Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ volleyball teams in action Wednesday. CB West/CB East photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-21)
It was a night of high emotions for the Bucks. Not only did they defeat their archrivals, setter Ana Claricurzio reached a personal milestone when.jpg)
she surpassed the 2,000-assist mark. Maggie Winderman also was recognized for reaching the 1,000-dig milestone, and all of this in front of a large crowd in attendance to celebrate the fight against breast cancer in the team’s annual Pink Out match.
“It’s just been a great year all around in the sense of girls accomplishing great things and the team really coming together,” West coach Todd Miller said. “Ana and Maggie are senior captains, leaders and women of character. They care about the girls around them. At times, they’re cheering harder for the girls around them than they are when they do anything themselves. They have fun, they celebrate it, but they definitely cheer harder when they see their teammates succeed.
“I think the way they draw the kids is that they care. They love their teammates. When you do something like that, you draw the best out of your teammates. I’m really pleased to see what they’ve done as captains and the standard that they’ve set. I’m so happy for them to reach these milestones. I want to see their seasons continue. We don’t know who we’re going to play in districts. It’s wait and see, and we’ll continue to put the work in and hope we can go out there and really just give whoever we play a great match to continue on with our season. That would be my best wish and hope for them because of all the work they put in.”
This has been a difficult stretch for the entire Central Bucks West community. The death of one of their own - senior Katie Gane – left the school reeling. Last Friday, the day of their non-league match against a tough Mount St. Joseph squad, the volleyball went to Gane’s funeral.
“They all came in, and it was stoic – seeing a classmate in a casket is surreal, overwhelming, and all these emotions are rushing in on you,” coach Todd Miller said. “I’m like, ‘This could be bad.’ We’ve lost to Mount the last three years, and we ended up winning in five.
“I said to them, ‘Sit down for a second. You have been through a week of hell, and I get it that your hearts are hurting and in pain, but you’ve got to understand that your classmate would want you to enjoy this moment. It’s not wrong for you to enjoy it.’ It was our second match in what was to be five in a row.
“They’re already a very tight-knit group. They do a lot of stuff outside of volleyball, but to watch them help each other to work through it and to help each other start to heal and to continue to draw together and celebrate when these girls reached these accomplishments, they started to understand what it means to be thankful for what they have. It’s been phenomenal just to be an encouragement to them and to watch them be able to start to enjoy things again.”
To help the players deal with their emotions last Friday, Miller followed a suggestion given to him by West boys’ basketball coach Adam Sherman.
“He said, ‘If they seem really stoic when they come in, give each of them the ball with a permanent marker and write on the ball who you want to play for and who’s on your heart,’” Miller said. “He said, ‘Ultimately, they’re putting that out there, and they’re using that as motivation, and it is something that helps in the healing process.’
“We talked about each one as they wrote the names on the ball. When you talk about these things and they realize what’s happening, then they come together, and they worked harder. To see joy return to their faces when they’ve been through this week of hell, there is everlasting joy in that. To continue to help each other through that, we’ve made playoffs and we won against East tonight. It’s just a continuation of that healing process for them.
“They’re showing good joy, and they’re bonding tighter as a team. There’s nothing more valuable in this lifetime than to invest in other people and to watch them start to turn that and actually do that for each other – that’s what I want to see out of them as young ladies. I’m really excited to see where it goes.”
In Wednesday’s win, Claricurzio finished a big night with 32 assists, two aces, six kills, two blocks and three digs. Winderman had 13 digs. Jada Reichwein led the Bucks at the net with 13 kills, one block and nine digs. Naomi Woo added seven kills and a game-high 11 blocks to go along with two digs. Sarah Tartaglia added six kills, two blocks and two digs, and Maggie McCusker had four kills, five blocks and seven digs. Magda Videva chipped in with three kills and three blocks. Jordyn Klementovich led the defense with 15 digs to go along with two aces and one kill. Caroline Taylor had four aces and five digs.
For the Patriots, Vivien Agassi had a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs as well as one ace. Setter Anna Ritter had 21 assists, four aces, two kills and six digs. Aimee Wolf added five kills and one dig, and Abby Killough had four aces and six digs. Morgan D’Angelo added 11 digs and one ace. Also contributing were Maddy Lacouture (three kills, one block, one dig), Ava Napoletano (three kills, two digs), Caroline Eldringhoff (two kills, two blocks), Chloe Mettille (four digs), Kaylynn Bryan (two digs) and Sophia Mettille (two blocks, three assists).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, WILLIAM TENNENT 1
The visiting Golden Hawks used a balanced attack to defeat the Panthers in four sets.
Lauren Dougherty was a force at the net, finishing with seven kills and eight blocks. Ava Paulson (14 assists, four kills, eight digs) and Alyssa Helverson (14 assists, one ace) shared the setting duties. Katie Marsh had six blocks and two kills, and Olivia Buonomo added five kills. Emma Helverson had three kills and two blocks.
For the Panthers, Chiara Ciccone led the defense with 18 digs while Makenzie Clee had 13 digs and Sarah Cummins, 11 digs. Riley Morgan had a season-high 13 kills to lead the Panthers at the net.
“It was a really good match with a lot of crazy rallies,” Tennent coach Brian Bassler said. “I am really proud of our team defense tonight – they laid it all on the line.”
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, NESHAMINY 0
The Indians celebrated Senior Night with a sweep of the Redskins. The night showcased the standout efforts of the seniors. Captain Abby Jones had four kills, four digs, one ace and one block, and senior setter Sydney White had 16 assists, three digs, one ace and one kill. Senior setter Kylie Tinner added five kills, 13 assists, seven digs and one ace.
Mary Baniewicz had a huge night at the service line, leading the Indians with eight aces to go along with nine kills and 12 digs. Ashleigh Adams added nine kills, five aces and four digs. Cora Lake, Julia Walton and Julia Murphy added another nine kills, two aces and two blocks. Mikayla Adams and Julia Nenner contributed another nine digs and two assists.
Council Rock North is 19-2 (16-1 SOL) with a conference showdown on Friday at Pennsbury at 3:30 p.m.
PENNSBURY 3, BENSALEM 1 (25-9, 18-25, 25-19, 25-10)
Sparked by a standout service game, the Falcons defeated the Owls in four sets.
Elley Torres led the charge with 10 aces to go along with eight kills (.467 hitting percentage) and four digs. Kat Croteau had four kills, one ace, two digs and one solo block, and Jada Rice (three kills, one ace, two digs, one block assist) and Brooke Burns (three kills, two digs) also contributed. Carissa Van Veen had 10 assists and one kill while Maggie Golder added 11 assists, two aces and one kill. Bria Mullaghy had six digs while Ashley Parry had four digs and one kill. Abbie Drewes had two aces and a team-high eight digs, and Salley Kehan added three digs, one solo block and one kill.
For the Owls, Sydney Bawuah had an excellent match with eight kills, three aces and eight digs. Crystal Dang (19 assists) set up Maddie Buechner (four kills, two aces), Zariah Prescott (four kills, two aces) and Dejah Howe (two kills) who also played well for the Owls. Emma LoStracco (seven digs, one kill, two assists, three aces) played well defensively for the Owls.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, HARRY S TRUMAN (25-10, 25-12, 25-19)
The Titans received contributions from up and down their lineup in a sweep of the Tigers.
Senior setter Lizzie Shirley had 27 assists, six aces, one kill and five digs. Sophomore outside Millie Grove led a balance attack with nine kills to go along with one ace while junior outside Courtney Pohl had eight kills. Sophomore setter Shannon Rector added 10 assists, six kills, two aces and four digs. Senior libero McKenna Clow had four aces and 10 digs. Senior middles Allie Burke (five kills, one ace) and Carly Carroll (four kills) also contributed at the net. Sophomore Rian Grant added seven digs, and sophomore outside Erin Mangan had two kills.
SOL American Conference
SOUDERTON 3, ABINGTON 1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-14)
The Indians dropped the first set but rallied to win the next three.
Setter Maya Hanson had 27 assists, three kills and four digs. Hana Ekecs had a big night defensively with 27 digs, four aces and one kill. Alyssa Reiner added six aces, 10 kills and eight digs, and Natalie Truskowski contributed eight kills, one dig and two blocks. Liv Horas had seven kills, two aces, six digs and two blocks. Also making contributions were Olivia Anello (three kills, one block), Christy Mack (three digs), Grace Petersen (six digs), Becca Arobone (seven assists) and Maddy McCarthy (four kills, four digs).
UPPER DUBLIN 3, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 0
The Flying Cardinals rebounded from a loss to Abington with a sweep of the visiting Colonials.
“I’m proud of the team for being able to bounce back after a tough loss,” UD coach Paul Choi said.
Setter Sarah Randall had 34 assists, four aces and eight digs. Charlotte Qi led the Cardinals with 13 kills, 11 digs and two aces while Casey Broderick added nine kills. Emily Senior had six kills, one block and two digs, and Jackie Rama added four kills, two blocks and four digs. Anna Faust led the defense with 32 digs and one kill while Aileen Kohlbrenner had 16 digs and one ace. Shannon Yoast added 12 digs, two aces, two kills and one assist.
Tuesday, Oct. 15
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, NESHAMINY 1 (25-14, 19-25, 25-10, 25-10)
The Bucks defeated the visiting Redskins in four sets on Tuesday.
Naomi Woo’s 13 kills and three blocks led the Bucks at the net. She also had one ace and five digs. Sarah Tartaglia added 11 kills, two aces and 10 digs. Ana Claricurzio had 20 assists, four aces, two kills, four digs and one block. Maggie Winderman led the defense with 15 digs and one kill. Maggie McCusker filled a stat sheet with four aces, one kill, two blocks, 12 assists and two digs. Jordyn Kementovich had five aces, two kills and 12 digs. Jada Reichwein added five kills while Emily Holyk had three kills and one block.
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