Volleyball: Zakarian, Woods step up, help Garnet Valley hold off Boyertown
CONCORD — Boyertown didn’t dig out every ball Garnet Valley hit in the playback round of the District 1 Class 4A volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the 2020 Center, it just seemed that way.
If the Jaguars were going to survive and advance they had to remain calm.
“You just have to shake it off and go to the next play,” junior outside hitter Klaira Zakarian said. “You can’t dwell on your mistakes because you’ll just make them again.”
The Jaguars managed to stay poised thanks to the play of Zakarian and fellow juniors MaryPearl Tienabeso, Kelly St. Germain and Maddy Woods. She dished out 52 assists while Zakarian, Tienabeso and Germain combined for 47 kills to help the fifth-seeded Jaguars stay alive with a 3-1 triumph over the eighth-seeded Bears.
It wasn’t easy. Garnet Valley (18-3) won 25-18, 24-26, 25-21 and 25-14 to set up a match with No. 7 Hatboro-Horsham Thursday afternoon for the fifth and final seed from District 1 in the PIAA tournament.
“They had a good block,” Tienabeso said. “We just had to go out and compete with them. It was a mini-game within the game.”
Tienabeso was spectacular at the net for the Jaguars. She pounded 22 kills including seven in the first set and six in the decisive fourth set. Zakarian was big, too. She finished with 15 kills, including the one to seal the match.
“We just had to figure our way around their block,” Zakarian said. “I talked to Maddy about it and she put the ball where I could get around their block.”
Boyertown’s defense was outstanding and the reason the Bears (16-6) took the match to four sets. Adrianna Derstine pounded 19 kills and recorded 15 digs. Setters Emma Smith (13 digs) and Grace Rinehimer (11 digs) also came up big. Rinehimer also set the offense in motion with 29 assists. Carly Little pitched in with seven kills for the Bears.
“You get to this point in the season and every team you play is going to be tough,” Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig said. “You’ve got to perform. They played better than us.”
The Bears appeared to have the momentum after a come-from-behind victory in the second set where Boyertown rallied from a 19-14 deficit to even the match. But that’s where the Jaguars showed their poise and their mettle. Garnet Valley jumped out to a seven-point lead and they had to hold on when the Bears made another late run before falling.
“We lost our energy and our focus a little bit,” Derstine said. “Losing (defensive specialist) Allie Pioli (to an ankle injury) hurt us a little bit. She’s big for us on defense and offense and the girls who stepped in for her did a good job. They tried hard. We just couldn’t get it done.”
Tienabeso and Zakarian, and a defense led by Madison Snelgrove, Rachel Sokalsky and Leah Ellie helped see to that as the Jags countered every Boyertown run with one of their own. In the third set, Boyertown cut the deficit to 23-20 before Zakarian recorded two kills to help put the match away. In the fourth set, the back row kept balls alive to set up Tienabeso and Zakarian for the kill and they delivered.
“We just made up our minds that we were going to win,” Tienabeso said. “We refused to lose.”
