Check out the SOL boys volleyball results for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. To view photos of the Abington/Bensalem and North Penn/
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2 (25-22, 11-25, 25-15, 16-25, 15-8
Twenty-four hours after clinching sole possession of their first conference crown since 2005, the Bucks found themselves back on the court for a non-league battle with the Indians.
“Last night going four games against (CB) East and then having another match tonight against Council Rock North – it was tough because we’re tired,” West coach Todd Miller said. “It was emotional last night.
“(Rock North) didn’t play a hard team yesterday, so we knew they were going to be rested, and we knew it was going to be tougher mentally and physically for us. They’re a good team. We didn’t expect it to come easy.”
The Bucks are used to the pressure of playing back-to-back big matches. One night after breaking Pennridge’s 75-match winning streak in the SOL, they took on North Penn – and won.
“To go back to East after East had been winning some really good games – beating Souderton and beating Pennridge, we knew going into East would be tough,” Miller said. “These guys just continue to work hard, and they don’t give up on each other.
“They know what their goals are they want to accomplish, and they keep each other centered. They have an amazing amount of talent, and they work for each other. They want to see each other succeed.”
And succeed they have. The Bucks unseated the defending champion Rams as the top team in the Continental Conference.
“We started off the season just sitting down with the guys and asking them, ‘What would you guys like to see from the season?’” Miller said. “Some of them mentioned, ‘It would be really neat to get to states and work toward that.’
“We said, ‘Let’s not dwell on the long-term goal, but let’s talk about what we need to do to get to that point.’ They just kind of broke it down and said, ‘Ultimately, we need to focus match to match and point to point.’ There are going to be some tough nights.”
Winning a conference title, according to the Bucks’ coach, is laying the foundation for a strong future for the program.
“To come back and to start building that up again, I think these kids really just want to take pride in what they do,” Miller said. “They want to succeed, they want to see a good, consistent program. That comes from all aspects.
“It takes the players, it takes us as coaches, but ultimately, it’s them believing in the hope and dream that we set forth before them in the sense of the end goal. For everyone to believe in that and work toward that one common goal, that’s really what it takes. They’re believing in that. Everyone believes in each other.”
The Bucks gutted it out on a tough night Friday, outlasting the Indians to win in five.
Christian Rupert led the Bucks with 19 kills and two blocks while Mike Fehrs had 17 kills and 10 digs. Matt Hennigan had 48 assists. Joel Klapper had 13 digs, and Keith Saunders, eight kills and four blocks.
For the Indians, setter Dan Rafalovitch had 40 assists. Chris Richards (12 kills) and Tyler Burns (11 kills) led the way at the net while Jeremy Higgins had seven kills and Josh Hinton, five kills.”
The Bucks are 14-1 in the league with one match remaining on Tuesday against Pennridge.
“The stakes are still there,” Miller said. “The stakes are there in the sense that you want to win that match going into district play.”
PENNSBURY 3, SPRING GROVE (25-9, 25-11, 25-14)
Thursday, May 2
SOUDERTON 3, PENNRIDGE 2 (24-26, 25-13, 23-25, 25-22, 15-9)
The Indians rallied from a 2-1 deficit to earn the big win over the Rams, a win that took the defending conference champion Rams out of the hunt for the SOL Continental Conference title.
"The biggest difference between the way we played (Thursday night) and the way we played early in the season was intensity and heart," coach Brad Garrett said. "The guys came together, and it was good to see.
"We were ahead in the first set, but we let it slip away. Early in the season, we would lose a lead like that, and we would lose the next couple of games, and the match would be over before we knew it. We kept saying, 'You guys got to come together.' Hopefully, this is a turning point because it's been a little rough."
Evan Miller had a big night at the net, turning in an inspired performance with 12 kills and 10 blocks.
"Evan had a tremendous emotional match," Garrett said. "The blocks were just game changers. The way he was able to control the net, especially in games three, four and five - he had 10 stuff blocks, which was great, but he had far more touches than that. Every one just energized us.
"We also had a huge crowd, which was nice, and the student body got behind us. I think that helped the guys too - just a little exterior source of motivation. We've had the talent all year. It's just been frustrating because I feel we make too many careless mistakes at important times and let things slip away. Then it's hard to get that confidence, so hopefully, a big win like this will propel us to the next level where we're used to being at the end of the year."
Tim Jones had a team-high 17 kills to go along with seven digs. Alex Androkites added four kills and nine digs.
"They were all real big - like he-shouldn't-get-it-but-got-it digs," Garrett said of Androkites' digs.
Ryan Davison had five kills and four blocks while Vince Kowalick and Levi Schneck both had six digs.
"It was the kind of team defense we haven't had this year where everyone did their part," Garrett said. "Someone would make a dig that maybe a week or two ago we wouldn't have gotten, or someone else would step in and get a set and we'd get a kill out of it whereas before we wouldn't have turned it into offense. I think it was just a really good team effort.
"I've been telling the guys all year - it's not where we start or where we are, it's where we finish. If we play the way we played against Pennridge, I think we'll be a tough team to beat in the postseason."
Christian Lizana led the Rams’ defense with 33 digs. Mike Bollinger (16 kills), Devon Rice (15 kills, 9 digs, 3 aces), Evan Jacoby (nine kills), Alex Vellner (seven kills, three blocks) and Henry Savage (seven kills, four blocks) led the Rams at the net. Senior Matt Ziegler was credited with 49 assists.
While the Rams fell to 11-3, the Indians are 9-5 in league play (9-6 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 (25-12, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20)
The Bucks clinched the SOL Continental Conference crown, thanks to their big win over their archrival and Souderton’s upset of Pennridge. Leading the Bucks were Christian Rupert (20 kills), Mike Fehrs (14 kills, 14 digs, 4 aces), Joel Klapper (nine kills, 16 digs), Matt Hennigan (38 assists, 12 digs, three aces), Jeff Strasburg (17 digs) and Dan Atkins (10 digs).
The Bucks improved to 14-1 in the league while the Patriots are 8-6.
CHELTENHAM 3, QUAKERTOWN 1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 25-14)
Cheltenham defeated Quakertown in a continuation of an April 10 match that was suspended due to a power outage. Leading Cheltenham at the net were Brett Mayne (11 kills, six aces), Brandon Smith (10 kills, six blocks) and Ben Doyle (eight kills, five blocks). Donald Le led the defense with 13 digs to go along with four aces. Mike Lee had 38 assists and one ace.
For Quakertown, Mike Whittington had 13 kills and Josh Morgan added 12 kills. Lucas Schan had four kills and Dylan Flor had two kills. Alex Palmer had 18 assists, and Xavier Villanueva had nine assists.
CHELTENHAM 3, QUAKERTOWN 0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-15)
Brett Mayne (eight kills, three aces, three blocks), Chris Myarick (eight kills, three blocks) and Ben Doyle (six kills, six blocks) led the Panthers at the net. Setter Mike Lee had 25 assists, four aces and three blocks.
For Quakertown, Josh Morgan had seven kills, Mike Whittington added six kills and Lucas Schan, five kills. Alex Palmer (nine assists) and Xavier Villanueva (seven assists) split setting duties.
While Quakertown fell to 0-15, Cheltenham is 2-11.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, ABINGTON 2 (26-24, 21-25, 25-11, 22-25, 15-5)
Brian Ebert had 16 kills and three aces to lead the Panthers to the hard-fought win over the Ghosts.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, BENSALEM 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-14)
Taylor Burns had 12 kills and two blocks to lead the Indians at the net in Thursday’s sweep of the Owls. Jeremy Higgins added eight kills while Chris Richards had four kills and 11 digs. Setter Dan Rafalovitch had 27 assists, and Andy Van Thuyne led the defense with 20 digs.
The Indians are 8-3.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, UPPER DUBLIN 1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19)
NESHAMINY 3, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-13)
Wednesday, May 1
NESHAMINY 3, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 1
Ryan Jamison (14 kills, two blocks, 13 digs) and Zach McGowan (12 kills, two blocks, seven digs) had big nights to lead the Redskins to the big win in the non-league match. Setter Chase Fullen had 32 assists, seven digs and two blocks. Steve Compton had six blocks and four kills while Steve Stressman had four kills and two blocks. Scott Blickle had three kills and five digs. Wes Roy had four digs.
NORTH PENN 3, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
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