UPPER MERION 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 2 (25-20, 25-16, 29-27)
The American Conference’s premiere squads played to a standing room only crowd on ‘Black Out’ night at Hatboro-Horsham.
Senior Cassidy Koenig was once again the catalyst for the Vikings, contributing eight kills, 35 assists and 21 digs.
“Cassidy was fantastic,” coach Tony Funsten said.
The Vikings featured a balanced attack at the net with Melanie Ingram (13 kills), Kendall Gazzo (12 kills) and Carolyn Yvellez (11 kills) all coming up big. Casey Griffith led the defense with 22 digs while freshman Emily Shannon came off the bench and contributed seven digs in the marathon match.
The Hatters, according to coach Kathy Tanner, received outstanding efforts from all of their players and lost ‘despite the awesome defensive plays and great kills by the Lady Hatters.’
Kathryn Lucca and Carly Black led the offense with 14 and 10 kills respectively. Black also had 15 digs, and Caitlin Klotzbach added 14 digs to the team’s total of 54 digs. Freshman Sam Jones dished out 32 assists.
The win was the 68th consecutive in conference play for the Vikings, who improved to 9-0 in conference play (12-0) overall. The Vikings are poised to win their fifth straight conference title and 13th in the last 15 years.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-14)
The Panthers were led by Maria Jose Alanis, who had 13 kills, eight blocks and one ace in a big day. Michele Felix added 10 kills, and Emily O’Donnell had seven kills. Coach Brian Bassler lauded the defensive effort of libero C.C. Weir as well as the rest of his squad.
“In games two and three, it was some of the best defensive volleyball I have seen the girls play all year,” the Panthers’ coach said. “They covered each other, helped each other by making great saves and blocked exceptionally well.
“The girls really responded to a slow start, and I am really proud of the way they started to take care of the ball. This team really tries to do everything you ask of them. When they put 100 percent effort out on the floor, they are very fun to watch.”
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, UPPER DUBLIN 2 (25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 23-25, 16-14)
The Colonials gutted out a five-set win over the Flying Cardinals. Anna Waltz turned in a standout all-around effort, contributing a triple double with 11 aces, 11 kills and 13 digs to go along with one block. Giovanna Jenkins had eight kills, 12 digs, four blocks and five aces while Monica McLenigan had 14 digs. Emily Houck (six kills) and Michele Taunton (five kills) also contributed at the net. Setters Tori Biggins (17 assists, three digs, one ace) and Riley Hellings (13 assists, one ace) also came up big. Elizabeth Keefer had one ace, three kills, two digs and two blocks while Cara Sweeney had two blocks.
NORTH PENN 3, PENNRIDGE 0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-14)
The Maidens were coming off a grueling stretch that saw them capture their second title of the season when they won the Perkiomen Valley Tournament on Saturday and then followed that with a five-set match against Methacton on Monday in front of a packed house for ‘Dig Pink’ night.
Even though the Warriors handed the Maidens their first loss of the season in match play, it had been quite a night for the Maidens.
“It was an awesome match,” assistant coach Kevin Eck said. “It was the first five-game match we played all year, and the girls played hard.”
“We definitely learned from it,” senior captain Kendra Allen said. “We just need to be more confident and determined.
“The crowd was great. It was loud – you couldn’t even hear the person next to you.”
Things were decidedly different when the Maidens took the court for Tuesday afternoon’s SOL match against the Rams, who opened up a 6-2 lead in the first set after a Maiden hit sailed out of play.
“It was kind of tough readjusting to the different speed today because last night was really fast,” junior captain Stephanie Elechko said. “There were a lot of people here, a lot of noise, and today you have to make up your own noise, be your own cheerleader and bring each other up for every play.”
Elechko certain did her part to bring the Maidens up, reeling off 10 straight points from the service line to set the tone for the entire match. Included in that run – which turned a 6-3 deficit into a 13-6 lead – were five consecutive service aces.
“I have been struggling (serving) for a couple of games, but I got it back today,” Elechko said. “In some of the other games, there was more pressure, and I think I probably felt that. I calmed down today.
“Really, I just kind of clear my head after every serve, every play and just focus on what I need to do to get it over the net and get it in.”
Elechko finished the match with nine aces to go along with 10 kills and four blocks to lead the Maidens.
“It’s awesome because last night she struggled with her serve,” Eck said. “For her to go back out there knowing she was on a short leash and for her to rip off those serves was great for her.
“She let everything go from last night and just came out and started all over again, and we needed that because we were very flat.”
Propelled by Elechko’s service run, the Maidens were off and running, and they never looked back.
“We were out of system a lot today,” said Pennridge coach Eric Headley, whose team was without all-league libero Jillian Bracken (injury). “When we’re in system, we’re good. A lot of it is mental.
“We split with (North Penn) at the Quakertown Tournament and played very well, but we challenged them. With Jillian out, it takes away a lot of our ‘three’ passes. Hats off to North Penn – they served really well. With girls’ volleyball, if you set the tone in the first set of a match, you have a good shot of winning because psychologically it takes away so much.”
In addition to Elechko, Allen contributed 10 assists and five digs, and Erin Gooley also had 10 assists. Courtney Gill had seven kills while senior captain Alyssa Chiodo led the defense with eight digs. Isabelle Kerr had three aces and five digs, and Juliana Collins had three aces. Danielle Dungee and Valerie Smith both had three kills. Taylor Maurer had three assists.
WISSAHICKON 3, CHELTENHAM 1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-9, 25-15)
The Trojans dropped the first set of Tuesday’s match against Cheltenham but bounced back to win the next three. A key to the match was the Trojans’ serving game.
“Tara Rodgers went on a serving tear in the second game, serving 13 points in a row,” coach Michelle Copelli said.
Freshman Anna Morgan, according to the Trojans’ coach, sparked the team with five kills and three blocks from the middle hitter position.
“The entire team played excellent defense throughout the match,” Copelli said.
PENNSBURY 3, NESHAMINY 0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-10)
The Falcons remained perfect in SOL play, thanks to their 3-0 sweep of the Redskins. “Pennsbury is a very strong team this year” Neshaminy coach Kate Livingstone said. “They are always good, but this season they are at their best.”
“We struggled defensively, and our serving was just off”
The Redskins had one ace and 10 serving errors. Junior Jen Harasim, according to Livingstone, had a strong match, contributing five kills and three blocks. Kelly Mason had 10 digs, and Amy Paulits added five kills.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 1 (21-25,, 25-14, 25-17, 25-23)
The Bucks rallied after losing their first set to sweep the Panthers. Leading the Bucks was sophomore Alicia West with eight kills. Rachel Baker added six kills followed by Caroline Hauck and Sarah Hall with four kills each. Courtney King led the team in serving with six aces, and Jess West led the Bucks with 22 assists.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-16)
Both teams wore pink as the Titans celebrated ‘Dig Pink’ night with all the proceeds from Tuesday’s match going to the Side Out Foundation for breast cancer research and awareness.
“For the first time in a few games, the girls had fun, and it showed on the court against a tough opponent,” Souderton coach Marlena Musselman said. “The scores may not show it, but I’m pretty sure Souderton’s making a turnaround!”
Miriam Doepner, Alexa Kluka, Jen Spause, Bekah Ford and Cori Watson each had one kill. Setter Cori Watson had six assists while Megan Miller led the Indians’ defense with 12 digs. Hayley Sparks added one block and one ace.
HARRY S. TRUMAN 3, BENSALEM 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-17)
The Tigers rebounded from a disappointing loss to Norristown to sweep the Owls on Tuesday. Kristajiah Jackson led the way with eight kills, four digs and three blocks while Jackie Fidler added six kills, five aces and six digs. Felicia McCreery had four kills, three aces and five digs, and Amber Blum had 15 assists, one ace and two kills. Alexis Sweeney led the defense with 10 digs. Sara Hires had one kill, one ace and two digs while Jasmyn Wilson added two kills.
MONDAY, OCT. 3
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, NESHAMINY 1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24)
The Patriots edged the Redskins in a hard-fought non-league match on Monday. Leading the Patriots were Courtney Kauffman (16 kills), Kelsey Arm (12 kills), Maddy Lagacey (eight digs, five aces), Haley Wicklum (six kills, six digs), Ilana Bershtein (eight digs) and Madi Staub (five kills, eight digs).
The Redskins were led by Amy Paulits with 14 digs, four aces and nine kills. Kelly Mason had 21 digs and four aces while Julia Staub had 16 assists, two aces and eight digs. Bria Harris had six aces.
NORRISTOWN 3, HARRY S. TRUMAN 2 (25-23, 25-15, 19-25, 25-27, 21-19)
The Eagles gutted out a five-set win over the Tigers in a non-league match on Monday. The Tigers were led by Kirstajiah Jackson (13 kills), Felicia McCreery (five kills, five aces, four digs), Amber Blum (31 assists, two aces), Jackie Fidler (five kills, seven aces, nine digs) and Alexis Sweeney (two aces, 11 digs).
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