West Chester >> The perennially powerful Unionville High School girls volleyball squad, which finished second in the PIAA District 1 4A tournament last fall and advanced to the state quarterfinals before being edged by District 7 champion Pine Richland, is off to another fine start this year.
The Longhorns (3-0) have won all three of their matches this season by a 3-0 score, including a win against Central Bucks West (4-1 and currently ranked 14th in the District 1 4A rankings).
On Tuesday, Unionville swept host West Chester Henderson (ranked 13th in District 1 4A) by the same 3-0 margin, posting scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-16.
The Longhorn seniors led the way against Henderson. Senior setter and tri-captain Olivia Harper and senior outside hitter and tri-captain Brianna Miller, both of whom were Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 4A all-state selections last fall, dished out 16 assists and 11 kills respectively.
Three other Unionville seniors who received Daily Local News all-area honors last fall, Vivian Geiger (recorded six kills), libero Ava Van Deusen (tallied four aces and ran the Longhorns’ defense well) and tri-captain Ava Brenner (five kills), also contributed against Henderson, as did versatile senior Abby Federico (six aces).
“I think they did a nice job today; we came out strong and I was able to mix things up a little bit, try some new things,” said Unionville head coach Stephanie Smith. “It’s early in the season, and I don’t know what my (complete) set lineup is yet. We’re trying to mix things up and see what works. It’s a long season.”
Harper said, “I feel like we did really well today. I feel like we didn’t have any little valleys or lulls — we did what we needed to do, so we got to switch things up a little bit as well, put in (less experienced) players and run different plays.”
In the opening set Tuesday, Henderson (3-3), who features a fine all-around player in junior Olivia Sladicka, battled the Longhorns evenly through the first third of the match, then the visitors went on a 12-3 run (punctuated by kills from Miller and Geiger) en route to a 25-12 win.
In the second set, the visiting Longhorns earned a small lead and gradually built on it throughout, getting contributions from a variety of players all the way to a 25-15 victory.
In the third and final set, Unionville used an early 9-1 run, highlighted by some strong Longhorn serves, to roll to a 25-16 win.
In addition to its 3-0 record, Unionville competed in a tournament at Freedom High School Sept. 2, and defeated all its foes (including Upper Merion and Pennsbury, both of whom are ranked in the top 20 in the current District 1 rankings) by a 2-0 score.
“I give Unionville a ton of credit,” said Henderson coach Greta Neff. “They are a very experienced team that plays very well; through six rotations, they have very few weaknesses. I thought our kids showed some character and hung in there a little bit and fought until the final whistle; I’m always proud of them for that. They (Unionville) didn’t lose too much from last year, and I expect them to be right back in that (championship contending) mix. Steph does a great job with them, and they buy in and they play hard.”
The Warriors have faced a tough schedule during the past week, including a close, back-and-forth 3-2 loss against Bishop Shanahan (currently ranked third) last Thursday.
“We haven’t had an easy schedule the past week, but hopefully that causes us to find out a little about ourselves, and we can use it to get better,” said Neff.
Last Thursday, following the close battle with Shanahan, Neff reflected on her team’s spirit: “Each of our players had a number of bright moments tonight and showed some resiliency. We’re only 5-foot-5 across the net in most rotations, but we move our feet and play defense and the kids believe and you can’t discount that. We may not have physical size but we’ve got big hearts.”
