Pennridge lays down aces in win over Upper Dublin

EAST ROCKHILL >> Closing out each game with hard-earned efficiency, Pennridge rolled to a 3-0 win over Upper Dublin on Thursday afternoon, running its unbeaten record to 5-0 on the season.

“At the end of the day, we knew what we had to do and just finish out the games,” said Jesse Smith, a senior setter who returns from last year’s District One Class AAA Championship squad.

“I see us being just as good as last year’s team,” Smith said of how this team shapes up early on. “We definitely have the potential to go far. I hope we do big things this year.”

Smith served up six aces, along with seven digs, and well-rounded Pennridge pulled away to victories of 25-13, 25-16, 25-18 over an improving Cardinal team.

“Hopefully we’ll continue to rise to the occasion when we need to,” said coach Dave Childs, now in his 11th season with perennial power Pennridge. “I think we served pretty well today so that helps us. We get a few points off our serve early and that kind of helps us.”

And once the Rams get going, it’s hard to stop them.

“Once Pennridge gets on a good serving run, it’s very hard to keep up with them,” Upper Dublin coach Paul Choi said. “For the most part, we fought when we could, gave up a few too many points on serve receive.”

The Cardinals, who got four kills and a pair of aces from standout Evan Madden in the middle, pulled to within 16-12 in Game One and drew even at nine apiece in Game Two.

In both instances, the Rams turned it on, using a 9-1 run to lock up the first game and a 16-7 stretch to take the second.

Ben Chinnici had nine kills for the Rams, Josiah Friesen added six, and Jeremy Baum spurred the defensive effort with nine digs in this Suburban One League Continental Conference battle.

“I see a greatly improved group,” Childs said of his team, now 5-0 in the conference. “I wasn’t sure how strong we would be heading into this year. They put a lot of work into the offseason and it shows. It’s a strong veteran group that understands the group pretty well.”

Pennridge will hit the road on Friday, squaring off against Parkland, the top-ranked team in the state. The Rams, ranked No. 3, were pitted against the Trojans in the Bobcat Tournament Semifinals last weekend.

“They took it to us in Game One and then we played well with them in Game Two,” Childs said of the Rams, who fell 21-15 and then nearly forced Game Three, falling 23-21. “I’m hoping we can have a good game with them.”

“They’re definitely a good team,” Smith said. “We know what we have to do to beat them and I think we can.

“I’m happy with what we’re doing but we definitely need to step up as the season goes on. We have to prepare ourselves for districts and Parkland (on Friday).”

The Cardinals (1-4, 1-3 conference) are also back on the court Friday, hosting conference rival Central Bucks South.

“We’re getting better each game,” Choi said of his Cardinals. “We came off of a tough loss (Wednesday to Neshaminy) so we were trying to rebound off of that, trying to take each opportunity to get better.

“I felt like we progressed, even throughout the match. We were hitting when we can, being aggressive.”