Council Rock North boys volleyball locked and loaded for postseason
NEWTOWN – The Council Rock North volleyball team plays a game filled with terms such as aces, slams and kills. Based on their recent drubbing of Council Rock South, the Indians perform all these tasks with deadly accuracy.
The Rock currently sits atop the Suburban One League National Division with a 9-1 record. Perched right there with them are the Pennsbury Falcon, who also sport a 9-1 mark. The two archrivals split their season series, providing the single blemish on each’s otherwise perfect season. Pennsbury took their first meeting on March 31 threee games to two (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 19-17). The Indians gained revenge on April 22, taking the best of five games (22-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-18, 15-11).
When not engaging each other in volleyball thrillers, the two perennial powers spend their time dismantling other teams. Jason Yakimiv, the Indians’ middle hitter, is not surprised by the Rock’s success.
“I think we are a really good team this year. We try to play as hard as we can on every single point. We don’t let mistakes get to us. We try to focus on getting better on every single point. I think we are a good blocking and scoring team.”
The idea of North getting better must strike fear in the hearts of their opponents. Already a methodical machine, the Indians carry one mantra into every game and that is to play Council Rock ball. “We always want to play our game and that is to be consistent, to be aggressive, and play as hard as we can on every single point.”
Jason and his teammates took nothing for granted going into their second meeting with Council Rock South. “We played them Saturday (April 30) in the Quakertown Tournament and they played very well. They had us on our heels a couple of times. We weren’t ready for them and we saw what they were capable of. We knew we should play better.”
As always, playing the Golden Hawks carried some extra incentive. “We went into the match and wanted to play as hard as we could because it was the last time playing South and they’re our rivals. Playing South is so much fun. I play with a few of them in club ball (The Panthers Club). It’s fun playing against your friends because you want to play at the highest caliber.”
The Indians certainly played at a high caliber as they downed the Golden Hawks in three straight games (25-12, 25-16, 25-16). Eric Van Thuyne (nine kills, eight digs, two assists, one ace) and Will Desautelle (seven kills, seven digs, one ace, one assist) led the Rock’s offensive attack. Alex Sacerno anchored the defense with 18 digs and one assist. Setter Logan Fuglestad contributed 25 assists and eight digs.
As for Jason, his 6’7” presence definitely loomed big in the middle of the court. He is well aware of his responsibility. “I play middle hitter and for that, I attempt to close every block wherever the ball is I also go up to kill. This year, I play all around so I play in the back row middle. There, I can hit the ball and still pass. In the front, you focus on blocking but in the back, you want to get around those blocks and make sure you get a touch.”
Against South, Jason got more than one touch as he finished the night with 15 digs, five kills, 1.5 blocks and an ace. He hopes his effort will help the Golden Hawks achieve their season goals. “We want to play our best in every game. For the postseason, we want to get back to the District final and win it this time and then go as far as we can after that.”
With four games left on the regular season, the Indians want to maintain their torrid pace. “Every game is important. Friday, we have a big game with Liberty which is out of league. We are trying to focus on that right now. We have three league games (Bensalem, Abington, Central Bucks East) at the beginning of next week so we want to push right through the season, keep our heads up, battle, and keep playing the way we have been. We want to carry that momentum and emotion. That is what will help us get through.”
Based on their showing against Council Rock South, the Indians are prepped to kill, slam and ace any of their post season opponents.
Council Rock North 3, CR South 0
(May 3 at CR South)
CR NORTH 25 25 25
CR SOUTH 12 16 16
