Meadville rallies to beat York Suburban for state title
· Yahoo Sports
STATE COLLEGE — The Meadville boys volleyball team is back on top. The Bulldogs took down York Suburban in four sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-20) to win the Class 2A championship Saturday.
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“They pushed us to the limits,” head coach Nick Bancroft said. “We responded after set one. We’re just very grateful and happy for this opportunity.”
The first set was difficult for the Bulldogs, as the team never led.
The Bulldogs were making bad errors throughout the first set, particularly before Bancroft called a timeout down 12-7. The Bulldogs seemed not to be on the same page, letting balls fall and not communicating their plays correctly.
Meadville cleaned up a bit after the timeout, but York Suburban kept rolling. The Trojans built up a 19-13 lead.
Down six points, Meadville began to put the pressure on York Suburban. Luc Soerensen scored a kill before Zach Carr recorded an ace to bring it to 19-15.
Meadville kept inching closer to York Suburban. Another kill from Soerensen, who had 25 in the game, a kill from Parker Gosnell, and a tip off a desperation play from Max Decker, forced the Trojans to call a timeout up 24-21.
The timeout calmed the Trojans down enough to end the set on the next serve.
Despite losing the set, Meadville had swung momentum to its side. And the Bulldogs with momentum is a dangerous thing.
“Getting that momentum led us to winning the next three sets,” Gosnell said.
During the intermission between the sets, Bancroft reset his team and got them looking like their normal selves.
“There’s a lot of volleyball left,” Bancrot said. “We have to win three sets.
“One wasn’t on our card today.,” he continued. “Forget about it, move on. We had way too many errors in that first set. Some silly things, and you can’t do that in a state championship.”
After trading points to a 2-2 tie, Carr came up to serve and helped Meadville to a 6-2 lead.
The Bulldogs continued rolling to a 10-4 lead, but the Trojans began to mount a comeback.
The 10-4 lead was slowly chipped away, en route to the Bulldogs being up 20-18 late in the set.
Up only two, Gosnell scored a kill that forced the Trojans to call a timeout.
The timeout did not save York Suburban this time, as Meadville closed out the set 25-21.
Set three saw the Bulldogs continue to build back up to the powerhouse they had been all season.
The set was back and forth again, but as the match went on, Meadville’s defense began to rise to the occasion.
“At the end of the day, defense is a grind fest,” Landon Carter said.
“You have to outwork the other side. And I really try to get on myself and the other guys that we have to keep working hard, no matter what dumb errors or silly plays happen. We have to stay mentally focused throughout the entire game and just keep pushing on through.”
The Bulldogs defense allowed the team to pull off a great three-play sequence. First, Tymir Phillips knocked down one of his 10 kills, then Soerensen floated a spike for a point, before Gosnell slammed down a kill, forcing a Trojan timeout.
After the timeout, Soerensen made sure York Suburban did not get back into the set. Soerensen added three more kills and an ace before Meadville took set three.
Needing one more set to win it all, Meadville came out slow in the fourth.
York Suburban took the 4-1 lead and continued to keep its lead through several rallies.
The Bulldogs finally took the lead at 9-8 and built up a 12-8 lead before the Trojans called a timeout.
The timeout reset the score back to neither team being able to hold a lead.
Gosnell scored a kill that gave Meadville its first multi-point lead since going up 12-8. Gosnell’s 20-18 tally gave the Bulldogs the final push to hold on to the lead.
Phillips added a kill and a block to set the Bulldogs up at 24-20. On the next serve, Soerensen patted it over the net from the back row, and York Suburban could not get it back over, and the Bulldog celebration began.
“It feels great to win a state championship anywhere, but I’m playing here next year, so it’s a little extra special,” Soerensen said.
After falling in the title game last season, the team was in total jubilation. The seniors, who had worked so hard to make up for last year’s loss, were the most ecstatic of all.
“Feels great, of course,” Phillips said.
“There was one picture last year where we had [more than a frown]. So, we knew that we wanted to come out and win, of course. And to do it with my family, it felt good.”
The seniors now leave a legacy of success for the program, which they hope the underclassmen will carry on.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Tate Walker said. “I think for the underclassmen to see all of us, we celebrate together, we lose together, and we talk together. I hope that they learn that, that’s what this sport is.”
The championship win was the final game for seniors, Landon Carter, Phillips, Soerensen, Walker, Brennan Decker, Gosnell, Evan Peterson and Carr.