Pennsbury girls volleyball comes back to claw Spring-Ford in District 1 quarterfinal
FALLS TWP. – When Pennsbury really needs a point, it relies on either senior Julia Vreeswyk or Sydney Buell. The duo combined on 29 kills, helping the Lady Falcons bounce back in a District 1 quarterfinal win over 11th-seeded Spring-Ford that puts Pennsbury back in states for the first time since 2007.
Seeded third in the Class AAAA tournament, the Falcons advance to the D-1 semifinals where they will take on No. 2 Upper Merion Wednesday, Nov. 1 on the Vikings’ home court.
In the quarterfinal win over S-F, the Rams dropped the first two sets before roaring back with 25-19 and 25-17 wins to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
“Their defense picked up tremendously,” said Pennsbury head coach Mike Falter.
“We started to struggle with our confidence and that gave them confidence
“Their defense was definitely the difference in that match.”
“I’m just thankful we were able to pull it out.”
In the final set, Vreeswyk and Buell combined on eight of the 15 points for Falcons, who won the deciding game by a 15-10 score.
In the opening set, back to back kills by Vreeswyk and Buell combined with a service error by Spring-Ford earned the Falcons a 25-22 win.
After trailing 18-16 late in game two, Pennsbury closed out a 25-19 victory with a 9-1 run that included kills by Buell and classmate Shelby Hastings, back to back forced hitting errors by Buell and a pair of aces by sophomore Ashley Parry, who tallied the winning point.
Instead of closing out with a sweep in game three, the ball started to drop on the Falcons’ side of the net. S-F junior libero Grace Kraft dug everything out for the Rams who took leads of 6-2 and 9-3 forcing Pennsbury to call a timeout.
“Whoever the girl was playing back right, Julia and Bucknam were drilling balls down the line and she just popped them right up,” explained Falter.
“In matches like this, defense is going to win you sets and the fact they played such great defense in sets three and four is why they won those sets.”
The Falcons clawed their way back into game three, using an 8-2 run that was capped by an ace by sophomore Elley Torres. Pennsbury closed to within a point at 19-18 but lost the third set 25-19 after the Rams closed with a 6-1 run, a string that included a kill by Rachel Kearon and an ace by
Tied at 14-all, Spring-Ford went up 19-15 after a run that was capped with consecutive aces by senior Carly Swenson.
Game four was a back and forth after until the sides drew even at 14-all. From there the Rams, launched a 10-1 run that was highlighted by a pair of kills by Abigail Goodrich. Up 24-17, Spring-Ford closed a 25-17 triumph on a hitting error by the Falcons.
Pennsbury took an early lead in the fifth and deciding set, going up 4-1 on a forced hitting error by Vreeswyk and an ace by senior Kiley Bucknam.
With the sides drawn even at 8-8, the Falcons closed out a 15-10 win and a 3-2 match victory with a 7-2 run highlighted by kills by Hastings and Brooke Burns. Vreeswyk recorded three of Pennsbury’s last seven points in the scoring string.
Pennsbury 3, Spring-Ford 2
(Oct. 30 at Pennsbury)
PENNSBURY 25 25 19 17 15
SPRING-FORD 22 19 25 25 10
l set, Vreeswyk and Buell combined on eight of the 15 points for Falcons, who won the deciding game by a 15-10 score.
Pennsbury 3, Spring-Ford 2
(Oct. 30 at Pennsbury)
PENNSBURY 25 25 19 17 15
SPRING-FORD 22 19 25 25 10
