Volleyball: Five-game toughness delivers Garnet Valley a state championship

By Eric Millinder
For Digital First Media

JOHNSTOWN >> In a fantastic display of tenacity and talent, the Garnet Valley Jaguars rallied from down a game to win its first PIAA Class 4A volleyball championship, 3-2, over Parkland Saturday at Richland High School. On paper, it did not look like the Jaguars had much hope against Parkland, the two-time reigning state champions. But on the court, Garnet Valley made the victory look like anything but an upset.

“We came in here thinking that, if we played our best, we could definitely beat them,” Garnet Valley setter Gabby Davis said. “We really played our hearts out. We just kept pushing and pushing and played the best we could. We worked so hard to get here. I think the reason we won is because we just wanted it so badly.”

Davis, a senior, led her squad with 48 assists and chipped in nine digs. Nicole Loan tallied 14 kills and four blocks. The Jaguars again did their damage defensively. Lizzie Herestofa came up with 42 digs, joined in double figures by Sydney Portale (15), Amber Goldberg (13), Cassidy Gallagher (12) and Meagan Scott (11). Jaguars coach Mark Clark thought the tough road his team took to the final helped it rally to win games four and five.

“The last two matches, we went five,” Clark said. “Against Baldwin, we were down 0-2 and came back to win 3-2. The other night (against State College), it was 2-2 and we won game five. The game five experience definitely helped us.

“My girls really stuck together.” Garnet Valley set the tone with a win in the opening set. The Jaguars won eight of the first 11 points with kills from Erin Patterson, Julianne Hurley, Portale, Loan, and Gallagher.

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