Pennridge won its volleyball showdown with Souderton. Check out all of Wednesday's results. To view photos of the Souderton/Pennridge match, please visit the Photo Gallery.
PENNRIDGE 3, SOUDERTON 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-22)
Blocking, according to coach Dave Childs, has been an area of concern for the Rams this season.
Souderton’s hitters might have a hard time believing that after seeing the Rams block one kill attempt after another in Wednesday’s showdown.
“We worked on it a lot in practice – we worked on pushing it over the net because that was what we haven’t been doing, and it helped us a lot,” Ryan Chinnici said. “Defensively, we thought we would be okay, but our blocking really picked us up.”
Chinnici led the Rams with eight blocks while teammates Erik Moyer and Mike Bollinger each had four blocks.
“Our blocking was unreal tonight,” Childs said. “I don’t think I’ve ever coached a match where we’ve blocked this well.
“Digs – I thought we played really well, especially with their tough middles. We were digging them deep.”
Christian Lizana led the Rams with 14 digs while Kalin Nelson had nine and Derek Rush, seven digs. Nelson led the Rams’ attack with 11 kills while Chinnici and Moyer each had seven. Rush had six kills and Bollinger, four kills. Chinnici also had four aces while Nelson had three, and setter Austin McVaugh had 29 assists.
“I knew it would be a good game,” Childs said. “They’re a very good team. We have seen a lot of the top teams in the state this year, and I think they’re one of them.”
Chris Kluka led the Indians with 11 kills and two blocks. Andrew Diesel had eight kills, and Gabe Clemmer had seven kills and seven digs. Greg Mazza led the defense with 13 digs.
The biggest difference in Wednesday’s match, according to Souderton coach Brad Garrett, might have been experience.
“We have now played four of the top 10 teams in the state, and in each of those matches against some of the top teams in the state, we’ve had 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, and we just have trouble finishing games,” Garrett said. “I think a lot of that is experience.
“It’s learning how to win and believing in yourself at the end of the game that you can do it.”
The Indians appeared poised to extend the Rams to four games. They led 20-19 in game three after a Ram hit into the net, but a net serve allowed the Rams to knot the score. It was still a 23-22 game after a Kluka kill, but again, the Indians had a serving error, allowing the Rams to go on top 24-22. A Rush kill put the finishing touches on the Rams’ sweep.
“We get in those tight situations, and instead of taking our game to the next level, we just kind of buckle,” Garrett said. “Pennridge is accustomed to winning now, and they feel comfortable.
“They get in that 22-22 game, and they just keep pushing and putting the pressure on you and making you make mistakes where we tend to make the mistakes at the end.
“I still think we have a huge upside. I think we’re more athletic than they are, I think we have more height, and we’re as balanced, but they have the experience.”
In game one, the Rams sprinted to a 10-4 lead, but the Indians came back to knot the score 15-15 and spent the rest of the game exchanging points with the Rams, who eked out a 25-22 win.
“I wanted to come in focused,” Childs said. “That’s been a problem for us – coming into matches focused, and I was really happy with us tonight.
“We came out and jumped on them early. They came back, but we stuck with it. You like to have those matches because you learn from them, and it puts the guys in that pressure situation which is beneficial.
Game two belonged to the Rams, who rolled to a 25-16 win.
“It was a good back and forth game the first game, but to come out strong in the second game was huge,” Childs said. “To take that 2-0 lead is big.”
Game three was another war. Souderton led 5-4 after a Kluka service ace, but the Rams went back on top 6-5 after a Moyer block. A Nelson service ace just inside the side line was followed by an ace that caught the tape and fell over the net for a winner, putting the Rams on top 8-5.
A Diesel kill made it a 9-7 game, but a Moyer kill on first contact put the Rams on top 10-7. A block by Rush gave the Rams a four-point lead, but Clemmer came up with a kill for the Indians.
The two teams were deadlocked 14-14 after a Kluka kill, and the Indians led 15-14 after a Brett Rawa winner. A Moyer kill at the end of a long volley knotted the score yet again. It was still an 18-18 game after a Greg Mazza service ace, but the Indians never could get over the hump.
“If we can get over the hump, we’re going to be hard to beat,” Garrett said. “Once we get the feeling of what it takes to get past one of those 22-22 games and win one of those big matches, I think they’ll get the bug, and it will be hard to beat them.
“Hopefully, that will come sooner rather than later because our league is tough this year with CB West, North Penn and Pennridge.
“Other than game two, this was a fairly well played match for so early in the season.”
Wednesday’s showdown attracted a large crowd and had the look and feel of a playoff game.
“We love playing teams that really push us, especially when we have a crowd like this,” Chinnici said. “The crowd was awesome, and every point was exciting.
“When we’re under pressure, it pushes us. I was really happy with how we played. We came out strong because we knew they wanted to take the league championship from us.”
While the Indians fell to 3-1 in league play, the Rams – who extended their conference winning streak to 56 matches - improved to 5-0.
“States is our ultimate goal,” Chinnici said. “The league championship is our first goal and hopefully districts and then states.”
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, BENSALEM 1 (25-8, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23
Kenny Rauchut led the Panthers with 17 kills while John Ferrell added 10 kills and four blocks. Justin Keeny led the defense with 17 digs, and setter Mike Excell was credited with 46 assists.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 2-0 in league play (3-0 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-18
Nick Bennett led the Patriots at the net with 10 kills and one block. He also had six service aces. Kyle Dolf had eight kills, two blocks, three digs and five service aces. Mike Donovan added six kills for the Patriots, who improved to 2-3 in league play.
PENNSBURY 3, ABINGTON 0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-14
Pat Merrik led the Falcons at the net with 14 kills and a .600 hitting efficiency. He also had one ace, three digs and two blocks. Jeff Yasalonis had 28 assists to go along with one kill, four aces and three digs. Sean Kropp added nine kills, one ace and six digs.
Chris Spano had six kills, two aces and five digs, and Dalton Zimmerman contributed four kills and one ace. Spencer McCullough had two kills and one block, and Neil Helsel had one kill, two blocks, one ace and one dig. Troy Pereira had four digs for the Falcons, who improved to 3-0 in league play.
QUAKERTOWN 3, UPPER DUBLIN 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-17
Mike Whittington and Ryan Mease led a balanced Panther attack with eight kills each. Whittington also had three blocks and Mease had one block. Casey Fosbenner had seven kills and one block, and Nick Grossov added four kills and two blocks. Josh Morgan had three kills and one block. Setter Nate Stout had 22 assists for the Panthers, who boast a 3-3 mark in league play.
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