SOL Girls' Volleyball Wrap (10-12/13-12)

Check out this weekend’s SOL volleyball action.

PENNSBURY 3, STRATH HAVEN 0 (29-27, 25-18, 25-16)
The Falcons were led by the efforts at the net of Jae Jackson (12 kills), Cara Reilly (10 kills), Taylor McCartney (eight kills, seven digs) and Olivia Aizen (six kills). Setter Paige Misawic had 35 assists. Contributing defensively were Sarah Koenig and Kate Webb with five digs each. Ava Patterson had four digs.
As a team, the Falcons hit .453.
“It was a great team effort,” coach Michael Falter said. “The girls are starting to play really good volleyball.
“In the last few practices and today’s game, they keep getting stronger and stronger.”
Both teams suffered setbacks. Senior middle blocker Sarah Sweetland went down with an ankle injury late in the second set with the Falcons on top 19-15. On the very next play, Strath Haven middle Sharay Barnes, who just days ago made a verbal commitment to take her talents to the University of Kentucky, went down with a knee injury.
Sweetland is expected back next week.

North Penn captures Perk Valley Tournament, William Tennent finishes second
The Maidens defeated the Panthers in the all-SOL final 2-1 (16-25, 25-19, 15-9). Stephanie Elechko led the offense with 47 kills to go along with 9.5 blocks, nine aces, 19 digs. Isabelle Kerr added 21 aces, 32 kills and 22 digs, and Courtney Gill had 12 aces, 20 kills and six digs. Alyssa Chiodo led the defense with 34 digs to go along with three aces. Taylor Maurer and Rachel Allen combined for 11 aces and 94 assists. 
In pool play, the Maidens rolled to a 7-1 record, splitting only with Agnes Irwin (25-15, 23-25) and winning a pair against Gwynedd-Mercy (25-20, 25-21), Twin Valley (25-11, 25-8) and Academy Park (25-15, 25-15). The Maidens received a bye in the quarterfinals and then defeated Perkiomen Valley in a one-game match 25-8, earning a date with Tennent in the finals.
The Panthers, according to coach Brian Bassler, struggled a bit in pool play but advanced to the playoffs where they edged Agnes Irwin 26-24 in the quarterfinals and went on to defeat Bayard Rustin in the semifinals 25-14. Rustin had defeated Tennent twice in pool play.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Bassler said. “They stuck together and kept fighting the entire day. We came up a little short in the end but played very well at the end of the day.”
This is the first time the Panthers had advanced to a tournament final twice in the same year.

Friday, Oct. 12

CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2 (25-16, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 17-15)
On the heels of their emotional win over previously undefeated Central Bucks West on Thursday, the Titans eked out a win over the Patriots.
For the Patriots, Rachel Clow had a team high six kills while Courtney Kauffman had five. Clow had a team high service aces with six while Caroline Davis had four. Laura Kennedy led the defense with 16 kills while Clow had 15. Haley Echelmeier had 11 digs and Davis had 10.

UPPER MERION 3, CARDINAL O’HARA 1
In a classic battle between two of the area’s top squads – Upper Merion is ranked fourth in the latest Philly area VBcoaches.com rankings and O’Hara is ranked fifth, the Vikings earned the big win. Senior Casey Griffith had a monster night at the net, delivering 25 kills. Teammate Melanie Ingram had 17. Senior setter Natalie O’Neil had 44 assists.

NESHAMINY 3, PENN WOOD 0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-16)
Jan Harasim had 14 kills, six digs and two blocks to lead the Redskins while Morgan Oberholtzer added six kills and six digs. Senior setter Julia Staub had 20 assists and three aces. Danielle Catappano had seven aces and five digs. Kristen Borsos led the defense with seven digs to go along with three aces. Molly MacDonald contributed five digs and four aces.

UPPER DUBLIN 3, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 1 (25-18, 25-17, 21-25, 27-25)
The Flying Cardinals battled their way to the non-league win over the Pioneers. Taylor Stek led the way with 10 kills and seven digs, and Gabbi Johnson had eight kills, four aces and eight digs. Others making important contributions were Alyssa Rowley (10 digs, two aces), Mary DeCamara (four aces, four kills), Melanie Phifer (three kills, four digs, two aces) and Taylor D’Ginto (four digs, three aces).

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