Perk Valley bounces back, handles Haverford in 1st round of District 1-4A tournament
GRATERFORD >> No. 15 Perkiomen Valley knew it had room for growth after a humbling straight-set loss to Pope John Paul II at home in the Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinals.
Those growing pains didn’t last too long, as the Vikings rebounded with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 26-24) win over No. 18 Haverford in the first round of the District 1 Class 4A girls volleyball tournament on its own court Tuesday.
With the win, Perkiomen Valley will head to No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday at a time to be determined.
“I think we played really hard the last few weeks and when we lost in the PAC (semifinals), we were all feeling a little down and ready to rebuild and come back stronger, show people who we really are,” Vikings senior Naomi Clauhs said.
Clauhs led the charge with 21 kills, six digs and four blocks. With the second set tied 23-23, Perkiomen Valley got the ball back and Clauhs produced two quick service points for the dagger.
“I feel like after the first set we were ready and really wanted to win the second set. We went out really strongly in the second set, and that helped us win the third,” Clauhs said.
Olivia Wusinich fueled the Vikings’ offense with 21 assists while adding a pair of aces and four digs. Lola Coulter tacked on 16 kills and served two aces while playing stout defense behind nine digs. Alexis Boozer made six digs and provided one assist.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair, much like the latter two, with the Fords up 21-19. But with Emily Chung at the service line, the Vikings came up with a six-point run to steal the first set, capped off by an ace from the junior.
“All of us were excited for Emily earning that final point,” Clauhs said. “It kind of brought the whole team up altogether.”
On the night, Chung served four aces with one kill, 13 assists and 10 digs.
Haverford was in the jaws of defeat, down 24-21 on match point. By piecing together a three-point run to nearly force a fourth set, the Fords made a late bid to potentially steal the carpet out from under Perkiomen Valley before the latter pulled away.
“I think it was a great pace, the girls played their hearts out. We didn’t give up on anything, I couldn’t be happier,” Haverford coach Alin Bilc said. “When we started, a lot of the girls were kind of new and I think we came a long way. Especially the last few games, we were really playing hard and that kind of work put us where we are in districts.”
Perkiomen Valley has now played six straight home games and has gone 5-1 during that time. The Vikings will face a big test in its first road trip since Sept. 30.
But throughout the month of October, Perkiomen Valley has dropped just five sets and has been able to find ways to close out the tight ones.
“I think we kind of pull together and show how strong we play as a unit and just finish out sets,” Clauhs said.
