Pope John Paul II claims seventh PAC girls volleyball title in win over Upper Merion
GRATERFORD >> The Pope John Paul II girls volleyball team already has plenty of hardware in its trophy cabinet. But it’s always primed to add more every opportunity it can.
In a rematch of the 2018 title bout, the Golden Panthers took a straight-set win over No. 3 Upper Merion (25-16, 25-8, 25-11) in the Pioneer Athletic conference championship at Perkiomen Valley Thursday.
With the win, Pope John Paul II has its seventh PAC crown and its first since 2019. Still unblemished at 20-0 on the season, the top-ranked District 1 Class 3A juggernaut knows it has a target on its back each match.
“We really have a big reputation I think and teams definitely want to beat us,” outside hitter Hutton Cordrey said. “That makes the competition even harder and it’s a lot of pressure on us. But I think we really thrive on that. We know everyone’s coming for us, but we love it.”
That’s another one for the trophy case.
Pope John Pul II takes set 3, 25-11 and wins PAC title No. 7.
🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆
FINAL — No. 1 Pope John Paul II 3, No. 3 Upper Merion 0 pic.twitter.com/2H6suHtyjQ
— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) October 21, 2022
Cordrey, a Mercury All-Area junior, registered a team-high 12 kills for the Golden Panthers while adding nine digs. Cindy Jin fueled the defense with 17 digs while Gabriella Cooper came up with 12 digs. Setter Madison Monahan amassed 33 assists.
Cooper’s serving was paramount for Pope John Paul II as it found large runs in the second and third sets behind her 20 service points. The Golden Panthers came up with runs of five, seven and eight points during the second set before unleashing a nine-point clinic in the third.
Behind Cooper, Gabriella Manza was a force at the line with 11 service points of her own.
“Their serving just pushed us off the net constantly,” Vikings coach Tony Funsten said.
Pope John Paul II’s serving was at its best when Upper Merion (16-5) sophomore Sophia Schweikert wasn’t up front.
“Obviously we want to take advantage of when Sophia was in the back row, not the front row. When she’s in the front row, she’s very, very, very hard to defend,” Golden Panthers coach Ryan Sell said. “We tried to line up our rotations where we have our best servers when she was in the back so we could maybe score points in those chunks.”
In their last matchup on Oct. 4, Schweikert posted a staggering 32 kills and 19 digs. The Vikings were deadly with the Mercury All-Area 6-foot power-hitter at the net, where she still put up 15 kills behind strong setting from Caitlyn Daywalt.
A player of Schweikert’s caliber – one that garnered a Week 7 Pennsylvania High School Athlete of the Week nomination for leading the state with 388 kills – demands more attention defensively. Enter defensive specialist Natalie Ricevuto, who was put on Schweikert in the rotation.
A tall order no doubt, Ricevuto fit the bill with some clutch tips at the twine and made eight kills while adding three digs in the back court.
“Basically, Natalie and Sophia are gonna go toe-to-toe those three rotations that they’re up front,” Sell said. “I thought Natalie did a really good job of touching those balls, even the balls she wasn’t blocking and keeping on their side of the net, she’s touching and slowing down so our defense can clean it up and we can get our offense in from there.”
Playing the net was an important piece of preparation for the Golden Panthers heading into the PAC championship.
“We’ve been working on our blocking, so that really helps,” Cordrey said. “We wanted to try to stop (Schweikert) so that really helped us. She’s their big hitter.”
Ranked No. 9 among District 1-4A schools, Upper Merion heads to the district tournament with a vibe check that, according to Funsten, will help center his squad before the real postseason begins.
“I actually think it’s gonna help us in a way. When you get humbled like that, you should be back to square one,” Funsten said on the PAC championship loss. “Playing great teams reveals your weakness. Pope John Paul is a great team, they are.”
