Bishop Shanahan volleyball squad knocks off West Chester East
Downingtown >> The Bishop Shanahan girls volleyball team, in its final home game of the regular season Thursday, gave the Eagles’ crowd something to cheer about, defeating West Chester East, 3-1.
The Vikings entered the contest with an 18-2 record and were ranked fifth in the PIAA District 1 4A power rankings; while the rebuilding Eagles came into Thursday’s game with a 9-8 record and a No. 20 ranking.
“We’re fighting for our [district] playoff lives at this point,” said Shanahan head coach Greg Ashman. “Our team is so young, we’ve made some mental mistakes at the wrong times in our games the last two weeks, and tonight, we avoided that. We just [played] relaxed.
“Before the game I told the girls that if we lose tonight, we might be out of the playoffs, so we might as well have fun out there, just enjoy it and walk out of here tonight knowing that you gave it everything you did and you had a fun experience, because you’re going to remember this season by this match.”
The first two sets, in which the lead changed hands several times, went to Shanahan, 26-24 and 25-19. West Chester East led all the way in the third set, winning 25-16; then the hosts jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the fourth set and won it, 25-17.
Following the fourth set victory, the Shanahan girls on the bench stormed the court to congratulate their teammates.
In the first set, Shanahan went on a 6-0 run with sophomore libero Maddie Metcalf serving to take a 14-10 lead. The Eagles had several key scoring runs Thursday when the service line was manned by Metcalf, who was an integral part of last year’s District 1 4A championship team.
“Maddie’s been a strong force for us off the service line all season,” said Ashman. “She’s a joy to have, and she works extremely hard trying to get better every day, and every single touch that she makes. You could see her getting a little frustrated tonight when [East] was getting some balls [dropping in], but she made some changes and started getting to those balls.”
Later in the first set, West Chester East went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-21 lead, but some fine Shanahan play up front helped the Eagles pull out a 26-24 victory.
The Eagles were getting some potent hits Thursday from a variety of players, including sophomore hitter Karoline Springman, sophomore middle blocker Cat Detweiler, junior middle blocker Ava Fraser, senior hitter Sophia Rothstein and freshman middle blocker Tori Bonacci.
Ashman said, “We lost [freshman hitter] Mia Mascherino and [sophomore hitter] Ava Barnhart to injuries, so we’ve had other people step in, and kind of moved our lineup around a little bit, and that’s allowed Tori to be a starter for us as a freshman, getting some great valuable experience for the future.”
In the second set, Shanahan fell behind 15-13 but went on a 7-0 scoring run with Metcalf at the service line to take a 20-15 lead. The Eagles were getting some fine play from their setters, junior Audrey Sautner and sophomore Amelia McDermott.
Ashman said, “I think both of our setters, Audrey and Amelia, had great games tonight. They ran their offense the way they know how to run an offense. And [junior defensive specialist] Keira Dunn played really well tonight, and was great from the service line.”
In the third set, the Vikings led all the way, jumping out to an early 16-8 lead en route to a 25-16 victory. Leading the way Thursday for the Vikings was junior outside hitter Alexa Mork (16 kills, 18 digs), senior setter Elliet Manning (3 kills, 27 assists, 10 digs), senior outside hitter Becky Ryan (2 aces, 7 digs, 1 block) and sophomore middle hitter Sofia Keith (5 kills, 1 block).
“Alexa is one of the smartest volleyball players I’ve ever coached,” said West Chester east head coach Erin Flynn. “She is very wise as to what the other side of the court is lacking, and she has so much potential. She’s always hungry, always looking to improve. Having that as a leader in a junior is phenomenal.”
Manning, the Vikings’ captain, is committed to playing volleyball for Bentley University.
“Elliet is a phenomenal athlete; I’ve never seen a setter move as quickly as she does,” said Flynn. “She is instantaneous in what she knows she needs to do, and she commits wholeheartedly; she never does anything in half-measure, and that’s what has kept us together for so long. … And Sofia Keith is a player to watch; she’s really developing well for us.”
Another Viking outside hitter, junior Annie Kerns, has made some solid contributions this season for West Chester East.
“Annie’s probably the best on our team when it comes to staggering, where she places the ball,” said Flynn. “She goes short, she goes long, she makes sure the other team is always on their toes, and it seems to work for her. She’s not in there for the hard swing every time.”
In the fourth set, Shanahan jumped out to an early 10-1 lead, including a 7-0 run with Metcalf serving, and cruised home with a 25-17 win
With the victory, Shanahan (10-8) moved up from No. 20 to No. 18 in the District 1 4A rankings, while the Vikings (18-3) dropped to seventh.
Flynn said, “We made some technical errors tonight, a lot of basics we need to go back to. We’re in good shape as a team, this team is solid and very well connected, and we’re excited to keep progressing [in the postseason]. While this game was a little bit of a hiccup for us, you need a little adversity sometimes to keep you hungry and that’s what this [loss] was. Next week, we have a lot of big games [in the district tourney] and we’re very excited about that.”
