Maddie Wood sets Garnet Valley on right track to PIAA volleyball final

UPPER DUBLIN – The first set of the PIAA Class 4A volleyball semifinal was over Tuesday, and for Garnet Valley High it would have to serve as a decision point.

That’s when Maddie Wood took command. As she had done all through what continues as a remarkable season, the senior setter and reigning Daily Times All-Delco Player of the Year called her teammates together for perspective.

The message: Cherish the moment.

“I said, ‘This is how it supposed to be at this level,’” Wood said. “’It’s a dogfight and we have to fight harder.’”

Her point: Though Garnet Valley was down early to an unbeaten Parkland team that had lost just one set all season, there was still a full night of volleyball to embrace. With that nudge, the Jaguars won the next three sets and a trip to Cumberland Valley High for the state championship game Saturday evening at 6.

With Wood everyplace at neutral site Upper Dublin, the Jags improved to 24-1 with a 3-1 victory. After dropping that first set, 25-21, they swept the rest, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-20, dominating at the net and never allowing the top-seeded Trojans to sustain momentum.

Garnet Valley will face five-time defending state champion North Allegheny – a 3-1 victor over Pine-Richland Tuesday – in the state final.

Wood knows the Jags will be ready.

“I know this team is hungry and they’re excited,” Wood said. “We didn’t come this far to only go this far. We’re not done yet.”

That refusal to settle was clear against Parkland, which won five of the final six points to take that 1-0 lead. But after Wood’s calming talk, the Jags jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second set to establish the tone for the rest of the evening.

“That happens every game,” said Jags coach Mark Clark. “I go and write my lineup and then I come in and I huddle with the girls. But she huddles with them first. I don’t even know what she said, but whatever it was, it worked.”

With that pep talk came the responsibility to set an on-court example. That, Wood did by finishing the night with 48 assists, plenty of the big-moment variety.

“She played great,” Clark said. “She betters the ball every time. Her setting is unbelievable. Top tier.”

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