Pennridge holds off Souderton in 4
FRANCONIA >> What exactly Dave Childs has in this Pennridge boys volleyball team is something he is still trying to figure out.
“I don’t know if we have an identity yet,” the Rams coach said. “I don’t know what we are yet as a team and we’re still trying to find that. So, we’re just working through it, a little inconsistent at times, but I like where we’re at right now.”
Maybe what Pennridge learned about itself Friday night in a tight third game with host Souderton was that it will not crack under pressure.
With the Suburban One League Continental Conference match even at a set apiece, the Indians denied the Rams their first three chances at clinching Game 3. But Pennridge did not wilt and two consecutive points from Cross Edwards finally gave it the 27-25 victory.
“At the end, definitely, we got to stick to our mental guts and do what we do with our basics,” the Rams’ Jesse Smith said. “And just execute.”
After two close games, Pennridge had little trouble clinching things in Game 4 to beat Souderton 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 27-25, 25-11) for its second straight win.
“It was good to fight through the struggles the second, third game and give Souderton credit, they played well,” Childs said. “They played good defense and their hitters put the ball down. We need to play better defense, but their hitters did a good job on us.”
Smith finished with 43 assists and five aces while Ben Chinnici collected 23 kills and eight digs for the Rams (7-2, 7-1 conference). Edwards added nine kills, six digs and two aces.
“I think we definitely need to click as a team. We started off slow the first two games, but we definitely recovered,” Smith said. “They’re a good team, but we fought. We knew we needed to have this win.”
Sam Hess had 10 kills and eight digs for Souderton with Jack Pagan ending the match with 18 assists and three aces. Nate Klaus and Kyle Wetzler each had four kills while Manny Espaillat and Derek Di Cesare both made six digs for Big Red.
Both teams stay in SOL Continental play for the next match. Souderton visits North Penn 5 p.m. Monday with Pennridge hosts Cheltenham 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
BOYS #VOLLEYBALL: Cross Edwards gives @pennridgevball a 27-25 win over Souderton in Game 3 for a 2-1 match lead. pic.twitter.com/l2p9gZEaK5
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) April 16, 2016
After pulling away to take Game 1 by double digits, Pennridge struggled to find consistent serving, especially early in the second set. The Rams led 13-10 before Souderton used an 8-3 run to go up 18-16 after a serving error by the visiting side.
A Chinnici kill and Smith ace had Pennridge even at 18-18, but the Indians claimed the next two points and seven of the final 1 to win the game 25-21 and tie the match.
“We played good D and stuff like that, they kind of had some service errors that kept us in the game in two and three, and we took advantage of them,” Souderton coach Dave Stastny said. “That’s to our credit, but the same token, we hung in there.”
The largest lead in Game 3 was two. Down 14-12, Pennridge picked up five of the next six points to lead 1-15 after an Edwards kill. Souderton evened the score at 17 and again at 21, but two straight by the Rams had Big Red calling time out down 23-21.
A Chinnici kill made it 24-22, but Souderton was tied 24-24 after a long serve and an attack error by Pennridge.
The Rams went back up a point, but a block kept the Indians alive in the game. Edwards used a soft touch to put Pennridge up 26-25, with Souderton unable to return his spike on the Rams’ fourth game point.
“I think Jesse made some really good decision there at the end of the third game to help us pull that out,” Child said. “He put the ball in a couple really good spots. That’s him. And when he’s mentally where he needs to be, we can run pretty efficiently. That’s a lot of Jesse there.”
Pennridge collected the first four points of the fourth game — two on aces by Smith — and led 12-6 after an Austin Rush ace.
“When our serves are off, we definitely get down on ourselves and that’s definitely a huge negative to us,” Smith said. “If we serve strong, we’re a good team and we can definitely compete well.”
The Rams’ advantage got to double digits at 20-10 thanks to Aaron Nelson’s ace. Up 21-11, Pennridge won the next four points to seal the four-game conference victory.
“We just didn’t get into any rhythm or groove, they kept us out of system and went from there,” Stastny said.
Pennridge never trailed in Game 1. Tied 6-6, the Rams used a four-point spurt to go ahead for good. Souderton cut the margin to 13-11 before another 4-0 run made it 17-11 with Pennridge eventually taking the set 25-15.
