TOWAMENCIN – Surrounded by the chants and cheers of an exuberant crowd, the North Penn girls’ volleyball team just missed a victory over non-conference competitor Christopher Dock in what turned into a nail-biter of a match.
Playing strong offensively, Dock claimed swift victories in the first two games with 25 points over North Penn’s 22 in both. The Pioneers slipped backward in the following two, allowing the Maidens to tie up the match with two victories at 25-14 and 25-15. With the outcome determined solely by the final game, both teams scored in quick back-and-forth succession with neither exceeding a three-point lead. After a passionate battle on both sides of the court, the Pioneers just edged the Maidens 15-13.
North Penn coach Bryan Yost was quick to point out that the close defeat will not dampen the girls’ spirits too heavily. “[This match] will, if anything, boost our confidence; we played hard tonight. The girls played to win; they lost doing the right things. There was nothing wrong with that loss.”
Leading the Maidens’ strong defensive game was senior Lauren Ostopowicz, who played Libero for much of the match. “They gave us second, third chances the whole match,” said Yost of his team’s defense. “They kept us in every game.” Meanwhile, junior Amy Pastuszak headed the team’s offense, keeping Dock’s defense on their toes throughout the match.
Christopher Dock proved formidable adversaries, however, with senior setter Kayla Dean and sophomore Lenae Hunsberger leading the offense.
“We started off thinking it would be easy competition, and then after we lost the first two [games], we realized it wasn’t going to be that easy,” stated junior Hannah Edgar. “We just came together as a team and fought back. Even though we lost, we played our best game of the season.”
Communication played a pivotal role in the match as well. Pastuszak noted, “We [need to] focus working on our talking and just our overall energy. We were pretty slow and down, but when we started talking we got up and really killed it.”
Coach Yost added that the team’s chemistry has been “up and down – a rollercoaster. But right now, it’s probably as strong as it’s been all season.”
The Maidens hope to improve their communication and sharpen up their offensive transitions before Monday night’s annual Dig Pink match against Methacton, which raises money for breast cancer awareness.
“We’re going to work on it, and we’re going to take this as a learning experience, because this was a game that we really thought we would win,” concluded Pastuszak. “This was kind of a hard loss, but we fought hard.”