Spring-Ford advances past Strath Haven, 3-1
ROYERSFORD >> As Alexis Palucki was lining up her serves during the third set Tuesday night, the last thing on her mind was the severity of each moment.
“I just thought to myself, ‘Let’s just serve to (spot) No. 5,’” she said of the defensive position she was aiming for on the court. “I was keeping all my serves away from the libero and keeping the ball up high.”
The Spring-Ford senior led the Rams on a 12-point service run during the momentous third set that paved the way to her team’s 3-1 win over Strath Haven during the opening round of the District One Class 4A playoffs on Tuesday night.
With the win, No. 11-seeded Spring-Ford (14-6 overall) advances to the second round of districts for the second straight year. The Rams will travel to face No. 6 Abington on Thursday night in the second round. Strath Haven’s season comes to a close at 8-8 overall as the No. 22-seeded Panthers failed to advance to the second round after downing Conestoga 3-0 in the first round last season.
Spring-Ford opened up the match with a commanding 25-14 win in a first set that never felt close. The sneaky-athletic Strath Haven team then came storming back in the second set where the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead and rode it out to a 25-22 win.
The third set looked to be more of the same as Strath Haven jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Only that’s when Palucki toed the service line.
Her tide-turning service-run erased the early six-point deficit and gave the Rams a 13-7 lead that they’d ride out to a 25-15 set win. Spring-Ford then closed out the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set.
“I think we got a little bit overconfident, a little bit ahead of ourselves after that first set,” said Spring-Ford head coach Josh McNulty. “We had to kind of rein them back in. Strath Haven picked up a lot of our good swings — they picked up some swings off our touches.
“Fortunately, Alexis gave us just what we needed. We just needed to get on a service run. That was huge. After we got that lead, we kind of settled down and got back into our game.”
Strath Haven head coach John Grossman was quick to note that the Panthers’ inexperience in the big game may have proven the difference.
“We have a good core of seniors, but we also have a lot of younger players,” he said. “The inexperience of being in a big-time situation kind of showed on our end.
“Through Game 1, we kind of got acclimated with what was going on. Game 2 we were able to build on that. We just couldn’t keep it going the whole way.”
In addition to her contributions in the service game, Palucki posted 12 kills, four blocks and six digs. Spring-Ford junior Olivia Olsen posted 13 kills, 10 digs and a pair of blocks while Lauren Stenson had 15 digs and a couple of aces. Senior Carly Swenson posted 33 assists.
For Strath Haven, Ellie Fisher had 15 kills and 12 digs while Abby Clarke posted 12 kills and 20 digs. Emma Golato posted 34 assists and six digs while Gabby McGinn had 13 digs and four kills.
“It’s been a growth experience all year long for our team,” said Grossman. “We’ve been finding ways to get out here and compete — the season really got a lot better as we went along. We’ve got some younger girls, some freshmen and sophomores who picked up a lot of good experience this season.
And on Spring-Ford’s end, Palucki and her senior classmates fully understands what’s at stake the further her team gets into the district playoffs.
“We’ve got to give everything we’ve got and put forth our best effort,” she said. “Last game isn’t just the last game of the season — it’s the last game of my high school career. I can speak for all of us when I say that we’re all playing our best, on our toes and not letting anything hit the ground. It’s do-or-die right now.”
