D-East edges WC Henderson in district tourney opener

Uwchlan >> Downingtown East and West Chester Henderson both finished strongly this season to qualify for the PIAA District 1 4A girls volleyball tournament.
So perhaps it was fitting that in their District 1 tourney opener Tuesday, the host Cougars relied on a strong finish in the fifth set to prevail against No. 17 seed Henderson, 3-2, in a topsy-turvy match. The Warriors were riding a big wave of momentum heading into the deciding set, winning the third and fourth sets handily after losing the first two sets on late Cougar rallies.
The fifth set was a tight affair until 16th seed Downingtown East (13-8) used a late 7-0 run to prevail, 15-10.
“I think the key for us in the fifth set was just staying calm and realizing that we can only win one point at a time — just keep chugging along, and minimizing our errors,” said D-East head coach Caitlin Dankanich.
“I’ve got to give credit to Downingtown East,” said Henderson head coach Greta Neff. “They served tough, and they don’t make a lot of mistakes, and that kind of ate us up tonight.”
In the first two sets, the Cougars rallied on late rallies to eke out victories, 25-22 and 25-21, then led 5-1 in the third set.
At that point, Henderson (14-9) grabbed the momentum, going on an 18-4 run to win the thrd set 25-18, then leading all the way in the fourth set for a 25-18 win.
The Warriors had come into this game on a five-game winning streak, winning each of those five contests by a 3-0 score, and in the third and fourth sets the visitors were making their presence felt up front.
“Our team talks about being aggressive — just attacking the ball on serve/receive, attacking the ball at the net,” said Neff. “Our blocking tonight was fantastic — the best it has been all season. I thought Breanna Craig and Lilly Person did a phenomenal job at the net. I thought Olivia McClain was equally as phenomenal. and (sophomore) Olivia Sladicka does a great job for us all over the court.”
In the fifth set, Cougar senior Lana Marinack (two aces, five kills Tuesday) was serving during D-East’s 7-0 run.
“She knew it might be her last (high school) game, and she went all out tonight,” said Dankanich.
Up front, the Cougars relied on the hitting power of freshman Marisa Guan (18 kills, one block, 14 digs).
“Marisa offers athleticism, the aggressive swing, wanting the ball, and trying to get the kill every time,” said Dankanich.
D-East sophomore libero Hailey Long had 26 digs Tuesday.
“Hailey did an awesome job tonight – she’s just all over the floor,” said Dankavich. “Defensively, she’s able to touch so many balls that we think are dead plays and keeps the ball alive. She has a lot of energy for our team.”
Dankavich added, “Katie Sowinski (four aces, three kills, nine digs) did a great job in the back row. She became a hitter and a digger back there, and did a great job on serve/receive.”
Another standout for the Cougars was senior setter and second-year captain Erynne Long (39 assists, five aces, 14 digs). Earlier this season, she reached the 1,000 career assist mark and as of Oct. 24 her 1,251 assists put her second in the record books at Downingtown East (with records from 2014).
“Erynne has worked really hard these past two seasons on the court and off the court,” said Dankavich. “She is a true team player and earned the respect of her teammates the instant she stepped into the varsity setting position. She truly earned this accomplishment and it was amazing to see how ecstatic our team was for her (when she reached the milestone).”
Other Cougar standouts Tuesday included Alex Morris (eight kills, four digs), Regan Hyman (four kills, two blocks), Sophia Kucera (11 digs) and Paige Smith (two kills).
The Cougars now advance to play Unionville Thursday in the second round of the District 1 4A tournament.
The Warriors’ loss means the end of the high school volleyball careers of Henderson seniors Craig (who will play volleyball for West Chester University next fall), McClain, Person and Emilee Murtaugh, who all were in the starting lineup Tuesday.
“Those (four) kids do so much for us,” said Neff. “Bre (Craig) and Liv (McClain) did a great job playing at a high level, Emilee had a nice end to her season, and Lilly is just the heart and soul of our team – she is just the one who is there to support everybody. Our seniors left some huge shoes to fill next year.”
Neff, whose Warriors started this season with a 1-5 record, said, “I’m just super proud of our players tonight, and this season. They came out in a big moment and they stepped up. We could have packed it in real easily (down 2-0), but it shows a lot about the character of our seniors, and the character of the team this year, it’s always been, ‘fight until you can’t anymore, when the refs make us go home.’”