District 1-3A: Neshaminy tops Pennridge, wins first district title in 25 years
BENSALEM — Neshaminy brought it all together Thursday night to accomplish something historic.
In front of a spirited crowd at Bensalem High, the Skins won 3-1 over perennial power Pennridge in the District 1-3A Final, as the Skins seized their first district title since 1997.
“I thought it was a reality ever since we started our run,” said senior middle Ben Clendening of winning the trophy. “After the 10th game, it started to seem like this was the inevitable.”
A 10-0 start evolved into 21-0 Thursday night, as the Skins answered every challenge along the way and capped their district run off with an impressive victory (25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17) over the Rams.
“Even from the beginning of the year, Pennridge was ranked and we weren’t. It put a chip on our shoulder. We were expecting them in the finals and we wanted to play them in the finals because we wanted to prove we were up there with some of the best teams in the state,” said Clendening.
Contributions came from everywhere for the Skins.
Ben Clendening (12 kills, one dig, four blocks) and opposite Josh Clendening (three aces, 16 kills, one dig) were at it all night.
Setter Josh Adler (two kills, four digs, two blocks, 44 assists) again was the stabilizer and outside hitter Dan Berzin (one ace, 9 kills, one dig, one block) was a force.
Kieran Edwards (seven kills, one block), Michael Sooby (five digs, two assists) and Josh Hamilton (one ace, three kills, 8 digs, two blocks) got it done as well.
“Everybody played together,” Ben Clendening said. “Everyone started clicking. We played together as one unit. It wasn’t just one person. It was everybody coming together. We won as a team.”
Neshaminy surged to a 2-0 lead but the Rams played a tremendous third set and were right there for much of the fourth. The Skins used one final run to put it away.
“Pennridge is a very well-coached team that really tested us the entire night,” said Skins coach Pat Klingerman. “I am so proud of our guys. This win is not only for this group of players, but also all of the players before them that helped build this program to what it is today.”
Riley Kodidek (30 assists, five blocks), Tyler Johnson (11 kills, two blocks), Nick Smith (13 kills, three blocks) and Thomas McKinney (four kills, seven digs) paced the Rams all evening. The defending champs turned the tide in that third set but Neshaminy was able to get momentum back.
“They controlled the ball better. They could keep our block kind of off. They have hitters everywhere,” Rams coach Dave Childs said of the Skins. “We had to respect everyone. When they’re in system, they’re good.”
It was another tremendous run by the Rams, who had confidence they could make it back to the final when the season began.
“We had a good group returning who had some good states experience. We have one of the best setters in PA and our middles have dominated this year,” Childs said. “They did again tonight. They were our offense tonight.”
Both squads now head to states next week.
