UPPER MERION 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 (25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 25-13)
In a battle of perennial American Conference powers, the Vikings – ranked 5th in the state in the PVCA preseason poll – came away with the important win on their home court.
“It was really humid – it was very uncomfortable,” Viking coach Tony Funsten said. “It was our first home match, and we were a little distracted by our crowd. It wasn’t a big crowd, but the girls were anxious to play in front of them and maybe show a little bit.
“Hatboro was pretty nervous early on, and we weren’t playing well either. We were just playing better than them. In the third game, Hatboro got very aggressive with their serving and had a couple of serving runs. It certainly got our attention.”
The Vikings responded by controlling game four to earn the win.
“We still didn’t play well,” Funsten said. “I have to put some pieces together and let some people do things maybe they wouldn’t normally do. It’s going to be a while for us to be as good as we can be.
“When it was over, the first thing Cass (senior captain Cassidy Koenig) said to me was, ‘We have some work to do.’ That’s good because she recognized we weren’t in rhythm. There were times we played really well and were controlling everything, but our positioning and playing that we live on wasn’t complimenting each other. I have to make some slight changes and make it all work.
“That’s why you play matches. You learn from them, and then it’s got to make you better. We don’t have much time to do it – we play Unionville at Unionville tomorrow. Hopefully, we will adjust and play a little bit better.”
The defending state runner-up Vikings lost a pair of all-state players to graduation in outside hitter Devyn Ingram and libero Shannon Phillips, but they still boast plenty of talent.
Topping the list is all-state setter Cassidy Koenig, who led the Vikings with 26 assists and 19 digs.
“She was all over the court,” Funsten said.
Teammate Casey Griffith added 22 digs and two aces. The junior libero was two nights removed from a record-setting performance against Norristown when she served for a school record 15 aces in the Vikings’ sweep of the Eagles.
All told, Griffith had 32 serves – 30 of them resulted in points.
“I’m glad I wasn’t trying to pass those serves,” Funsten said. “She had a good game passing tonight. She was really solid in serve receive. They had a couple of runs at different times, but Casey would usually step in and handle it.”
At the net, the Vikings were led by sophomore Melanie Ingram with 14 kills. Senior Kendall Gazzo added nine kills and newcomer Carolyn Yvellez – a 5-10 transfer from California – had seven kills.
“Melanie learned a good bit last year, and she’s getting better,” Funsten said of his sophomore hitter. “Kendall Gazzo is learning to be the other outside. She’s never had a chance to play outside, so this is her chance. I think she’s making the most of it.
“Heather Krick in the middle has expanded her offensive repertoire, and Carolyn Yvellez is as natural a right side as you can have. She’s not afraid to handle a second ball, she blocks very well, she attacks very well, and she also plays the court very well. She’s certainly a tremendous addition. Cassidy is getting a lot of confidence in her quickly.”
For the Hatters, Kathryn Lucca and Carly Black led the offense with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Lauren Laucella had five blocks. Lucca also made a huge contribution on defense with 27 digs along with Caitlin Klotzbach, who had 18 digs.
“All in all, Upper Merion is still a well-coached team with a court of very solid players, including their talented setter Cassidy Koenig,” Hatboro coach Kathy Tanner said. “Although we gave them a scare in game three, it wasn’t enough to turn the evening around. We always look forward to playing Upper Merion, and we hope for a better result the next time around.”
--The Vikings are coming off a best-ever performance at the prestigious First Kill Tournament held at Bethlehem Freedom High School last weekend. They not only won their pool with a perfect 6-0 mark but rolled to an 11-1 record in the 24-team tournament. The Vikings were tied for the best record at the tournament with a Berks squad that is comprised of Reading Central Catholic and Holy Name of Reading, both of whom have won Class A state championships.
In the final playoff round, the Vikings swept Brandywine Heights and Whitehall and split its match with Berks, 20-25, 25-19.
“It was a good tournament,” Funsten said. “If you’re in the top three pools at the end of the day, you’re playing really good teams. We played three other 6-0 teams, so we did well. It’s the best we’ve ever done.”
HARRY S. TRUMAN 3, BENSALEM 0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-22)
The Tigers won their second match in as many days with Thursday’s sweep of the Owls.
“It’s been a long week of games, but today we showed the most improvement,” said coach Suzanne Antolini, whose team was coming off a win over New Hope and playing its third match in as many days. “We played really well as a team.
“There was more communication, and we hustled after every ball instead of going after them halfheartedly.”
Senior outside hitter Jackie Fidler led the Tigers seven kills and eight aces. Sophomore middle hitter Khristajiah Jackson added four kills and eight aces while Felicia McCreery had four kills. Setter Amber Blum handed out 16 assists while Alexa Sweeney led the defense with four digs.
“We still had multiple serving errors, but the aces did help,” Antolini said.
Picking up two wins in as many days was a morale booster for the squad, according to the Tigers’ coach.
“We have a small team this year,” Antolini said. “Usually we have 30 girls out, and this year we barely made 20.
“We’re building the morale more and more. On Tuesday when we played Council Rock South, when we came back and beat them in the third game, you could see the excitement and the enjoyment.
“Yesterday and today brought them up even more. Next week we have a tough road. We have Council Rock North and William Tenent, but if they keep hustling and playing as a team and working together, I think we can give them both games.”
NORTH PENN 3, PENNRIDGE 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-17)
The Maidens upped their record to 2-0 in conference play (3-0) overall after Thursday’s sweep of the Rams.
Senior setter Kendra Allen had 23 assists and three aces. Leading the Maidens at the net was Stephanie Elechko with 12 kills and five blocks to go along with one ace. Courtney Gill added five kills, four digs and two aces, and Megan Gallagher had five kills. Alyssa Chiodo led the Maidens defensively with 18 kills and two aces.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-16)
The Titans improved to 3-0, thanks to their sweep of the Indians on Thursday. Leading the Titans to the big win was freshman setter Kaitlyn Kushman who was credited with 35 assists and six service aces.
Meghan Kaminski and Abby Mummert led the Titans’ attack with 10 kills each. Giuli Frendak and Lauren Wise both added five kills while Jill Danyluk had three kills and Kim Lorditch, two kills. Mummert also had four aces, Frendak had a pair of aces and teammate Ally Horvath had one ace. Senior libero Jayne Mulhern led the defense with 25 digs.
For the Indians, Alexa Kluka had a team-high six kills. Setter Sam Cressman had 12 assists. Megan Miller and Alexa Kluka led the defense with six digs each. Bekah Ford had one block.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 2 (25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 17-25, 15-13)
The Panthers, who lost a heartbreaker to the Bucks, were led offensively by Sophie Butler with 11 kills. Anna Mease and Ava Haekler both had nine kills. Setter Meghan Lopes had 28 assists and three aces.
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