Girls volleyball: Penncrest earns narrow league victory over Ridley

Maybe you’d have to ask each player to know for sure, but somebody must have been tired following the completion of last Thursday evening’s Central League volleyball match between the visiting Penncrest Lions and the host Ridley Green Raiders.

Come to think of it, the coaches and spectators probably were a little bit wrung out as well.

That is because the Lions and Raiders waged a duel to the hilt – a five set match in which neither side could gain controlling momentum.

But there had to be a winner and a loser, and Penncrest was happy to ultimately depart the premises with the decision in hand (25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 20-24, 15-8).

The triumph enabled Penncrest to stay close on the heels of Garnet Valley and Strath Haven in the upper strata of the Central standings.

Although the visitors had entered the contest with the superior record, past experience had led head coach Jen Shrader and her players to expect that nothing would come easy on this occasion.

“We know that Ridley is a very scrappy team,” Shrader said. “They are especially good on defense.”

“It’s always a great match when we play them,” libero Bridgette Devlin agreed.

That it turned out to be, but in the early going it seemed as though the favored Lions might be ready to seize firm command of the proceedings.

Fueled by the powerful deliveries of outside hitter Dianna Balta, Penncrest roared to a 16-9 lead in the first set.

But that is when Ridley’s girls served notice that they had made plans for a long evening.

Spurred by some fine play on the part of outside hitter Amy Staiber, the home team closed the gap to 23-22 in the waning moments.

But middle hitter Michael Ann Henne scored at the net for the Lions, and the final volley ended with a Ridley hit sailing out of bounds.

Speaking of defense, Penncrest might not have been able to hold on without the numerous, tough digs supplied by Devlin.

“It was a great defensive effort by Bridgette (43 total digs for the match) all night long,” Shrader pointed out.

Undaunted by the loss, Ridley grabbed a 17-7 advantage in the second set, and withstood a Penncrest rally which brought the Lions as close as 19-15.

Slams early in the set by outside hitter Samantha Schreiber set the tone for Ridley’s win.

For a time in the third set, Ridley seemed to be on the way to gaining back to back wins.

Schreiber was still playing in strong fashion at the net, and middle hitter Molly Murtha joined her to give the Raiders a formidable duo up front as the home team went up by a 10-5 count.

But with Balta once again playing a key role, Penncrest responded in the middle portion of the set, going on an eight point run to take the lead at 18-15.

Thanks in part to some fine defensive work by Balta and Emily Hopkins, the Lions were able to maintain that edge to the finish.

The fourth set was arguably the most exciting of the night.

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