Council Rock North visited CR South last week and instead of a battle, it was a get-together of sorts.
Sure, a varsity volleyball match took place between two opponents, but in this case, the rivals were all friends.
“It’s always a good rival match. These (CR North) kids are their friends, they all know each other,” explained CR South head coach Jacki Curci, who also happens to be the boys club director at TNT Volleyball in North Wales. “It all comes full circle. Half the kids on (North’s) team play for our club and it’s just great to see everybody out there.”
Playing TNT club volleyball for North are outside hitters Keertan Palayam and Gavin Kohler along with junior setter Devan Tiankee. CR South’s TNT players include Jacob Kramer and Adam Kirk.
Both Aaron Knotts, an assistant for the Golden Hawks, and Larry Tiankee, North’s first-year head coach, instruct boys volleyball teams at TNT.
While both sides entered the March 23 matchup winless on the season, the Indians hadn’t won a set facing its first three foes. Rock North quickly rectified that, shutting out sister school South 3-0 starting with a 25-8 triumph in the first game between the sides.
After taking on three opponents including District One Class 2A champion Christopher Dock in the first three days of the season, Tiankee says his team has had limited time to practice.
“We hope to come out strong in the next couple weeks when our schedule opens up a little more to allow us to actually practice,” explained Tiankee. “We have some really great players this year; it’s just a matter of the team coming together. And we need practice to get us there.”
Led by Palayam and Hunter Klein along with Devan Tiankee, North obtained its first triumph in grand style. The efforts of Kohler, who was playing a new position in the middle, helped a great deal, according to Devan.
“Gavin Kohler definitely stepped up; he was playing his first game as a middle and right off the bat, he picked up a lot of plays and really excelled,” said Devan Tiankee. “As the setter, I was able to run a lot of plays with him and he picked it up pretty quickly.”
The Indians jumped put to an early 9-2 edge in the first set after a touch over the net by Palayam. A kill by Devan Tiankee put North up 12-3 and another by Palayam put the Indians up 16-4. Marty Ford tallied a few more points for South but North went on to a lopsided 25-8 victory in the first set, which was closed out by a kill by from Kohler.
While each set was won by the Indians, as the games progressed, the gaps would narrow and the volley for each point would grow more fierce.
“That’s just us getting more comfortable on the court,” explained Curci. “Most of our kids are new. We have a few kids that are returning but (it’s) just everyone getting comfortable with each other.”
South started off the second set with a pair of hitting errors and quickly fell into a 6-2 hole after an ace by Palayam. However, junior Ethan Harding, a third-year varsity player for the Hawks, put a nice touch on a ball over the net and suddenly South was back within two points at 8-6.
A little further in, a block by Klein put the Indians up 15-10 and North extended that edge to 17-10. But that was before a hitting error by the Indians and three consecutive aces by South sophomore Joey Bowman drew the Hawks back within three at 17-14.
North closed out a 25-17 victory in the second set, however, with an 8-3 run sparked by a block by Kohler and a kill by Palayam.
In game three, South got out to a 5-1 edge after Harding combined with senior captain Joe Rankel on a dramatic block at the net. However, a kill by Kohler tied the third set at 6-all and the Indians actually went ahead 18-12 after another kill by Palayam.
North managed to keep the Hawks at bay the rest of the way in an eventual 25-23 triumph.
The Indians are coming off a season in which they made it into the District One 3A semifinals, just missing out on a berth in states after a narrow 3-2 victory by Upper Dublin in a playback matchup.
But North entered the current campaign without the services of graduates Dylan Van Schaick, last year’s setter, Nick Sirincione, the libero, and Brady Klein, who was named first team All-Suburban One League National at outside hitter.
While North went 10-4 and finished third in the SOL National last year, the Hawks managed just a pair of league wins in 2022. Along with Kramer, South returns Harding and Rankel as third-year varsity players.
In the duel with North, Harding came through with eight kills, a block and three digs while Rankel added a pair of kills. Alan Mikviman, who just started playing volleyball this season, added a kill and a pair of aces. Senior middle Ford chipped in with two kills and three blocks.
Bowman did his part with three aces, a dig and three assists. Junior defensive specialist Chris Fyke contributed a block and 11 assists.
Junior libero Alan Smagulov contributed three digs and Kramer and Tommy Fabrizio had a dig apiece. Junior rightside Stephen Rankel came through with a kill and a block.
For North, Palayam led the Indians with 16 kills and four aces while Klein and Kohler chipped in with five kills apiece. Devan Tiankee led North with 28 assists and he also blocked a shot. Kohler led with four aces and two blocks and Apurva Patel also had a block.
CR North blanked Pioneer Athletic Conference rival Spring-Ford 3-0 on March 24 then dropped a close 3-2 match with SOL National foe Neshaminy 3-2 on March 28. Ahead 2-1, the Indians lost the last two sets and fell to 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the SOL. CR South was swept by both Pennsbury and Bensalem, dropping the Hawks to 0-5 overall.
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