Upper Merion was the lone SOL school to survive Tuesday’s quarterfinal round. Pennsbury and Hatboro-Horsham saw their seasons end.
#1 UPPER MERION 3, #9 PENNSBURY 1 (25-13, 20-25, 25-10, 25-17)
KING OF PRUSSIA – Tim Paulson had a ready answer when asked what made the top-seeded Vikings so tough in Tuesday’s district quarterfinal match.
“Balls don’t drop,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Balls don’t drop. We blocked them, but they picked up every ball. We hit pretty hard – they picked up just about every ball.
“There’s a ball that a girl shanks – we think we got it, and the play’s over, but no – someone ran it down, and they got it over and in. They scramble, they get balls back over, and they wait for you to make a mistake.”
Senior Kendall Gazzo acknowledged defense is her team’s MO.
“Mr. Funsten has always said to us, ‘Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,’” the Vikings’ senior outside hitter said. “Basically at practice, we work on hitting, but we’re always working on defense, no matter what we do, because in the end, defense is what saves us.”
Tuesday night’s match was played in front of an enthusiastic ‘Homecoming Night’ crowd, an unexpected addition when Saturday night’s football game was postponed because of snow.
“It’s always really awesome to play here because we always have so many fans,” Gazzo said. “When the fans are loud, it makes us play better because we have support.”
Tuesday’s win not only vaulted the Vikings into Thursday night’s district semifinal against fourth-seeded Strath Haven, it also guaranteed the Vikings a berth in the state tournament.
“Oh my gosh – it’s my senior year, and I’m so excited,” Gazzo said. “It’s actually been a dream of mine for the longest time to go to states, and now my next dream is to win states.”
For the National Conference champion Falcons, it was a disappointing ending to a successful season.
“It’s really disappointing, especially to lose in this game two years in a row,” senior Lauren Pisauro said. “It’s upsetting knowing how close we are to winning. I think we could have beaten them, and it should have been closer.
“It wasn’t one of our best games tonight, which really stinks because it’s the one that really did count.”
Jae Jackson led the Falcons at the net with 13 kills (.308 hitting percentage) while Pisauro had 11 kills to go along with 12 digs. Audrey Stringer added five kills. Amanda Pace had six digs, and setter Paige Misawic had 28 assists.
For the Vikings, Gazzo had a big night at the net with 15 kills while Melanie Ingram added 12. Senior setter Cassidy Koenig – a member of the Homecoming Court – had another monster night, contributing nine kills, 21 digs and 34 assists. Casey Griffith led the defense with 17 digs.
“They’re so difficult to play because of their size and because of their serving ability,” coach Tony Funsten said of the Falcons. “Casey was awesome passing serve. She made some of their toughest serves look like they weren’t tough.
“She struggled a little in the second game, but in the first, third and fourth games she was just fantastic passing serve and saved us when it looked like they were going to get a run.
“That’s what we try and do – we try and control the other team’s serve. If we can control that and then get an advantage with our serving, we’ll win 95 percent of the time. Everybody will, as a matter of fact, but I can’t worry about everybody. I have to worry about us.”
The Vikings controlled play in game one, prompting Paulson to switch up his lineup in game two to avoid a mismatch at the net that saw Gazzo burn his team repeatedly in the first set.
The Falcons reaped the dividends, opening up a 5-3 lead in game two after a Jackson kill. They stretched that lead to 13-7 after a Pisauro kill and still led 16-10 after a Viking passing error.
A Falcon hit in the net made it a 16-12 game, but back-to-back big plays at the net by Stringer – the first a tip for a winner and the second a block – put the Falcons on top 18-12. They still led 23-16 after a Jackson winner only to watch the Vikings make it a 23-20 game after back-to-back winners by Ingram and a Koenig winner. The Falcons scored the next two points to earn the important win.
“I feel like we kind of let it go because it was almost like, ‘Oh, we can totally beat them. I’m not scared of them anymore,’” Gazzo said. “We kind of just relaxed and didn’t play the way we can play.”
Game three belonged to the Vikings from beginning to end. They opened up a 6-1 lead after a Gazzo kill, prompting Paulson to call a quick timeout. They led 12-2 after a Falcon hitting error and never looked back, rolling to the 25-10 win.
In game four, the Vikings sprinted to a 10-3 lead, but the Falcons rallied to make things interesting, trimming a once commanding Viking lead to 13-11 after back-to-back winners by Pisauro.
Ingram answered with a kill for the Vikings, igniting a 6-2 run on the way to the 25-17 win.
“We came back and then we had three unforced errors in a row right in the middle (of the fourth game),” Paulson said. “We were down by six instead of two. They were all unforced errors, and that kind of deflated us. It was hard to come back.”
“It’s really frustrating,” Pisauro said. “We’re used to putting the ball down – not many teams can return them, and it’s kind of shocking when they hit the ball back.
“Their setter (Koenig) is a real threat too. She’s very good, and you don’t know when the balls are coming over.”
While the Vikings move on, the Falcons saw their memorable season come to an end.
“It was disappointing,” Paulson said. “We have high goals. We wanted to go to states, and when you don’t go, it’s disappointing.
“In retrospect, they’re the better team. It was a tough road for us to get to states, but it’s always disappointing when that’s your goal.”
#4 STRATH HAVEN 3, #12 HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20)
The Hatters – fresh off an upset of fifth-seeded Garnet Valley – were hoping to duplicate that feat in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round. Despite a valiant effort, they came up just short.
Kathryn Lucca and Carly Black dominated the offense with 16 and 15 kills respectively. Lauren Laucella added six kills. Defensively, the Hatters limited Strath Haven's dangerous offense with Caitlyn Klotzbach's 16 digs leading the defense. Black added 15 digs, Lucca contributed 11 and Candyce Riley had seven digs. Sam Jones dished out 39 assists.
- Log in to post comments
