Lansdale Catholic sweeps Archbishop Wood, claims 3rd straight PCL title
ASTON — It was only fitting that the Lansdale Catholic and Archbishop Wood girls volleyball teams met in Sunday’s Philadelphia Catholic League final as the two proved they were the two best teams all season long.
LC finished the regular season with a 11-0 record in league play and Wood finished 10-1 with its only loss at the hands of the Crusaders.
On paper, the matchup seemed to call for a close match but the determination of LC and particularly seniors Chase Wassel and Kaitlyn Kushman led to the straight set winner 25-13, 25-16 and 25-20 to give LC its third straight Philadelphia Catholic League championship.
“I’m proud of Chase and Kush to be able to leave the school and have a banner hang that says you are a part of those three winning years,’ LC coach Joann Pisch said. “I graduated from Archbishop Wood, when I go into Archbishop Wood’s gym, ’80, ’81 (and) ’82 hangs on a banner and I played on those teams, so I walk into the gym and say they’re my championships and I said (to Wassel and Kushman) I want you to leave LC and be able to come back to the gym and point to the banner and say they’re your championships.’
The Crusaders really brought their ‘˜A’ game, only trailing for three points in the three games, and they all were early in the first set.
LC just seemingly did everything right as it was consistent with its serves and setting all day. The Crusaders offensive effort was led mainly by Wassel who finished with a team-high 13 kills on the day.
“We were really mentally and physically focused,’ Wassel said. “The whole team had to be together and not worried about outside distractions, just staying on the court and focusing on what we need to do.’
The problem for Wood was it could never get on scoring run like LC was able to get. The Vikings were able to get 9-5 run in the third set to draw close with the Crusaders but at that point it was already too late.
“In that first set I thought everything was going their way,’ Wood coach Sarah Spadafora said. “I thought at one point it could change a little bit and it didn’t. They kept that high level of play throughout all three sets.’
Archbishop Wood would have made an excellent candidate to represent the Catholic League in the District 12 championship and the PIAA class AA state playoffs, however only one team from the PCL can make it and that honor belongs to LC for the third year in row.
