Pennsbury sweeps Avon Grove to advance to D-1 semifinals
BOYS VOLLEYBALL – DISTRICT 1-AAA TOURNAMENT
YARDLEY – With their setter back on the court after a two-week trip to the trainer’s table, Pennsbury did what a No. 2 seed should do when facing the tenth seed in the District 1-AAA Tournament – the Falcons dispatched Avon Grove in three straight sets.
While senior co-captain Kevin Killoran missed the last match of the season at William Tennent with a knee injury, forcing the Falcons (12-3, 11-1: SOL) to go all five sets to come away from a win in Warminster, the man who sets it all up was back in the lineup for this one.
“I was in a little bit of pain but sometimes, you just have to put it out there for the team,” said Killoran. “In a game like this, you just have to come out and play your hardest, no matter what the situation is and that’s what I did.
“I wanted to make today not so much about me but about the team.
“You can’t have a team that’s going to go far if you’re not going to go all out.”
Killoran may have set it up but it was classmate Mason Reilley who brought it home. The senior middle hitter came through with 13 kills on 15 attempts for an astounding .867 hitting percentage with no errors.
Those are amazing numbers for any player but for Mason, they’re even more impressive when on considers the fact he was nursing a shoulder injury for the past week. The shoulder problem flared up to the point that Pennsbury head coach Justin Fee held Reilley from practice a couple of days last week.
Before the commencement of the battle with the Blue Devils (11-5, 8-2: Independent League), however, Mason reported with a clean bill of health, said Fee.
“I don’t know if it was the extra energy from not practicing or what but he started firing away today,” said Fee. “Part of the credit goes to Kevin because Kevin sets the middle really, really well.”
Indeed, Killoran registered 31 assists, together with one dig and two blocks. Classmate Kenny Hickman came through with six blocks, three digs, three kills and once ace. Junior Sean Sweeney added 11 kills, one ace and a dig.
“Sean is always a big threat for us,” said Hickman. “We always put a lot of focus on him because we know he can win a game for us.”
Yesterday (May 19) at Charles Boehm Middle School, the Falcons won all three games pretty convincingly, outpacing Avon Grove, 25-13, 25-12 and 25-16 to advance to next the district semifinals Tuesday, May 24 against No. 3 seed and defending District 1 champion Pennridge, a 3-1 winner over sixth-seeded William Tennent. Council Rock North, a 3-0 winner over No. 8 Christopher Dock, faces either No. 4 CB West or No. 5 CB East in the other semifinal.
In prepping for D-1 quarters, Pennsbury actually prepared more for No. 7 seed Souderton. But the Indians were without their starting setter and the Blue Devils eliminated the Indians, 3-2.
“In districts, you expect a little bit higher level volleyball,” said Killoran. “You have to take every single opponent just as seriously as any other.”
“When we heard Souderton lost, we were surprised but you can’t think like that. You have to play as if you’re playing the best team in the state every single game and that’s how we came out.”
Fee is well aware of a setter’s worth on the court. When Killoran went down, the Falcons had to rely on freshman Andy Delworth, who was pulled up from junior varsity. On May 9 at William Tennent, with a share of the Suburban One League (SOL) National conference crown on the line, the Panthers won two of the first three games, before Pennsbury rebounded with 25-18 and 15-11 wins in the last two sets.
“A lot of what setters do sometimes goes unnoticed,” the coach explained. “But when you lose Kevin’s block, his consistent hard serve that he has, his ability to play good defense, that’s going to tear your team apart in some respects,” said Fee.
“I’m definitely putting Andy down; for him to come in in his first start ever as a freshman, to pull out a win there was just what we needed,” said Fee. “Andy did a nice job and somehow, the guys found a way to get it done.
“We really needed it; the league title was on the line. You lose that and Council Rock North was league champions and that would have been really disappointing.”
Should the Falcons fall at the hands of Pennridge in the D-1 semis, they’ll go to a third-place matchup May 26 against the loser in the other semifinal. Should they win, Pennsbury could see Rock North for a third time this season.
The Indians won 3-2 the last time the sides squared off at the Falcons Nest but Pennsbury won 3-2 in the first match of the season on its home court. In the first match, the biggest margin of victory in any game was four points. All the other games were decided by the minimum two points with two of the games going overtime.
The last time the Suburban One rivals faced one another, the Falcons had a two game to one edge before the Rock rebounded with a 25-18 win in game four before closing it out with a 15-11 victory in game five.
NOTES: District 1-AAA semifinals and finals as well as the third-place match are all taking place at William Tennent. Pennsburly hosted the battle with Avon Grove because event planners are busy getting the Falcons Nest ready for tonight’s Senior Prom.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Pennsbury 3, Avon Grove 0
(May 19 at Charles Boehm MS)
PENNSBURY 25 25 25
AVON GROVE 13 12 16
