Check out Tuesday’s SOL volleyball results, including William Tennent’s historic win over Pennsbury.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, PENNSBURY 0 (27-25, 25-18, 25-12)
Brian Bassler did not hesitate for even a split second when asked when Tennent had last defeated Pennsbury on the volleyball court.
“Never,” the Panthers’ coach said. “And I’ve been here – including my time with the jayvee team – at least 10 years. We didn’t play them all those years because the divisions were changed, but we’ve been playing them twice a year for the last five years, and we’ve never beaten them.
“I don’t know when the last time was they lost. I’d like to give their girls a lot of credit. I have watched them play for so long, and they are the measuring stick. For us to beat them for the first time is tremendous, especially for our seniors.”
The last time the Falcons lost in league play was on Oct. 7, 2010, when they fell in five games at Council Rock North.
Earlier this season, the Panthers lost to the Falcons in four games.
“We knew we could kind of hang with them,” Bassler said. “Our defense is much, much improved, and that’s really the key.
“There are some things we’ve been working on offensively that clicked tonight and the girls hit their spots. We’re not necessarily an overpowering team like they are, so for us, it’s play defense, serve aggressively and mix it up and take our chances when we have them.”
One look at the numbers would show who the difference maker on defense was for the Panthers. Junior libero CC Weir had 33 digs in a monster performance.
“The whole team played wonderfully,” Bassler said. “Their coach commented on CC Weir, and he said, ‘You played unbelievable defense, and she covers the entire back line.’ I told her the other day at practice I thought she was the best libero in the league, and she’s only a junior. If she pushes herself, the sky’s the limit, and she’s doing it.”
Bassler went on to acknowledge the outstanding defensive efforts of Casey McMahon, Maura Carr and Chelsea Gallager.
MJ Alanis had 14 kills and six blocks to lead the Panthers’ attack.
“She played very well at the net,” Bassler said.
Setter Hannah Washam had 31 assists and, according to her coach, served well and played great defense. At one point, the Panthers had a front row of freshman Shae Conway and sophomores Amber Wood and Jaime Bonnner.
“They hung in there and were excellent,” Bassler said.
The defining moment in Tuesday’s match came in a first set that saw the Falcons open up a 23-16 lead. A Pennsbury win appeared imminent, but the Panthers clawed their way back into the game, rallying for the 27-25 win.
“They were playing well, and all of sudden, we got some confidence and made very few mistakes and played great defense,” Bassler said.
Pennsbury coach Michael Falter tipped his hat to the Panthers.
“Tennent really played great floor defense and simply wanted it more and worked harder for it,” he said. “If we don’t begin to show more heart and discipline, our season will end early, which is a shame because of the talent we have.”
While the Falcons fell to 6-1 in the league (7-3 overall), the Panthers improved to 5-3 in league play (7-4 overall).
“We played a very difficult schedule this year,” Bassler said. “I knew we had a pretty solid team, and I wanted to really challenge us because I felt in years past we would get to a playoff match, and we had only played four or five matches like that during the year out of the 18, and we would get stunned.
“This year we went out and beat St. Basil by three. We lost to CR North in five – if we had won that, we would be in the discussion for a league title. This is what we have been aiming for – we’ve been aiming to pick off some of these better teams. We have West Chester Henderson tomorrow. They knocked us out of the playoffs last year, so it doesn’t get any easier, but this is the way we wanted it.”
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-14, 26-24)
The Bucks withstood the challenge of facing their neighboring rivals on ‘Dig Pink’ night on the Patriots’ home court, earning their eighth win of the conference season without a loss and remaining perfect overall (10-0).
Alicia West (12 kills, seven digs) and Rachel Baker (11 kills, two digs) had big nights at the net for West. Jess West had 33 assists and did a superb job of managing the game for the Bucks and getting to some very tough balls. Other contributors were Maddie Klun (six kills, four digs), Candace Rupert (five aces, four kills, two digs), Courtney King (four kills, two aces, four digs), Rachel Farnin (eight digs) and Sarah Alu (five digs).
For the Patriots, Courtney Kauffman had a big night in the middle of the net, delivering 15 kills. Hannah Lunak and Rachel Clow each added six. Defensively, the Patriots were led by Caroline Davis (15 digs), Clow (15 digs), Laura Kennedy (14 digs) and Kauffman (11 digs).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
The Golden Hawks received standout performances from sophomore setter Melissa Nicholas, outside hitter Leanna Keegan, outside hitter Meredith Gilson and junior defensive specialist Lauren Foisy.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 3, ABINGTON 1 (25-15, 25-11, 23-25, 26-24)
Sam Jones, Lauren Laucella and Quinn O’Donnell led the Hatters with 11, 10 and five kills respectively. Laucella also had seven blocks while Kelly Hogan added five. Candyce Riley led the defense with 17 digs. Jones also contributed 10 assists and four aces.
For the Ghosts, Liz Gassman led the way with 15 kills and eight digs. Regina Seweryn and Carley Cooper both added seven kills. Seweryn also had four blocks and Cooper, six digs. Setters Emma Garg and Lizzie Lloyd combined for 29 assists. Allison Rooney led the defense with 11 digs. Claire Gassman had five blocks.
NORTH PENN 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 (25-19, 25-17, 28-26)
Stephanie Elechko led the Maidens with 15 kills while teammate Isabelle Kerr had 10 kills and two aces. Sammy Powers had a strong serving game, delivering four aces, and Courtney Gill added five kills.
The Titans, according to coach Ulana Keer, struggled with their serve receive and defense.
“Since we were out of system, we had a hard time getting our great hit,” she said. “In the third game, we came alive and had a 22-18 lead, but their serves put us out of system. It was disappointing since we did not play with our usual energy and gusto.”
NESHAMINY 3, BENSALEM 0 (25-17, 25-2, 25-10)
The Redskins used a strong serving game as they rolled to the decisive win. Gabby Mannino led the way with 10 aces while Kirsten Brosos had five and Julia Staub and Morgan Oberholtzer had four each. Staub also had 19 assists. Jen Harasim led the Redskins with 11 kills. Oberholtzer added five kills and eight digs.
NORRISTOWN 3, WISSAHICKON 1 (17-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-11)
Wissahickon coach Mary Copelli acknowledged the solid passing of Ashley Anderson. Alev Erhan had eight kills to lead the Trojans.
PENNRIDGE 3, QUAKERTOWN 1 (25-21, 25-22, 16-25, 25-22)
The Panthers were led at the net by Ava Haekler (10 kills), Colette Todd (eight kills) and Alyssa Moore (seven kills, three blocks, two aces). Meghan Lopes contributed 23 assists, two aces and 11 digs. Lindsay Beck had 26 digs and, according to her coach, a solid serving game. Jess Hunsberger had three aces.
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