Shanahan’s win over Jaguars a ‘big deal’
LOWER MERION >> The Bishop Shanahan volleyball juggernaut just added yet another district crown to its resume, and the Eagles head into the PIAA Tournament as the team to beat, especially with a more advantageous road to its second state final appearance.
“We can come at opponents from all angles,” Shanahan coach Greg Ashman said. “I’d hate to play us. Most teams can’t defend that.”
The top-seeded Eagles beat another state power, Garnet Valley, Thursday in the District 1 Class 4A final, 3-1 at Harriton. It equaled the district record for most titles in a row at four, but Shanahan is the first to do it in the biggest classification. Several years ago, Merion Mercy captured the 2A crown four straight times.
“It’s pretty crazy when you think about it,” Eagles’ senior hitter Alysa Wright said.
“We set some goals at the beginning of the season to do things that no one else has done, and we are starting to pave that road,” Ashman added.
Shanahan (20-1) will begin the quest for its first state title since 2009 Tuesday against the third place team from District 3.
Garnet Valley (19-3) has a tougher road, but the Jaguars are improving and sure look poised to make a run at another state crown. They last won it in 2016.
“I’m proud of my girls,” Garnet Valley coach Greg Wood said. “We are peaking at the right time, but we’ve done this the last three years, so we have a pretty good model in place.”
The Eagles captured the first two sets by identical 25-17 scores, but the Jags put on a late flourish to win the third, 25-23. It only seemed to make Shanahan more determined, however, as it cruised to a dominating 25-9 win in the fourth and deciding set.
“To win four in a row is big-time,” Ashman said. “It’s something (our players) will remember for the rest of their lives. When they get to be my age, they will look back and realize this was one of the greatest times of their lives.”
Down 2-0, the Jaguars fought back by opening a 13-7 lead in set number three after two kills by junior middle hitter Sam Mann. The Eagles fought back furiously to tie it nine times, but Garnet Valley scored the final three points — on big blocks by Mann and Ally Hartney — and finished of it off with a kill by Dolce Whitwell.
“We have a lot of fight,” Wood said.
“We definitely needed a wake-up call,” added Wright, who finished with 11 kills and four blocks. “It was a blessing in disguise because it woke us up.”
Shanahan was devastating in the final set. Two straight blocks by Wright made it 8-4, and then the Eagles closed it out with a series of kills from Wright (two), Julia Thomas (four), Cara Shultz and Michaela Devlin.
“Sometimes we need to get our butts kicked so we can come back even stronger,” said Devlin, who finished with 11 kills and five blocks.
“(The third set) shows them that they are human,” Ashman said. “It’s like when we lost to Ursuline Academy earlier this season. I had to get on them a little bit about letting off on the gas.”
Shultz led the way with 15 kills (and eight digs), Julie Gallagher had a game-high 21 digs and Bridgette Kelly had seven blocks.
“Cara didn’t have her best match, but she turned it on in the fourth,” Ashman said. “Everyone else says that they have to stop Cara to have a shot to beat us. The game plan was to stop Cara and (Garnet Valley) did a good job, but you also have to stop the rest, and that’s where everyone else stepped up.”
Emma Rokosky, Alanna Hagerty, Mann and Whitwell each had seven kills to pace the Jags. Rachel Cain chipped in 23 assists and six digs.
“We weren’t at our best defensively or passing,” Wood said. “We were a little bit out of sync, but credit to Shanahan. We had leads in several sets, but (Shanahan) blocked very well.
“Anytime we’ve been beaten, it has been issues with our side of the court. We just need to clean up our side and we are good to go.”
Garnet Valley draws the No. 2 team from powerful District 11 in the first round of states on Tuesday.
“We looked at the bracket and I explained to our players that this year it pays to be No. 1 from our district,” Ashman said.
A 6-foot-1 middle blocker and outside hitter, Devlin is a senior that has now won a district crown in all four of her high school years. In addition, Shanahan hasn’t dropped a regular season match to any team from District 1 in 38 months and counting.
“It’s the best feeling to do this four times in a row, especially at 4A, which is the highest level,” she said. “We talked about how awesome it would be to make history.
“This is a big deal.”