Volleyball: Garnet Valley on the road again with state final berth at stake

CONCORD >> After setting up the nets and making sure there were plenty of balls for practice Monday, Garnet Valley volleyball coach Mark Clark sat down to take care of the most important matter of the day: Ordering lunch for Tuesday’s three-plus hour ride to State College High School to take on North Allegheny in the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs.

“I have to get this done,” Clark said.

And so before the Jaguars stretched or took one swing to prepare for their 5 p.m. match with the undefeated Tigers (22-0), Clark sat down in front of his computer and had each player line up in single file to place her order.

“I’m glad that’s out of the way,” Clark said.

Long bus rides have become a state playoff routine for the Jaguars (19-5), who are ranked sixth in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 4A top 10. That’s what happens when you finish fifth in District 1 two years in a row. Your team gets sent on the road. Garnet Valley logged roughly 1,100 miles during its run to the PIAA title a year ago. The team will approach the 750-mile mark when its 354-mile round trip ride to State College is over.

That’s a lot of hours spent on the road.

“The bus rides are fun,” said senior Erin Patterson, who is headed to Kutztown. “They’re long, but they’re a lot of fun.”

The Jaguars have a chance to make history if they can come out on top in their latest road trip. A win would make the Jags just the second team from District 1 to reach back-to-back state finals in the largest classification. Villa Maria Academy (1996 and 1997) is the only team to accomplish that feat.

And while others around the state may be surprised that Garnet Valley is in the final four again, the Jags aren’t. They were confident they could make another deep playoff run despite losing nine players off last year’s championship team.

“We’re fighters,” Patterson said. “We practice hard and we play hard.”

“After the season, Coach Greg (Wood) said, ‘This is not an anomaly. We can do this again next year,’” added senior libero Amber Goldberg, who has narrowed her college choice down to Neumann and Catholic University. “We thought we could, too.”

That confidence came from watching Rachel Cain, Sam Mann, Emma Rokosky, Ally Hartney, Alana Hagerty and Jordan Gallagher in practice. They were JV players last year, but went up against the varsity each day in practice. All of them made the bus rides so they were part of the championship run.

“Being part of that whole experience inspired them,” Clark said. “Playing against that team helped them become better players and being on the bus and at the games pushed them a little bit to make their own mark and they have.”

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