Council Rock North beats Boyertown in 5 sets for final PIAA berth

BOYERTOWN >> Time and time again, Boyertown had the serve and a chance to take the lead late in the fifth set of Thursday night’s girls volleyball match against visiting Council Rock North. But the Indians dug in every time and are headed to the PIAA Tournament after a 3-2 (25-16, 26-24, 17-25, 19-25, 15-12) win over the Bears in the District 1-4A match for fifth place.

Mary Baniewicz had two kills and Sabrina Pasemann a block in between as seventh-seeded Council Rock North (20-4) broke a 12-12 tie and eliminated the fifth-seeded Bears (21-5), who rallied from two sets down for force a deciding fifth set. The Indians will open state play on Tuesday against the winner of the District 3 championship match between Central York and Hempfield on Saturday.

“We made some gutty plays in the fifth set to keep it close,” said Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig, whose team never led in the deciding set, but never trailed by more than two points until the end and tied the score nine times. “Give them credit for siding out in the fifth set. We had a chance to take the lead six times. They came out really well in the first set. Our kids bounced back.”

“Our middles made some plays when we needed them, especially in the fifth set,” said CR North coach Mike Adams.

With the score tied at 12-12, Sydney White set Baniewicz for a deep hit that was ruled in on a controversial call. Pasemann came up with a block and White set Baniewicz again for the deciding point.

“Pasemann had four blocks and she was big at the end,” said Adams. “They (the Bears) are a great team. We knew they were solid all the way around.”
CR North ran off 10 straight points to take a 14-6 lead in the opening set and was never threatened after that. Then Boyertown came back from a 13-9 deficit in the second to take a 20-19 advantage on a service ace by Adrianna Derstine and led 22-20 after a kill by Jessie Ahart. But the Indians scored three straight on a service error, a mishit and a kill by Ashleigh Adams.

The Bears never trailed in the third set, opened up an 11-5 advantage with five straight points and finished it on a kill by Emma Ludwig off an assist from Ahart. Then Boyertown led all the way again in the fourth set after a 1-1 tie to force the deciding set.

Baniewicz led the Indians with 24 kills and Adams had 21, along with 23 digs and five aces, four of them while serving nine straight points during the long run in the first set. Kylie Tinner recorded 26 assists for North and White followed with 20.

“I’m proud of my girls,” said coach Adams. “They battled back in the fifth set.”

Derstine topped the Bears with 17 kills, Emily Wolfe had 14, Ludwig came up with 12 and Ahart chipped in eight. Julia Smith led Boyertown with 27 digs and Ludwig had 24, along with 24 assists. Grace Rinehimer had 20 assists for the hosts.

Last year, the Bears lost in their first district match in program history. This year, they made it to the Pioneer Athletic Conference final and came within a few points of a PIAA berth, all in just their third season as a varsity team.

“This team never talked about that (playing in just their third season),” said coach Ludwig. “We accomplished three of our four goals. Only 16 teams in the state will make it there.

“I’m just proud of the way they are as a volleyball team. You can see how much they care about each other and that makes a huge difference.”