Pennridge earns four-set victory over Parkland

EAST ROCKHILL >> What seemed to be a comfortable five-point lead for the Pennridge boys volleyball team late in the fourth set quickly vanished as visiting Parkland put together a 6-1 run to pull even at 23.

The Rams, however, had no interest in seeing Friday night’s nonleague match reach a decisive fifth set.

“It’s always that feeling, you’re like I don’t want to go to five,” senior Tyler Johnson said. “You don’t want to give them that chance, right, so you want to put the game away as fast as you can.”

Jude Rotondo put Pennridge back ahead by dropping a kill over a block and on the next point Riley Kodidek came through with a block to seal the Rams’ 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23) victory over the Trojans.

“I saw that he’s not really experienced so I kind of block cross and hope that he hit it right in and he did,” Kodidek said. “It was just relieving the get that and to finish it off cause they made a comeback at the end which was a bit worrying cause we didn’t want to go to five, we hadn’t planned for it to go to five after we were up 22-17 so it was kind of relieving just to get it over with.”

Coming off Thursday’s 3-0 victory over Upper Dublin that pulled Pennridge into a tie for first place in the SOL American Conference with UD, the Rams had a slow start to Friday’s contest between defending district champs. But last season’s District 1-3A winners put together strong second and third sets then held off the District 11 side’s bid to extend things.

“First set we were kind of just going through the motions, we really just decided to pick it up as a team,” Johnson said. “We knew we could play better than that so somewhere in there we just flipped the switch, brought it together, talked in the huddle, our coach, he let us know what we needed to do, we picked it up and we executed at the end.”

Kodidek finished with 42 assists and 15 digs while Jude Rotondo collected 15 kills, seven digs and four blocks for the Rams (13-1, 11-1 conference). Johnson totaled 12 kills and five blocks with Thomas McKinney had 10 kills and 13 digs.

“I had a slow start in the first half, I kept swinging straight into the block,” Johnson said. “And then I just picked a couple angles, I tipped it a lot more to certain spots which I’ve been working on in practice. My setter put it up and I would just find the spots that were open and put it down.

Bryce Ammon added nine kills and three aces, Alex Derk and Ty Porter each made eight digs while Nick Smith recorded four kills and four blocks for Pennridge.

“It comes down to execution and we were able to execute well enough to where even if the emotion wasn’t as high as yesterday,” Rams coach Dave Childs said. “We were still able to execute and get the win.”

Holding off Parkland’s charge in the fourth allowed Pennridge to avoid playing a fifth set for the fourth time in its last five matches. The Rams earned three straight 3-2 wins against Central Bucks West, Dock Mennonite and Souderton before its sweep of Upper Dublin.

“We’ve been in some close matches throughout the season,” Childs said. “We have a few five-game wins in us and we’ve been tested. I feel like that helps with that. We’ve been in those moments at the end of big games.”

Pennridge, third in the District 1-3A power rankings, ends its regular season with two home games next week – 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against North Penn then 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against Central Bucks East.

“We’re excited,” Johnson said. “We got two home games left to end our season so we want to end high and keep that going through districts and states.”

In the tight opening set, Parkland led 23-20 before the Rams took the next two points. The Trojans, however, responded with a Matt Bauer kill and Alex Lebo getting a ball through a block for a 25-22 win.

 The second set was close early with Parkland grabbing their first and only lead at 13-12 before Pennridge proceeded to rip off five straight points to go up 17-13.

The Trojans twice cut the margin to two, the last time at 19-17 only for Rams to put together another 5-0 run and go on to tie the match 1-1 by winning the set 25-18.

“I think it was our passing after the first set we started to pass a bit better,” said Kodidek, an Arcadia University commit. “And that opened up more options to hit and when you got more options to hit you know you play better.”

The Rams and Trojans were even after the third set’s first 20 points before Pennridge took the lead for good at 11-10. The Rams extended their advantage to 16-12 before Parkland called a timeout but Johnson’s kill made it  17-12.

“We focused on blocking their outside and right side for sure,” Johnson said. “And then we just made good plays on defense that we kept the ball up and kept it in play a lot more.

Pennridge steadily increased the lead, going up 24-15 after a three-point burst.  Parkland took the next point but a block from Ammon and Smith ended a rally to give the hosts the set 25-16.

In the fourth, the Rams went up for good at 12-11 but Parkland stayed close. The Trojans trailed by a point at 18-17 before a 4-0 run pushed Pennridge’s lead to 22-17.  

Parkland took the next three to pull within two. The Rams went up 23-20 but another three-point Parkland run knotted things at 23. Rotondo gave Pennridge back the lead, putting a ball over a block and in. Kodidek’s block on match point secured the four-set win.

Pennridge 3, Parkland 1

Parkland 25 18 16 23- 1

Pennridge 22 25 25 25 – 3

Pennridge: Riley Kodidek 42 assists, 15 digs; Tyler Johnson 12 kills, 5 blocks; Jue Rotondo 15 kills, 7 digs, 4 blocks; Thomas McKinney 10 kills 13 digs; Bryce Ammon 9 kills, 3 aces; Nick Smith 4 kills, 4 blocks; Alex Derk 8 digs; Ty Porter 8 digs.