Pennsbury tops Pennridge in state volleyball semis

Sure, when Pennridge and Pennsbury met a week ago in the District One final it was without Falcons' 6-foot-7-inch middle hitter Jim Zaluski, who was nursing an ankle injury.

Even in Saturday's rematch in a PIAA Class 3A boys volleyball semifinal at Penn State, Zaluski's impact wasn't reflected in stats. At that height, he's in your head before every swing, Pennridge's Austin Jacoby said.

But one blocking threat wasn't the only difference between the matches. More was at stake Saturday than seeding.

''They knew that this was win or go home, and they wanted it that much more,'' the senior outside hitter Jacoby said. ''Don't get me wrong, they wanted it a lot in the district final, but they knew [Saturday] that if they lost that was it, so they just gave it their all.''

Pennsbury's effort resulted in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 26-24, 25-20) of Pennridge before it fell to State College 3-1 in the state final.

Pennridge, who defeated Pennsbury in four games May 28 in the District One final, committed too many hitting errors, allowing the Falcons to string together points and forcing the Rams to play catch-up most of the match.

That was never going to be easy with Pennsbury's Joe Yasalonis always on the court. The 6-foot-8-inch senior opposite hitter finished with 21 kills on a .364 hitting percentage.

Pennridge's common five- and six-point deficits in the first and third games were too much to overcome playing to just 25 points. Rams coach Dave Childs said Pennsbury has too many offensive weapons that keep opponents from going on scoring runs.

But the second set was there for the taking. Leading 24-23, Pennridge did not communicate on a possession, resulting in the third ball dropping between two players. The game ended on a Jacoby hitting error.

Jacoby said a win in any game would've boosted confidence the rest of the match.

''We played with them. We hit with them. We blocked with them. But when we made an error, they keyed on it and they went on more runs than we did.''

On the whole, Pennridge'S 2010 season is a memory the Rams won't be ashamed of, even if their final match stings.

''I don't think it's set in,'' Jacoby said. ''I'll look back at the end of June, early July when I'm in the middle of summer and I can say, 'Hey, we were one of the best four teams in the whole state of Pennsylvania, one of the best volleyball states in the country. And we were one of the best four teams, and we beat the No. 1 team in the state. We beat a team in the finals.''

In 2A action, Northeastern captured state gold with a 3-1 win against Meadville, who knocked out defending champ Ambridge in four games in the semis. Northeastern defeated Eastern York in four games to advance to the final.

Also, State College bounced North Allegheny in three sets in their semifinal match.

Pennsbury def. Pennridge 25-19, 26-24, 25-20

Pennsbury: Joe Yasalonis 21 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace, Dom Tricoche 9 kills, 11 digs, Jeremy Rhoads 6 kills, 12 digs Ryan Burns 43 assists, Mike Mamzic 9 digs, Chris Evans 2 aces, Adam Flick 3 blocks, Jim Zaluski 2 blocks. Pennridge: Zech States 15 kills, 6 blocks, Austin Jacoby 13 kills, 14 digs, Erik Moyer 7 kills, 4 blocks, Mike Shenk 5 blocks, Jake Braun 12 digs, Will Jager 30 assists.

From The Morning Call