Meadville gets by Saegertown to claim third-straight title
· Yahoo Sports
COCHRANTON — Cochranton’s Bird Cage was full of heat and full of fans for the Class 2A boys volleyball championship on Wednesday. It was the third-straight meeting between Meadville and Saegertown in the championship. The Panthers could not flip the script and fell to Meadville in four sets (25-10, 21-25, 25-14, 25-17). The Bulldogs captured their third-straight Class 2A title.
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“We don’t want to take it for granted, because I told the team, it’s a tough thing to come in and win a district championship,” Meadville head coach Nick Bancroft. “There’s been a lot of teams that have been in this position and haven’t won.”
The match could not have started much better for the Bulldogs. Meadville ran out to a 11-3 lead, before Saegertown’s Xander Brauen got a kill and a block, assisted by Nicholas Peters, to bring Saegertown to a 11-5 deficit.
The Panthers then got to within four points of the Bulldogs on a kill from Josh Weaver, who recorded eight total.
After Weaver’s kill, Meadville’s Tymir Phillips hit down a kill that propelled the Bulldogs to 12 out of the next 14 points to win the set 25-10.
Coming into the game, Saegertown had not managed to win a set in two games against Meadville. Facing that scenario again, the Panthers responded.
The teams went back-and-fourth, trading points in exciting rallies. Meadville grabbed the 15-14 lead, before Saegertown took the momentum.
Weaver got a huge block for the Panthers, which set off a chain reaction. On the next rally, Jackson Scott got a block of his own, before Mason Allio hit down one of his seven kills to take the 17-15 lead.
With the lead, Saegertown never looked back and the Panthers closed out the set 25-21.
“That second set is probably the best set we’ve played collectively as a group,” Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson said. “Not just because of who we beat, I just thought we looked great and played great defense. So, I was real happy with that. We battled all night, so I was happy with everything.”
After dropping a close set to the Bulldogs, the team got in a reset before shades of the past could catch up to them.
“When we were freshman we were in this same gym, same locker room and we played Mercyhurst Prep, [we] lost in five. Just coming here and then losing that set, we realized what we were fighting for. We knew what our goal was at the end of the year,” Meadville senior Luc Soerensen said. “We just locked in and finished those two sets out.”
“[We] hit the reset button,” Bancroft said. “They’re a great team and they didn’t lay down at all. Volleyball is all about momentum and we just had to get rid of the errors early on in the game and get back to playing good volleyball.”
Meadville came out swinging in the third set. Phillips blasted down another of his nine kills to start and the Bulldogs ran out to a 8-3 lead.
Phillips continued to shine in the third set. As the Panthers pulled themselves back into the set, Phillips was there for the Bulldogs. Phillips added a block, a kill and finally the set winning kill.
“I knew we just needed to stay consistent. We had to keep the momentum in our favor and I just needed to stay uplifted, even though I was making errors,” Phillips said. “On game set, I’m looking for the kill. I’m looking to see what’s open and I’m telling them to set me and I got the kill.”
The final set saw the Bulldogs grab another sizable lead, before a Panthers timeout got them going again.
With the 9-6 lead, Meadville’s Soerensen got two blocks and one of his team-leading 15 kills, to bring Meadville’s lead to 16-6.
With the 10-point lead the Bulldogs never looked back. The Panthers clawed back near the end of the set to make it 24-17, but it was too little too late.
Meadville claimed the Class 2A title for the third straight year, to cap off the team’s nine seniors District 10 careers.
“It feels especially special this year. Coming down here with all nine of our seniors, so this one feels extra special to win it with those guys,” Soerensen said.
“Considering it’s my senior year, you never know when it’s going to be your last game, so to go and pick this one up, it felt great,” Phillips said.
On the other side, it was the final game for Saegertown’s Mason Allio, Josh Weaver, Ross Triola, Ryder Bailey, Westin Baker and Xander Brauen.
“I think that [the seniors] showed a lot of heart and desire and worked hard,” Johnson said. “That’s what people don’t understand. Anytime I opened the gym that core six of seniors, they were there. That’s why they made themselves into better players, not just good players, but great players. That was through all their own hard work.”
Meadville moves on to the PIAA State Tournament on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will face Seton LaSalle in the first round.
“We have to come in with a blank slate,” Bancroft said. “We have to come and play. Eliminate the errors, don’t be too big for the moment and just do our jobs.”
“We have to work on our momentum in practice. Keep grinding, stay humble and stay disciplined,” Phillips said.
The PIAA has not announced a location, or time for the game.