U.dublin sweeps Chelts
As the rain fell outside, postponing most sporting events scheduled for the afternoon, girls’ volleyball went on as scheduled inside. For Cheltenham, this was unfortunate.
The Lady Panthers hosted Upper Dublin and lost to the Lady Cardinals in three sets, losing 25-21, 25-21 and 25-18 in a Suburban One American Conference match at Cheltenham High School on Tuesday afternoon.
In the season opener for both teams, it was Upper Dublin, a team coming off a .500 season overall last year – 6-8 in conference play – which took control of the match and never got down on itself if a set got close.
“We were slow to start, but we eventually found our groove,” Upper Dublin coach Meg Goettner said. “There were no real standout players individually today, but it was nice to see us work together as a team.”
TKRuJK WKH fiUsW WwR sHWs were fairly close in score, the Lady Cardinals maintained control throughout.
Goettner, who is in her sixth season with the team, returned eight of last year’s 11 varsity players and the experience, which started with senior Berenice Leung, showed on Tuesday.
LHunJ finLsKHG wLWK IRuU DFHs DnG fiYH NLOOs WR KHOS OHDG Upper Dublin to the win. And while the upperclassmen were GRLnJ D finH MRE, WKH nHwHU, younger players were also doing what they could to help.
6RSKRPRUH TDyORU 6WHN finished with a game-high eight kills to go along with four digs and one ace, while freshman Gabbi Johnson added a game-high eight digs along with four aces and three kills.
Goettner said she was happy to see senior KC Bruch making smart decisions in the front row, while cocaptain Alyssa Rowley took charge vocally on the court.
“If we can keep this momentum moving forward, I have high hopes for the season,” Goettner said. “I do expect us to do better, though. I told my team going into the third set that I would like to see us distance ourselves more from Cheltenham and work harder to keep the lead. They took the challenge and I was able to sit back a little in my seat.”
Cheltenham, which is coming off a 3-15 season – 1-13 in conference play – has a lot of work to do. And Herb Wagner, who is in his 21st season with the team, knows that an improved season is imminent, considering the Lady Panthers have more experience and senior leadership than it has in many years.
“I thought they gave a pretty good effort,” Wagner said. “There was still some confusing out there and their serving and overall passing still needs to get better and improve. I think we could’ve done better, but it wasn’t that bad, so we’ll work with what we got. We just need to get better.”
Cheltenham was led by senior Sabrina Casseus, who finLsKHG wLWK sLx NLOOs, WKUHH blocks and two aces. Junior Madeline Parisi added nine kills and one block, while senior Emily Rothstein chipped in with one kill and one ace.