To view photos of the Neshaminy/CR North game, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Council Rock North 3, Neshaminy 2 (18-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-12)
Ryan Garven admits he had some not-so-pleasant memories of seasons past when his Rock North squad dropped the first two games of Tuesday’s showdown against Neshaminy.“After losing the first two games, we were really devastated, especially because we’ve lost at Neshaminy for the past three years,” Garven said. “It just seemed like it was going to happen again. No one wanted it to happen, and after losing like that (in the first two games), we had more of a drive to come back.”
And come back the Indians did!
They rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn the inspired win over the Redskins in a battle of the lone undefeated teams in the National Conference.“In the first two games, they came out with a lot more energy and lot more drive to win,” Garven said. “We came out and we seemed dead, and our team wasn’t energized.
“We saw what was going on and got a little pep talk from our coach, saying we had to play our game and that we were starting to play their game and playing the way they wanted to play. We needed to take the game in our own hands and control it.
“Our team went on a run and was more energized, and after that, we just played a lot better.”The Indians received contributions from a lot of players in Monday’s big win. Dan Ford had 25 assists and 13 kills while John Whitman had 29 assists and six kills. Hunter Stevens had a team-high 15 kills while Garven had 14 and Garrison Lovely added 11.
“It’s great,” Garven said of his team’s balanced attack. “Our biggest hitter is Hunter Stevens, and once we establish him, the blocks all go to him, and we have (opportunities) outside with John Whitman, Dan Ford and myself.
“To be able to spread the ball anywhere is a lot easier for the setter, and it just adds a lot more diversity to our team, and the other team doesn’t know where the ball is going to be set.”
While Stevens – bound for George Mason – is usually the focal point of opposing defenses, he is not a one-man show as the Indians proved in Tuesday’s win.
“We have high stats for three individuals, and it seems to be evenly spread out,” coach Susan Kim said. “Some teams will hone in on Hunter, but he’s so big – he’ll hit over people.”
Defensively, the Indians were led by Chris Richards, who had 19 digs.Kim echoed Garven’s sentiments that the Indians may have been caught up in playing Neshaminy’s game instead of their own in the first two games.
“In the third game, we went back to being more aggressive,” the Indians’ first-year coach said. “That’s something that made us very successful early on in the season.
“In the first two games, the boys were going back and serving non-aggressively, which is something that is uncharacteristic, so we kept harping on, ‘Stay aggressive. Keep going after the ball and just play our game. Don’t worry about what’s on the other side of the net.’”
Despite the fact that it was an afternoon game, a spirited crowd was in attendance.
“Neshaminy was fired up,” Kim said. “I’m sure they were excited to beat Pennsbury, and jumping out two games ahead on us was huge momentum for them.
“We just settled down a little bit and slowed the game down a little bit more and started playing our game.”
In the winner-take-all fifth game, the Indians jumped out to a 9-5 lead only to 
watch the Redskins rally to knot the score 11.
watch the Redskins rally to knot the score 11.“When we went up 9-5, I think our team was over-excited,” Garven said. “They came back and tied it. After that, we just set it down and won the game.”
“I think the entire team did keep their cool the entire time,” Kim said. “Nobody panicked. It was kind of ‘Okay, we have to find our groove and get back into it.’ It definitely was a nice comeback.”
As a result of their win, the Indians improved to 6-0 in league play while the Redskins are 5-1.
“This is huge,” Garven said. “Now we’re the only undefeated team in our league. We put down the team that everyone was looking for to beat us.
“We have to keep progressing and not peak too early and then when we face Neshaminy on our court, we have to take them out even faster and not go to five games. Whether we have an undefeated season or not, we want to go to districts and play our best game and play even harder.”
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