Boyertown wins PAC girls volleyball title over Pope John Paul II

GRATERFORD >> If there were any questions about the legitimacy of Boyertown’s 2020 Pioneer Athletic Conference championship, the Bears answered them.

Boyertown beat Pope John Paul II, a perennial power that didn’t compete in league play last year due to the pandemic, in five sets – 23-25, 27-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-8 – for the 2021 PAC title Thursday night at Perkiomen Valley High School.

“Last year we heard some comments that they weren’t in the PAC,” Boyertown senior Adrianna Derstine said. “This year, being able to come out and beat them here, is just so amazing.”

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Boyertown wins it! Bears win fifth set, 15-8, for back to back PAC championships. pic.twitter.com/qnrTmd2zvk

— Ed Morlock (@emor09) October 22, 2021

 

“Last year was our program’s first, which will always be special,” Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig said. “(PJP) beat us last year, but we didn’t get a shot in the finals. They beat us this year, we beat them in the finals. I think that – give us another match against them last year and the same result happens.”

The Bears dominated the decisive fifth set. They jumped out to a 5-1 lead that ballooned to 13-5. Carly Little clinched the title with a kill, 15-8.

Derstine dominated most of the final set. She recorded a block to give Boyertown a 1-0 lead and had seven kills during a 9-4 start.

“I was just trying to push along,” she said. “I knew that we could do it. I believed the whole game. In the fifth set I knew it was time to go. I tried my hardest.”

“(Derstine’s) very athletic,” PJP coach Ryan Sell said. “She hits the ball at a very high point. The speed sometimes that they run at is very quick to have two people in front of her. They do a nice job. They don’t just set her all the time. They’re going to set her when they need big points for sure – we definitely know where the ball is going to go if they need a side-out or something, even when she’s in the back. She’s just really athletic.”

Derstine, who finished with a game-high 32 kills, helped the Bears win the second and third sets. She scored the final three Boyertown points of the second set and four straight near the end of the third.

After dropping the first game, Boyertown jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the second game. The defending champs closed in on the victory with a 23-18 lead, but the Golden Panthers stormed back with six straight points to take a 24-23 lead. A PJP error tied the game at 24 and a Derstine kill put Boyertown ahead. Zoey George tied the game at 25 for PJP before Derstine tallied back-to-back kills for the 27-25 win to tie the match, 1-1.

“It’s a mental thing,” Derstine said. “Losing that many points in a row, how do we come back from that. We just have to keep pushing, take our energy and just keep working through every point. I think we did a good job of that and pushing through it.”

The third game was tied at 19 before Derstine had three straight kills. PJP’s Hutton Cordrey responded with three kills as the Golden Panthers won the next four points to take a 23-22 lead. A Derstine kill tied the game at 23 before PJP hit the ball into the net back-to-back times for Boyertown to take a 2-1 lead, 25-23.

“We’ve been talking about playing points all the way out at the end of sets,” Ludwig said. “Every set was down to the wire. We were just able to play a couple points better because we’ve been working on it. The kids have really focused on it.”

Emma Smith led the Bears with 23 digs, Allison Pioli added 22 and Derstine 19. Grace Rinehimer had 48 assists.

Pope John Paul II battled all night. The Golden Panthers overcame a 20-18 deficit to win the first game, 25-23. Late rallies gave them chances in the second and third games before finishing the fourth strong and winning, 25-21, to force the decisive fifth game.

“I thought we played well at times,” Sell said. “I thought we battled in a lot of those sets – both teams battled. Some of those we were down by a lot and battled back. In the second set we were down 17-11 and we fought back. We had chances to win that set, but they’re a good team.”

Cordrey led PJP with 20 kills and added 23 digs. George totaled 13 kills and Natalie Ricevuto had 12. Grace Cooper tallied a team-high 37 digs and Erin Dychdala led the way with 49 assists.