Wild’s finish lifts Hatboro-Horsham to win over Plymouth Whitemarsh

HORSHAM >> Hatboro-Horsham coach Jon Young had a quick message for his team.

“Don’t play scared, stay aggressive,” he told his players as they held match point in the fourth game against Plymouth Whitemarsh Thursday night. The approach had put the Hatters in that spot and it was going to bring them home.

A determined effort by HH junior Cam Wild in the final game helped the Hatters hold off a late PW rally and top the Colonials 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22).

“PW is an awesome team and they played a lot better than we anticipated on offense, so they challenged us a lot,” Young said. “We had to play good, controlled volleyball and they still almost got us at the end. Luckily we were able to stay away from some errors at the end of that last game.”

Wild, one of 11 juniors on the Hatters roster, closed with a big fourth game by knocking down seven kills in just that game with each seeming to come at a pivotal point. The outside hitter had 20 total kills for the match, serving as the Hatters’ go-to hitter on Thursday but she also chipped in with some good serving runs and back row play.

Last season, Wild got a lot of playing time and came on strong toward the end of the year, Young said. On Thursday, she knew chances were coming her way and the junior wanted to bring home a win for her teammates.

“We’re all best friends on this team and had to do it for each other,” Wild said. “We want to be together as a team and I knew I had a chance to do it for everyone else so it’s what I had to do.”

The Hatters came out swinging in the opening game and used a 6-0 run to build a quick 10-3 edge. Hatboro-Horsham never trailed in the opening game, but it needed all of that lead as the Colonials rallied back and got within 13-12 on an Aja Smith ace.

PW is dealing with a couple early-season injuries, but put forth a gritty effort on Thursday with Smith and senior middle Megan Peuser leading the way offensively. With two quality teams up against each other, and two defenses playing well, the match was going to hinge on which group was able to minimize its mistakes and take advantage of its momentum.

“Hatboro played some awesome volleyball and deserved to win, we just made way too many errors,” PW coach Seely Byler said. “The girls that got to play tonight really stepped up and played well for us, they just came up a little too short in the end.

“The game of volleyball is so fast and on both sides there were runs on receiving and serving and sometimes, when you give up six or seven points right at the beginning, it’s insurmountable.”

A serving run with Wild behind the line helped open up more crucial space in the first game, with the Hatters able to close it out. As Young noted, playing PW always brings some pressure to the match and his players were still a bit wary as they flipped sides. PW, led by a serving run by Peuser, built the early lead in the second game and controlled the momentum well as it tied the match up at 1-1.

This year’s group of Colonials mixes veterans like Peuser and senior setter Sydney Melillo, along with promising underclassmen like Smith, a sophomore outside, sophomore back row Julia Walker and freshman libero Sophia Repholz.

“We’re really excited to see these players get some time on varsity,” Byler said. “It’s exciting to not only highlight these seniors, but also give some earned minutes to the younger kids who are really stepping up this year.”

Repholz and Hatters sophomore Jessica Howard were both terrific on Thursday. Each defensive specialist covered a ton of court and made numerous point-saving digs. Young joked that because both are so young and only going to get better, it’s going to be tough to score points when the Hatters and Colonials meet the next few years with both liberos roaming around to make digs.

The Hatters took a 6-1 lead in the third game but PW rallied back with both teams trading points until Hatboro-Horsham went on a 7-0 run with Howard serving to wrest control of the game. Wild had a kill to put HH up 24-23, with Hatters sophomore Sarah Lessig getting an ace to end it. While HH leaned on Wild a lot on Thursday, the junior has done a nice job recognizing she doesn’t have to do everything and said all the players on the team trust in each other.

“We can trust everybody, the bench, if we need them, they’ll just hop right in and work their tails off for all of us,” Wild said. “We knew we needed to stay confident the whole time. Last year, if we’d give up a late lead to the other team, we’d feel like we weren’t good enough so we’re working to be confident throughout no matter what.”

In the deciding game, Wild came out firing. The Hatters’ other outside, junior MaryKate Scully, had a couple early kills then Wild stepped up with a couple swings to put HH up 10-6. Wild, who notched kills at the net and also from the back row, had a pair of kills for side-outs to get the ball back, the second setting off a 4-0 Hatters run.

“Both our outsides are phenomenal players, MK had a bit of a different night but Cam was able to make up for that,” Young said. “Cam has something inside her that says she doesn’t want to lose and that helps us a lot. We depend a lot on our defense and liberos to step in front and give us opportunities and we know volleyball is just a game of opportunities, so we’re just trying to create those opportunities.”

Wild notched three straight Hatters points, giving her team a 20-13 and then 21-15 lead. Hatboro-Horsham got itself up 23-15 in the final game, only for PW to rip off seven of the next eight points to get within 24-22, a show of fight Byler was very pleased to see from her team.

It was only the third match of the season, but the Hatters had a test in that final game and found a way to pass it.

“It can make us way more confident, this win was really helpful for all of us just to show us we can do it, since it was such a big game,” Wild said. “Our coaches helped us out a lot, when it comes to having us calm down and reassuring us we can do it.”