Check out the latest SOL boys’ volleyball results. To view photos of the Pennsbury/CR North and Pennridge/Quakertown games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
PENNSBURY 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH (26-24, 25-21, 25-22)
The Falcons – ranked third in the latest state rankings - swept the Indians in Tuesday’s showdown between the National Conference rivals, earning three hard-fought wins.
Chris Spano led a balanced attack with nine kills (.421 hitting efficiency) to go along with six digs. Nick Helsel added five kills (.556), one ace, two blocks and two digs while Spencer McCullough had six kills (.500) and one dig. Sean Kropp (six kills, one ace, seven digs), Pat Merrick (eight kills, one ace, four digs) and Troy Pereira (nine digs) also had big contributions. Setter Jeff Yasalonis had 32 assists, one kill, two blocks and two digs.
For the Indians, Tyler Burns (nine kills, five blocks, nine digs), Chris Richards (three kills, five digs, one block) and Jeremy Higgins (eight blocks, one kill, one ace) had solid all-around performances. Dan Rafalovitch had 23 assists and seven digs.
The Falcons are 10-0 in league play (11-0 overall) while the Indians are 7-3 in the league.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, BENSALEM 1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-17, 26-24)
The Golden Hawks defeated the Owls, eking out a 26-24 win in the pivotal fourth set to seal the win.
Christian Zastavy had a big night at the net, contributing 19 kills and three blocks. Nick Christodoulou also had a huge night, adding 13 kills and 11 digs. Sam Stein added seven kills and three blocks for the Golden Hawks, who improved to 3-6 in the league (4-9 overall). The Owls are 1-8 in the league (1-9 overall).
NESHAMINY 3, WILLIAM TENNENT 1 (25-17, 25-16, 12-25, 25-17)
Ryan Jamison led the Redskins with 15 kills while Zach McGowan had 11 kills and four aces. Setter Chase Fullen had 27 assists and four blocks.
For the Panthers, Nick Gross led the way with 18 kills while Brian Ebert added seven kills. Dillon Cooney had 29 assists, three digs and one block.
The Redskins improved to 7-2 in the league (9-2 overall) while the Panthers are 4-6 in the league (5-7 overall).
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, CHELTENHAM 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-9)
The Bucks celebrated Senior Night with a sweep of the Panthers. Mike Fehrs led a balanced attack with nine kills, five aces and five digs. Joel Klapper added nine kills and middle hitter Chrisian Rupert had seven kills and three blocks. Dan Atkins led the defense with seven digs while setter Matt Hennigan had 26 assists and five kills.
The Bucks remain atop the conference standings with a 13-1 record (14-1 overall) while the Panthers fell to 0-10 in the league (4-10 overall).
PENNRIDGE 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-21)
The Rams remain within striking distance of the Bucks, thanks to Tuesday’s sweep of the Panthers. Henry Savage (nine kills, seven blocks) led the Rams at the net while teammates Kolby Smith (seven kills, two aces, six digs), Alex Velner (six kills, three blocks), Mike Bollinger (five kills), Evan Jacoby (four kills) and Devon Rice (four kills, eight digs, four aces) also made important contributions at the net. Senior setter Matt Ziegler had 29 assists to go along with five blocks.
Mike Whittington (eight kills, two blocks) and Josh Morgan (eight kills) led the Panthers at the net while setter Xavier Villanueva had 16 assists.
The Rams are 11-2 in league play while the Panthers fell to 0-13.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, UPPER DUBLIN 0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21)
The Patriots earned a sweep in their match against the Flying Cardinals. Nick Bennet had a monster game at the net, contributing 20 kills and three blocks to go along with two aces and five digs. Other contributors were Kyle Dolf (eight kills, two blocks, 25 assists, four digs), Trevor Clemens (four kills, 15 assists), Mike Donovan (five kills, two aces, 14 digs) and Steve Caucci (six kills).
The Patriots are 8-5 in conference play (9-5 overall) while the Flying Cardinals are 4-9 in league play (6-9 overall).
NORTH PENN at CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH (Postponed to May 1)
Monday, April 29
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 2 (25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10
The Titans eked out a hard-fought win in five sets, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to win the last two sets.
Steve Huh had a big night for the Titans, contributing 19 kills. Aleck Mayhew also had a big night at the net, chipping in 10 kills and four blocks. Devin Nonnenman had five kills.
For the Golden Hawks, Sam Stein (eight kills), Nick Christodoulou (seven kills, 13 digs), Jake Sweed (nine blocks) and Christian Zastavny (17 kills) made important contributions.
CHELTENHAM 3, ABINGTON 0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-10)
The Panthers earned a decisive win in Monday’s battle pitting the neighboring rivals.
Brett Mayne led the Panthers’ attack with 11 kills, and Brandon Smith added eight kills and was a force in the middle with 11 blocks. Ben Doyle had seven kills and four aces, and Chris Myarick had three kills and five blocks. Joe Woodson added four kills and two aces. Setter Mike Lee had 20 assists.
Saturday, April 27
Pennsbury Finishes Second at the State College Invitational
The Falcons, the third- ranked team in the state, looked every bit the part of one of the state’s premiere squads, turning in an impressive performance at Saturday’s State College Invitational where they advanced to the final and battled the state’s top-ranked team tough but came up just short.
In pool play, the Falcons compiled a 5-1 record to finish first in their pool, sweeping Cheltenham (25-17, 25-13) and Maplewood (25-15, 25-28) and splitting with No. 7 Hempfield (25-27, 25-20).
The teams were re-pooled, pitting the Falcons against another first place finisher as well as a second and third place team. The Falcons swept Latrobe (25-17, 25-19) and No. 6 Exeter (25-16, 25-15) but dropped a pair to top-ranked North Allegheny (18-25, 20-25) to finish second in the re-pool.
In the quarterfinals, Pennsbury defeated Ambridge 26-24 in a hard-fought one-game match. Ambridge is ranked second in the latest Class AA rankings. In the semifinals, Pennsbury defeated the state’s top-ranked Class AA team, Northeastern, 30-21, setting the stage for a rematch with North Allegheny.
This time North Allegheny earned a 25-21, 25-21 win.
“Overall we played well all day long,” coach Justin Fee said. “Hitting .354 as a team against top level competition for most of the day is a great thing.
“We were excited to finish first in our pool and then get re-pooled, allowing us a chance at playing a top ten team in Exeter and former top 10 team in Latrobe. The re-pool also gave us a chance at No. 1 North Allegheny again. It didn’t work out the way we wanted against North Allegheny, but it does help to show our guys how we still have things to improve.
“As coaches and players, we have a better understanding of what needs to be done at practice and in our last few regular season matches in order for us to continue to improve. Many of our guys stepped up and played at a very high level for an entire tournament, and that is nice to see at this point in the season.”
The Falcons received big performances from a long list of players. Sean Kropp had 49 kills on 87 attempts (.379 hit efficiency) to go along with 31 digs, nine aces and two blocks. Neil Helsel had 32 kills on 51 attempts for a .490 hitting efficiency. He also had five digs and five blocks. Jeff Yasalonis had seven kills in 12 attempts to go along with 163 assists, five aces, 15 digs and three blocks. Troy Pereira led the defense with 40 digs to go along with three aces and three assists. Chris Spano had 31 kills on 92 attempts as well as one ace, 23 digs and four blocks. Spencer McCullough had 24 kills on 43 attempts (.488 hit efficiency) as well as five digs and 10 blocks. Pat Merrick had 52 kills on 99 attempts (.363 hit efficiency) to go along with eight assists, eight aces, 32 digs and five blocks.
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