Council Rock North sweeps Christopher Dock to advance
BOYS VOLLEYBALL – DISTRICT 1 AAA TOURNAMENT
NEWTOWN – Council Rock North swept Christopher Dock pretty handily when the sides squared off earlier this month in the regular season.
Last night in a district quarterfinal matchup was a different ball game however as the visiting ninth-seeded Pioneers gave the top-seeded Indians everything they could handle.
“That team really never quit,” said CR North co-captain Eric Van Thuyne. “We kept hitting harder and harder on them and they just kept getting touches.
“They’re very dedicated – they may not be as big but they will push just as hard.”
The Rock still swept the Independent League opponent from the tournament sending CR North (17-2) to the District 1 semifinals next Tuesday when the Indians will face either No. 4 CB West or fifth-seeded CB East.
Showing the reason why they are the No. 1 seed, the Rock got out of the gate quickly, launching a 10-3 early lead. Dock (12-7) rebounded with a 5-2 run, capped by a Noah Shreiner tap over the net that brought the Pioneers back within four at 12-8.
North answered with a 9-3 run that was capped by a kill by senior Logan Fuglestad. Dock sophomore Lincoln Bergey drew the visitors back with a late game kill but that only cut the Pioneer deficit to nine points.
The Indians closed a 25-14 victory out in game one with a kill by reserve Tommy Angelina and a hitting error by Dock.
In game two, the Pioneers rebounded from an early deficit to take a 7-6 lead on a combined block of Jesse Kolb and Shreiner.
Midway through the match, Tyler Rice’s ace gave Dock a 15-14 edge. At that point, Indians head coach Greg Marchetti called a much-needed timeout in order to get the North team re-focused.
“We had to straighten it out; get our passes on point and then just go out there, and not put the first ball away, maybe wait a little.
“We had to ride out some points because they’re a good defensive team; they’re going to get some touches
“We had to get in there and ride it out and get a split. Once you get that late-game split, it’s a big difference.”
Council Rock answered however with a 7-1 run that was highlighted by an Angelina kill and a block by co-captain Jason Yakimov. Three ensuing hitting errors by the visitors put the Indians on top 23-16.
Shreiner and Yakimov traded kills on the next two points bringing Rock to game point at 24-17. While North erred on its next two volleys, Dock committed a service error for the game point.
In game three, the Pioneers trailed 11-5 and by as much as 22-15 before rebounding late in the final match. Shreiner capped a 4-1 run that cut the visitors’ deficit to four at 23-19 then Rice and Bergey followed with a kill and a block, respectively to make it a two-point game at 24-22.
Van Thuyne finally closed the game, set and match out with a kill for Council Rock.
“They really gained some momentum going into that third game; they really wanted to come back at us,” said Van Thuyne.
“They didn’t want to just roll over and go out in districts easily.”
For seniors such as Eric, Yakimov, and Fuglestad, it was their last game they’ll ever play at the Rock. District 1-AAA semifinals and finals as well as the third-place match are all taking place May 25 and 26 at William Tennent.
Should the Indians falter in the semifinal, they’ll go to a third place matchup against the loser in the other semifinal. Should they win, North could actually see Pennsbury a third time this season.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Council Rock North 3, Christopher Dock 0
(May 19 at CR North)
Christopher Dock 14 19 22
Council Rock North 25 25 25
