Hamilton seals deal in much-needed win for Radnor
With the regular season winding down and seeded 10th in the latest District 1 Class 2A volleyball power rankings, Radnor needed a boost to keep its playoff hopes alive.
The Raiders got it in the form of a hard-fought 3-2 Central League victory over neighborhood rival Lower Merion Wednesday night.
Senior Sydney Hamilton put the match away with a block and a kill for the final two points in the thrilling 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, 2025, 15-13 victory. Hamilton finished with 11 kills and three blocks. Becca Goldstein led the attack with 18 kills. Grayce Henderson contriubted four kills and three aces, while setter Erica DiCarlo set the offense in motion with 29 assists and five aces.
Middle blocker Izzy Criscuolo (four blocks, four kills) and libero Sammy Scannipieco (35 digs) stood out on defense for the Raiders. PENNCREST 3, MARPLE NEWTOWN 0 » Seniors Jordan Schuller and Kira McDevitt showed the way for the Lions (8-5, 7-2). Schuller had 10 kills while McDevitt contributed 17 digs and six kills.
Sophomores Tina Balta (18 assists, eight digs, seven aces) and Lilly Mallon (10 digs), came up big, too. CONESTOGA 3, UPPER DARBY 0» The Royals put up a defensive battled despite dropping all three sets (258, 25-20, 25-12). Rylee Shanahan and Linako Shimizu combined for 48 digs, while Alison Ascareggi blocked 10 shots. RIDLEY 3, HAVERFORD 2 » There were plenty of accolades to go around for the Green Raiders in this thriller. Ridley won 18-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12.
Melanie June piled up 32 digs and 10 aces in the win with Angela April and Maria Brown combining for 25 kills, many of them coming off Jackie Kelly setups. Kelly finished with a team-high 16 assists.
In the Ches-Mont League: SUN VALLEY 3, KENNETT 0 » The Vanguards cruised 2512, 25-20, 25-9 behind Hannah Nearey, who delivered seven aces and coming up with five digs. Sun Valley’s other Hannah, Vickers, also had a terrific evening. She had five kills and 10 assists to help the Vanguards move to 11-6 on the season, 8-4 in the Ches-Mont.
In the Del Val League: CHICHESTER 3, PENN WOOD 0 » A tight second set (26-23 after 25-5 in the first) suggested the Patriots wouldn’t go down easy. But once the Eagles emerged with the win, they breathed easy and cruised in the final game, winning 25-13. The offense was spread around with no player reaching doubledigit kills. Julia Miles produced a nice stat line, contributing four aces, six assists and two kills. Madison Snyder finished with three aces for Chi.