District 1-3A: Pennridge battles past rival Souderton Area, gets back to the district semis

EAST ROCKHILL — Souderton Area provided quite the obstacle for Pennridge on Thursday night, making the Rams’ ability to overcome it all the sweeter.

“It’s always a battle when we play them,” said the Rams’ Riley Kodidek. “Every time we play them, it’s always a tough battle. They always bring their best against us. It’s always a fight.”

The Rams prevailed 3-1 in the District 1-3A Quarterfinal, winning 27-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22 to advance. It will be an amazing 13 consecutive trips to the district semis for the Rams.

Second-seeded Pennridge (16-1) will face No. 6 Council Rock North at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Bensalem. A terrific season by Big Red came to a close.

The Rams rallied in the first set, closing it out on an ace by Kodidek.

“I was really excited about that one. It’s always good to finish off a set with an ace,” said the senior.

Kodidek seemed to be everywhere for the Rams.

He had 34 assists, eight kills, seven digs and three aces in an all-around performance that helped put Pennridge over the top.

The Rams took a 2-0 lead but then Big Red took the third set to stay alive. Souderton jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the fourth set and was looking force a fifth and decisive set.

But Pennridge dug deep, creeping closer and closer until eventually taking the lead late in the set and closing it out.

“Keeping our composure (was key),” Kodidek said. “And having our aggressive servers make their serves.”

Tyler Johnson had 13 kills for the Rams and Nick Smith had nine. Thomas McKinney (11 kills, five digs, two aces), Bryce Ammon (six kills, three aces), Jude Rotondo (four kills, 9 digs, two aces) and Alex Derk (13 digs) also contributed in key spots for Pennridge.

“Souderton’s a good team and we knew it would be a good battle. We knew it would be that kind of a match,” said Rams coach Dave Childs, whose squad beat Souderton twice in the regular season in hard-fought contests (3-1, 3-2). “(In that fourth set), we just kept our cool. We were able to side out right away, and we maintained our composure.”

Souderton gave notice that it’s a team to look out for in the years to come.

“Pennridge is a very good team with a lot of experience. I think that ultimately came to be the difference. But we played with that team, hung in as the 10 seed, earned our way to this spot, and our boys gave it everything they had,” said Big Red coach Luke Pinto. “I was so impressed with them.

“Now we got work to do in the offseason.”