Seen here winding up for a serve, SCH freshman Jaia Wingard is already an impact player in varsity volleyball. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy notched its second straight win in volleyball last Monday, overcoming the visiting Sentinels of Little Flower Catholic High School, 3-1.

The Blue Devils were playing in the school's middle school gym since the floor of their regular courts in the Vare Field House is being replaced. After they saw the Sentinels come from behind to win an extended opening set, 28-26, SCH regrouped and captured the next three rounds, 25-11, 25-8, 25-23.

On the road three days earlier, the Blue Devils knocked off Interboro High School, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15. With the Little Flower win, Springside Chestnut Hill improved to 3-7 overall.

First-year head coach Randy Syracuse, a veteran club volleyball coach, pointed out that many of the players on his SCH squad are either young or otherwise relatively inexperienced.

"We need to establish a little bit of confidence with this group," he said, "and I think the win against Interboro the other day and now this one will help a lot. The team is playing better as a unit, and now that I've gotten to know the girls we've settled in on a line-up that seems to get a lot of people involved."

The team's first victory this season came at the start of the schedule in a match with Central High School. Now, the Blue Devils' new mentor would like to secure a win in the league. In the Inter-Ac SCH is 0-4, but three of those encounters came against defending league champion Germantown Academy and 2015 Pa. Independent Schools champ Academy of Notre Dame.

In last Monday's non-league bout, visiting Little Flower put up the first two points of the afternoon, but SCH then reeled off seven straight to force a time-out by the Sentinels. After the hosts also scored the next two points for a 9-2 advantage, the visitors seized the initiative.

After a few minutes, the set was tied 10-10, and it stayed close the rest of the way, with the teams locked up at 23-all later on. From there, Little Flower served for two match points and the Blue Devils served for one before the Sentinels got it done the third time, winning 28-26.

"We're having problems closing out sets at times," Coach Syracuse explained. "It comes down to a little bit of focus and to not understanding the importance of the point at a given time. They need to understand that you may have a five-point lead, but a missed serve or something like that can lead to numerous other points for the opponent. Volleyball is a game of momentum shifts like no other."

Annoyed by their loss in the opening set, the Blue Devils once more took an early lead as the second round got underway, and this time they never let Little Flower back in it. The Sentinels called a time-out and then scored one point to make it 4-7, then SCH got the side-out with a kill from the middle by Katie Suplick. Now a senior, Suplick is playing with greater authority and skill than in the past.

"Against Interboro," Syracuse related, "she went back and served 12 points in a row when we were down 12-6 in the second set. She made some good plays on defense, too."

After the side-out made it 8-4, it was freshman Julia Hannigan who rotated to the baseline and served for six straight SCH points, with most of them coming on forced and unforced Little Flower errors. Suplick had one kill during this stretch, and then another one as the tally rose to 18-5.

Later, at 22-9, the Sentinels squeezed out two more points. They sent their next serve into the net and made two more errors as the Blue Devils won, 25-11.

The host team won the third set even more convincingly. Early in the match, SCH freshman starter Jaia Wingard had cranked out some hits that were a little too hard and flat, sending the ball out of bounds in the back. As the match progressed, she adjusted the timing and trajectory on her kill attempts, giving the Blue Devils a boost on offense.

"We've got Jaia setting some, and it seems like when she sets well, she hits well, too," Syracuse said. "She's an all-around player who can perform well in many aspects of the game."

The Sentinels scored the first point of the third round, and a little later the Blue Devils had edged out to a modest 4-2 lead. Senior Catie McDermott had served for three of the early SCH points, and after her classmate Alivia Villari scored on a tip, the Blue Devils' second service stint began.

The young Wingard put the ball in play for 11 straight points, and along the way she aimed an ace along the left sideline. Now down 16-2, the Sentinels seemed to provide only token resistance, and before long Springside Chestnut Hill led 23-8 after it secured the last side-out it would need. Junior Kayla McTamney's first serve was hit back into the net by the visitors, who also mishandled the senior's second attempt to end the set at 25-8.

The Sentinels would not bow out of the match meekly, though, coming back in the fourth set with renewed vigor and determination. Little Flower led a number of times, but never by more than three points as the score eventually reached 23-22, representing the last lead for the visitors.

The Sentinels hit the ball long to give the serve back to the Blue Devils, and Wingard stepped to the line. A kill by junior Rachel Kazlauskas brought up match point at 24-23, and after Little Flower returned serve SCH's McTamney delivered the ball to Suplick for a hit.

It was not a kill shot and Little Flower kept the ball in play, but the Sentinels' second touch sent the ball up in the air and back near their baseline. The visitors needed a strong pass to get the ball back across the net, but their effort fell short and the Blue Devils inked in the "W" on their season record.