It seems that whenever two teams from Central Bucks compete against each other, the result is an instant classic.
Tuesday night’s girls volleyball matchup between host CB East and CB South fit the bill.
The Titans prevailed, 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 26-24, 25-21) in a contest that was hard fought by both programs.
“We were ready to go,” said CB South junior Lauren Marsland, an outside hitter. “We’ve been looking forward to playing them and to come here and beat them at their place was something we wanted very badly. This was a huge win for us.
“They would get the momentum and we all just tried to keep each other up. Once we got points from kills that lifted everyone up and we started to get the momentum back. Everyone was working well together, and this gives us a lot of confidence. I can see us going to playoffs. That’s our biggest goal this year, and everyone is working really hard so I can definitely see us going there.”
Marsland had 11 kills and five digs for the match.
Fellow junior Pola Sawicka, the center, gave a shoutout to her teammates.
“We do have a bunch of seniors on our team so we have a lot of experience, but our libero, Olivia Hessenthaler, is a freshman, so this was a big change for us,” she said. “We’re not used to having someone so young be such a big part of the team so props to her for that.
“I feel good about our team this year and I’m excited to see what we can do, but I’m also sad to think that at the end we’ll be losing our seniors. We’ll be a completely different team next year without them. They’re all great leaders and I’m hoping that next year I’ll be as good a leader as they are.”
The Titans fell behind in every game but rallied to win all except the second one.
“I felt that this was a real back-and-forth match and when we were down, we just tried to keep our heads up and think positive,” Sawicka said. “That’s mostly what gets us out of those big holes that we dig for ourselves.
“That’s something we need to work on, especially as the season goes on. We have to stop giving up big leads and then trying to come back. We can’t let that become an ongoing problem.”
Also for CB South, Madison Zagnojny had six kills and four digs, Hessenthaler contributed 15 digs and three aces, Carly Scott had 15 assists, five digs, three aces and two kills, Ally Schiesser picked up six kills and three digs, Julia Lucci chipped in eight digs, one kill and one ace and Lane McLaughlin ended the match with seven kills, six blocks and two digs.
The Titans are back in SOL Continental action on Thursday, traveling to Quakertown.
The Patriots (1-6, 1-8) are the two-time defending SOL Continental champions.
“We were really looking forward to this one,” said CB East’s Mia Mettille, a junior setter. “We were really excited. We beat them earlier in the year (3-2 on Aug. 31) so I think we came into it with that in our heads, but the first match humbled us a little bit.
“In the second set we really had a lot of momentum which we continued to build up, but then we lost it. It went back and forth. We’d get a lead but we couldn’t hang onto it, and I think that was a lesson for us. When we do get the serve, we have to protect it at all costs because you never know when you’re going to get it back again.
“We need to play as a team and play our best no matter who is on the other side of the court. If we leave it all out there, we’ll be all right.
“We have a very young team compared to the last two years. We had a lot of seniors last year so we lost a lot of experienced players and a lot of the girls on this team haven’t played together before, but I don’t think that will be a problem as time goes by.”
Mettille had a fine all-around match, ending the evening with 27 assists, three kills, three aces, three digs and two blocks. Her sister, Chloe, plays volleyball for Chestnut Hill College.
CB East’s attack was led by Catie Tomlinson, with 10 kills, eight digs and one ace, Sophia Schwartz had eight kills and Regina Mathur contributed seven digs, four kills and an ace. On defense, Arya Haridas was the anchor with 17 digs and two aces, while Abi Zmuda added six digs and two aces. Three freshmen made meaningful contributions, as Ali Minacci had six kills, three blocks and two digs, Summer Darling made five kills and had a dig and Brynne Vonder Schmalz pitched in with three aces and a dig for the Patriots.
CB East travels to Souderton for an SOL Continental contest on Thursday.
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