Pennsbury falls short in state title quest
They had taken out several top teams along the way.
mennsbury volleyball is normally one of the state’s best, and this year was no different. Thanks to an undefeated regular season, as well as a District I Class AAA championship, the Falcons soared into the state playoffs as one of the favorites. They lived up to the billing, eliminating defending state champion Chambersburg, the team that ended their season last year and the top team in District 3, on their way to the state championship match June 8 at menn State rniversity.
The Falcons’ magic, though, proved to run just short that afternoon, as fellow power North Allegheny pulled away by a 3-1 score to claim the title and hand 3HnnVEuUy iWV fiUVW DnG RnOy match setback of the season.
“They’re a great team,” Falcons opposite mat Merrick said. “We were evenly matched. They just came out on top.”
It was a war between a pair of 20-0 teams, as mennsbury’s only losses during the year before this match came in tournament pool play. Both squads boasted tremendous top to bottom balance across the court that played out in their battle.
North Allegheny, however, proved to be a little stronger, as up front, their blocking abilities made putting point opportunities DwDy YHUy GiIfiFuOW IRU WKH Falcons. It was close for the most part, but several spurts proved to make the difference in game scores of 2518, 25-23, 23-35 and 25-18 in favor of the Tigers.
“I think that North Allegheny just put up a tremendous block against us,” Falcons coach Justin Fee said. “They did a great job of slowing us down.”
“I honestly thought the better team won,” he added. “I felt that we were strong all year. They were just a little bit stronger.”
,n WKH fiUVW VHW, 1RUWK AOlegheny put together an 8-2 run that allowed it to pull away for an opening victory. The Falcons responded to get ahead by three points in the second set before another Tigers run got them ahead. They held on, thanks to a clinching kill to make it 25-23, but mennsbury would not go quietly.
With more of their defense and the ability to persevere in a challenging situation, the Falcons held on to claim the fourth set. rnfortunately for them, the
the momentum was shortlived. Leading by just one point, the Tigers went on an 8-2 Uun WR finLsK 3ennsEuUy off for good.
“It was a tough match,” said Falcons senior libero 7URy 3eUeLUD. He finLsKed wLWK five dLJs WKe ORsLnJ effort. “They have a really solid team.”
“They played some really great volleyball. It’s tough to win a match like that,” FRnWLnued 3eUeLUD. “YRu’ve got to give credit to North Allegheny. They played a great game.”
The current core of six Falcon seniors will thus depart without having won a state title, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t many great accomplishments. For the fourth time since Fee became coach, this squad advanced to the state championship, but this was the fiUsW WR dR sR wLWK Dn undefeated record.
As freshmen, they were SDUW RI DnRWKeU sWDWe finDOLsW team, and further, claimed two outright Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference championships and a district title in their four seasons.
“It was an awesome experience. Coming into high school, I never thought I would be playing volleyEDOO,” sDLd 3eUeLUD, wKR played baseball prior to high school before being convinced to try volleyball by Merrick. “Look where we are now.”
Merrick led the way offensively with 14 kills and 10 digs. Classmate Sean Kropp had the same number of digs and contributed seven kills. Other seniors Neil HeOseO (8 NLOOs, 2 EORFNs), Spencer McCullough (7 kills, 2 blocks) and Chris Spano (6 kills) also had JRRd eIIRUWs IRU 3ennsEuUy.
-unLRU seWWeU -eII YDsDORnLs finLsKed wLWK 40 DssLsWs and added eight digs.
“We made it to the state finDOs. 7KDW wDs D JRDO RI our team,” Merrick said. “Even though we didn’t win, it was a great journey.”
Included in that run was D fiUsW-URund sWDWe vLFWRUy over Chambersburg and UCLA-bound Mitch Stahl in four sets. Then in the TuDUWeUfinDOs, WKe )DOFRns knocked out District 11 champion Emmaus, which eOLmLnDWed 3ennsEuUy ODsW year, by a 26-24, 25-16 Dnd 25-16 sFRUe. YDsDORnLs had 43 assists in that one to help lead the Falcons into WKe semLfinDOs, wKeUe WKey ended District 3 champ HemSfieOd’s yeDU, DJDLn Ln straight sets, by 25-20, 2523 and 28-26 scores.
“I was really happy with how we played throughout WKe SODyRIIs,” 3eUeULD sDLd. “It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t pull off that last one.”
“We played some amazing defense like something I’ve never seen before, he Ddded DERuW EeDWLnJ HemSfieOd. “,W UeDOOy sKRwed KRw strong we are as a defensive team, and if we win games, that’s how we’re going to do it.”
It was a formula that worked throughout the season, and while it didn’t culminate with a state championship, it still placed this team solidly in the Falcons history book for years to come.
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