Despite loss, youthful Shanahan earning some wins while rebuilding

Downingtown >> Following its appearance in the 2021 PIAA 4A semifinals, the Bishop Shanahan girls volleyball squad lost eight seniors to graduation last spring, including stalwarts Coco Shultz and Maddie Rudolph, the 2021 Daily Local News Co-Players of the Year.
While the Eagles have been in a rebuilding mode this fall, nevertheless they had posted a 6-2 record and a No. 15 ranking in District 1 4A heading into Thursday evening’s game with No. 4 ranked Garnet Valley.
Although Shanahan lost Thursday’s matchup to the powerful Jaguars, 3-0, Garnet Valley head coach Mark Clark was impressed with the Eagles.
“Shanahan’s a solid team, and their defense was stellar [tonight],” said Clark. “Their libero [sophomore Maddie Metcalf] was all over the court, passing the ball, and they weren’t afraid for our hits, they were passing, they were a very solid defensive team [tonight].”
Bishop Shanahan coach Greg Ashman said, “That’s what we’re building our team around, our sophomore libero. Last year, Maddie played every match and stood out for us as a freshman. This year, we know what she can do, and she’s the anchor to our defense.”
While Garnet Valley featured a powerful freshman in Sarah Wood (10 kills, 7 aces), Shanahan has a ninth-grader who has been making some solid contributions this season (and on Thursday) in hitter Mia Mascherino.
“Mia plays the game at a higher level than most freshmen – she just sees the game at a great level,” said Ashman. “We’re really excited to have her – we’re working with her, trying to teach her the right techniques. Once she gets working the techniques a little better, gets a little stronger and is able to jump a little higher, she’s really going to be a player that people are going to have to look out for, that’s for sure.”
A trio of sophomores also have helped the Eagles fly this fall – middle blocker Cat Detweiler, and hitters Karoline Springman and Ava Barnhart.
“Cat’s exciting to watch,” said Ashman. “She’s so close to having it ready and having it click – when she does, she’s going to be really fun to watch. Karoline has all the height [necessary], she’s working on getting stronger and every day she gets better. Every day she leaves practice with understanding things a little better and just playing a little bit better. Ava’s a great kid who works really, really hard and is one of those kids who just wants to get so much better, and is getting better.”
Two other contributors to the Eagles this fall have been junior middle blocker Ava Fraser and freshman middle blocker Tori Bonacci.
“Ava is one of the true leaders that we have,” said Ashman. “Tori is another freshman that, a year from now, people are going to be looking at her and saying, ‘Oh my goodness, where did that kid come from.’ She’s really going to be something special, too. So we’re happy for the future of this team.”
Ashman reflected on the loss: “We unfortunately didn’t serve tonight as well as we normally do. Our serving is normally one of our strong points, and it just wasn’t there tonight. If we serve better, and don’t have those missed serves, that game tonight is a totally different game. Once we get a little closer [to the top teams] and start believing, anything can happen – I’ve been there before and I’ve seen it happen.
“Hopefully, going forward we can put some other pieces together – we’re very young and we know that’s going to happen in games, that [on occasion] we’re going to be a little overwhelmed by bigger teams that hit the ball hard. That’s just nerves, and this was the first real big game some of these girls have ever played in high school.”
For Garnet Valley (10-1), who posted scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-6 (including a 13-0 run by the visitors), Thursday night was a different story.
“We’re playing very well this year , and we’re playing all the way through matches – controlling the ball, and controlling the game, and giving effort all the way through,” said Clark. “We’re diving for balls – nothing’s going to hit the ground easy on us, and this [win] is what happens when everything clicks together for us.”
Garnet Valley lost a tough 3-2 match to Bishop Shanahan last fall in the PIAA 4A quarterfinal when the Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
“We kept pushing today – we didn’t care what the score was,” said Clark. “Our defense played great tonight, we didn’t really let anything hit the ground, and I thought we were aggressive at the service line and when we were swinging. We’re getting better and better every game, and I think that [state quarterfinal loss last year] put us over the edge a little bit.”
Standouts for Garnet Valley included freshman outside hitter Sarah Wood (10 kills, 7 aces), senior right side hitter Kelly St. Germain (10 kills), senior setter Maddie Wood (31 assists) and senior middle hitter Sarah Weins (3 kills, 1 block and service runs of 11 points in Game 3 and 6 points in Game 2).