It didn’t matter that Sacred Heart beat Faith Christian in the last two district title games. Or on Oct. 13.
“The first time we played Sacred Heart, we did not play well,” admitted Lions coach Michelle Lehman. “We made many errors in every area of our game. It was a mess on our side. We knew if we could clean up our side and play our game, we would play a lot better.”
The No. 1 Lions (20-2) course corrected, sweeping Sacred Heart 3-0 in the Class A District One last Thursday at Bensalem. It is believed to be Faith’s first district volleyball title since 2001. Faith earned its state bid when District 12’s Maritime Academy didn’t contest the subregional. The Lions will face the District Three champion on Nov. 7 in the opening round of states.
“We went into the final focusing on what we could do to win the match and on our strengths. We had played (Sacred Heart) in the past so we knew what things to look for and be ready for,” Lehman shared. “Our goal was to serve well and hit well. We did. All three of my hitters – my outside and right side – hit in the positives. Our serving was great.
“We had some team meetings about what we could do mentally and chemistry-wise to improve,” Lehman continued. “We looked at, not just skill wise, but other areas we could work on and clean up.”
No. 2 Council Rock South (19-2), the SOL National champions, will battle No. 1 Unionville on Thursday at Harriton High for the District One 4A volleyball championship. South beat No. 3 Haverford, whom they also beat on Sept. 14, 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13) in Monday’s semifinal. Edan Kauer’s 17 kills led South; she added 21 digs.
The Golden Hawks clinched a states berth on Saturday afternoon by topping No. 7 Bishop Shanahan 3-2 in the quarterfinal. Olivia De Saro paced the Golden Hawks with 14 kills, three blocks and an ace. Cadence Palmer contributed 26 digs.
Kauer had 11 kills and an ace while defensively, Ashlyn Dinan added 15 assists and 14 digs in South’s 3-1 win over No. 15 Methacton in last Thursday’s second-round victory.
No. 2 New Hope-Solebury (14-7) dispatched No. 1 MaST Charter 3-0 last Thursday, setting up a PIAA 2A Thursday qualifier with District 11 champion Notre Dame Green Pond.
No. 8 Solebury School (9-8, 7-7 PJAA) opened the Penn Jersey Athletic Association tournament first round on Monday with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-10) win over No. 9 Mercy. It marked the third time this year that Solebury had triumphed over its White divisional rival. Solebury faces No. 1 New Foundations in a Thursday quarterfinal.
Both SOL Continental co-champions, No. 14 Pennridge and No. 9 CB West, bowed out of the 4A playoffs in last Thursday’s quarterfinals. No. 3 Haverford defeated Pennridge (16-6) 3-2. No. 9 WC East beat CB West 3-1 (18-25, 11-25, 25-23, 21-25). Rachel Hu had 12 kills and 11 digs for the Bucks.
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