North Penn holds off C.B. South

LANSDALE >> The North Penn boys volleyball team looked like it was in for an easy match Monday afternoon at North Penn High School.

The Knights dominated Central Bucks South in the first game and won by 16 points. After that, however, there was not much separating the two teams.

But when the dust settled, it was North Penn who emerged victorious in four games, 25-9, 21-25, 25-22, 27-25.

“It was a good match,” North Penn coach Ryan Genova said. “(South) played very well. They started off rough, but they know that. They picked it up and it was not an easy thing to pull out.”

The Knights improve to 2-1 on the season and even their Suburban One League Continental Conference record at 1-1 with the victory.

“In the scheme of things, I’m getting the sense that they (league games) are all big,” Genova said. “It looks like it’s a pretty competitive league – this is my first year here. Everybody has been impressive so far. I don’t think there are going to be any rollover matches. Everybody has their workload cut out for them, which is cool.”

Following the first game, C.B. South (0-3, 0-3) played much better. Senior Jack Mayhew and junior Justin Koren each made plays to help the Titans go on a 9-1 run in the second game that resulted in a 25-21 South win.

“A little bit of attitude, I think,” C.B. South coach Matt Ehlers said of what changed after the first game. “We just played better. We came out real flat that first game and a lot of mistakes – misserves, poor passing – and when you make those mistakes they run up points quick.

“(We) stepped up and played great today,” Ehlers added. “It’s been our best match this year.”

North Penn jumped out to a five-point lead early in the third game, but South battled back to tie the game at 14. From there, the teams traded leads and neither led by more than two points until the Knights finished it off, 25-22.

“It’s always a momentum shifter,” Genova said of the third game with the teams tied at one game apiece. “It was nice to pull it out.”

The fourth and final game was so close that it had to go beyond 25 points for one team to win by two. The Knights held an edge throughout the game until South tied it at 21. The teams traded one-point leads and the Titans needed just one more to win and force a fifth match when they were up 25-24.

But North Penn rattled off three straight points the win the game and the match. The winner was a shot by senior Steven Landes. The ball exploded out of Landes’ hand, off a South player and out of play to end it. Landes tallied a team-high 22 kills in the win.

“He picked it up tonight,” Genova said. “Tonight, Steven was a man. We’re hoping that’s a glimpse of things to come. He was big.”

Ryan Ko led the Knights with 32 assists, Manan Patel had 21 digs and Harsh Boghara six blocks.

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