the third and the fourth games when they got a lot of good touches on the blocks, but it just seemed whenever we needed something, Luke was able to put a ball down. That’s a sign of a good leader and someone who is going to take the team on his back and hopefully carry us into the post-season.”
Jeff Bishop also had a huge night, delivering 16 kills and three blocks.
“At times they were blocking him in the middle, and he just found ways to get up high and go over the block,” Garrett said. “When you have three blockers, you can’t ask for much more. He was just doing the job, and they couldn’t do much about it.”
The Indians will face undefeated Pennridge in a semifinal match on Tuesday.
#4 Council Rock North 3, #5 North Penn 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-16)
The Indians have earned another date with Pennsbury, thanks to their convincing win over the Knights.
Hunter Stevens turned in another huge night for the Indians, slamming home 22 kills to go along with three blocks, five digs and one ace. Niall Hannagen added six kills while Ryan Garven had four kills, two blocks and one ace. Dan Ford had four kills, two blocks, three digs, 16 assists and one ace.
Defensively, Ross Denkin led the way with 18 digs and one ace. Justin Devitt had seven digs and one ace while John Whitman had 16 assists and five aces.
“We were successful tonight because we were able to consistently pass the ball to target and play floor defense,” coach Mike Flaherty said. “Our primary passers – Ross Denkin, Justin Devitt and Christian Kiselica – did an excellent job.
“Our setters, John Whitman and Dan Ford, are beginning to run a quicker offense, which provides our hitters better opportunities at the net. Tonight’s game was a complete team effort. The first round bye has given us additional practice time, and the boys are working very hard every day to improve.
“We are looking forward to a great match on Tuesday night against Pennsbury.”
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