Dock Mennonite looks sharp in win over North Pocono in District 1/2/11-2A quarterfinals

TOWAMENCIN >> From their late-season losses, Dock Mennonite gained quite a bit.

The Pioneers – playing up against bigger-school competition like Neshaminy, Pennridge and Souderton – upped their game and raised their level of play, despite falling in tough, competitive matches.

On Wednesday night, Dock’s progress showed up nicely, as the Pioneers were dominant in a 3-0 victory over visiting North Pocono in the quarterfinal round of the District 1/2/11-2A Subregional.

“We came out really sharp,” Dock coach Kirby King said. “I was really happy with how we came out. We put tons of pressure on them.”

The win advances Dock to Tuesday’s semifinals to face the winner of Tunkhannock and Berwick. The Pioneers will be home once again for a 5 p.m. start.

“We played with all of those schools,” King said of Dock’s challenging, late-season slate. “We went five games with Souderton, four with Neshaminy, and lost in three to Pennridge but they were all close.

“We had a chance to win every single game. We really pushed the guys at the end of the season. Those losses put us below Holy Redeemer – they’re No. 1 and we’re No. 2.”

That means Dock would have to go on the road if both the Pioneers and Holy Redeemer are to get past Tuesday, but Dock would go in playing its best volleyball of the season.

“We had a little bit of a rough ending to our regular season, so it’s good to have this win bring us all back,” said Dock’s Logan Gillespie, who served up four aces in the win Wednesday. “We wanna keep moving forward.”

Dock won 25-9 in each of the first two sets, then battled past the visitors in the end to win the third set 25-22.

Jacob Shreiner had 12 kills for the Pioneers.

“It was a good, solid win,” Gillespie said. “We played well as a team and we just held it together.”

Gillespie’s serves kick-started multiple runs for Dock.

“I just tried to hit the deep corners, where they weren’t,” he said. “I was hitting my spots and they fell in.”

Dock played a solid, all-around match, made possible in part by Tristan Blum’s two blocks and Anthony Bernardo’s 17 digs.

“I think (our regular-season schedule) helped us a lot,” Gillespie said of getting ready for the playoffs. “If we just played in our league, we wouldn’t have gotten good competition. So playing teams like Souderton and Pennridge, I think it will help us a lot.

“We’re very excited. This is a good win, good momentum going into the next round, so hopefully we can carry it through.”