Pennridge blocks La Salle’s way, advances in PIAA-3A playoff opener
SPRINGFIELD >> Pennridge had itself a block party on Tuesday.
District 12 champion La Salle found out the hard way said block party was invite only and the Rams were keeping a very exclusive guest list. Powered by senior middle hitters Tyler Johnson and Nick Smith, the Rams’ presence at the middle of the net had a pretty significant sway in the outcome of their PIAA Class 3A first round volleyball match against the PCL champion Explorers.
With official 15 blocks and plenty more swings sent back into a scrambling La Salle defense, Pennridge picked up a 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-15) win to open its state playoff run.
“When it we do it, it works well but when we don’t it, it creates more problems,” Johnson said. “We had a strong serve receive to start and got some good kills, so our energy got up and we got out on our blocks which slowed them down a bit.”
Tuesday’s block party was a very encouraging sign for the Rams, who have put a lot of work into it but haven’t necessarily seen the results they’ve wanted in creating a wall at the net. If they want to advance through the state tournament, starting Saturday against District 10 champion McDowell, the block will have to be hot.
It was certainly a deterrent against La Salle, which concluded another successful season that saw the program continue its string of PCL and District 12 titles. There just happened to be a wall in the way.
“I kept talking to my players on the bench, you can learn from every match, and I told them to watch how they get over the net, the way they press,” La Salle coach Jason Eisele said. “My setter, I looked at him at one point and said you have to set it higher or set it off the net, we tried everything.”
Pennridge setter Riley Kodidek is also a member of the rejection committee, tying with Johnson for a team-high five blocks on Tuesday. While the Rams have decent size on their front line, they’re still not the biggest team around so they have to be a little more precise and on the same wavelength to make their net presence effective.
Johnson, who also had 11 kills in the match including the clincher in the third game, said a lot of it is confidence. It can be demoralizing to get to the right spot, time up an opponent’s swing but have the ball carom out of bounds for a point the other way so getting the first couple block attempts right is always a big help.
Even if Pennridge didn’t turn every swing away on Tuesday, it put enough back over the net that the Explorers either had to scramble for a dig or use one of their three touches to try and salvage a play that didn’t lead to a preferred hit.
“It’s something we have to start doing better and it was really good to see tonight,” Rams coach Dave Childs said. “It’s one of those things we talk about and have worked on a lot lately, so it’s good seeing it come out on the court when it matters.
“It’s form and technique and fine-tuning all the little things that really matter at this point of the season. You can be a big guy but if you don’t have the right form, timing, anything, it doesn’t matter.”
Eisele thanked his 10 seniors and said the only regret they had was that they weren’t able to extend the match to a full five sets like the Explorers had in their two previous state playoff appearances. Freshman Tate Muhl and sophomore libero Samuel Johnsson led a frenetic defensive effort that saw La Salle make a few handfuls of saves off the floor to keep rallies alive.
“The reason this season was so special is because of what happened in practice and the senior leadership,” Eisele said. “They didn’t all start but they all battled and made competition in practice insane and inspired our younger guys. The future is looking bright and as I told these guys, they’re a part of this team until our freshmen graduate and a part of this program forever.”
McDowell’s win over District 7 runner-up Seneca Valley, a state power, was a surprise result in the bracket but either way, the Rams know if they want to keep playing, they have to take care of their side of the net. A good way to start that is by not letting the other team hit the ball over the net to begin with.
“I think by this point in the season, we have a feel for each other so we can set up that double-block,” Johnson said. “We’re going to need keep practicing it, we know there are going to be big hitters out there, so we have to be ready.
“We have a good rhythm, we just have to hold together and figure it out.”
