Freshman Natalie Schildt's height is manifested in the horizontal plane as she digs out a ball for Germantown Academy. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

In their last volleyball match before the start of Inter-Ac League play, the Germantown Academy Patriots hosted another team with a 3-0 record, Archbishop Wood. The Vikings are customarily a solid program; in 2015 they won the PIAA District XII championship and reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

When last Thursday's bout was over it was GA which had kept its loss column clean, winning 3-0. Germantown had also beaten St. Basil Academy, Lawrenceville and George School in straight sets, but despite the similar score at the end, the battle with Wood was a hard-fought affair, 25-19, 27-25 and 25-22.

"It was three sets, but it felt like five or six," commented GA head coach Dan Sullivan. "Heading into the league season we look for good competition, and Archbishop Wood doesn't disappoint in that department. I thought today our serve/receive went extremely well, and our blocking was right on point. Our timing had been off, but starting with the last couple practices our blocks have been great."

In the opening set, GA led 3-1 early, then fell behind the visitors, 5-7. The Patriots put together a 5-0 run that included a kill and a scoring block by senior Gina Porter and kills by senior Jenna Schumann and freshman Natalie Schildt. Wood rallied once more, and later the Vikings were one point behind when they sent a serve into the net. With the side-out, GA now led 19-17, and a kill directly into the right rear corner by Schumann got the hosts to 20.

During the next few exchanges, Wood added one point and the Patriots picked up three. GA then gave a side-out to the Vikings by sending a serve into the net, but the Pats got the ball back on a tip by sophomore Caitlyn Priore that brought up set point. In the middle of the front row, Porter delivered the coup de grace for a 25-19 GA win.

GA senior Alison Weber punishes the ball with a kill swing. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

From a 6-6 tie in the opening stage of set two, Germantown went up by four points several times. The Vikings rallied back within one at 18-17, and the two clubs went neck-and-neck the rest of the way.

Set point came up for GA at 24-22, then a Wood kill and a Patriot error created a 24-24 tie. Left outside Alison Weber hit for a point, then the host team slipped back into a tie after bopping the ball up into the ceiling.

A cross-court kill by Schumann brought up another game point for the Pats. Still on the left side, Schumann homed in on a ball dropping down toward the net tape and executed the closest thing in volleyball to a slam dunk. Squeaking out the set 27-25, GA was now ahead 2-0 in the match score.

Overcoming a 1-4 shortfall at the outset of the third round, the Patriots rattled off seven straight points. Later, when GA went up 18-10, it looked like the Vikings were done for, but the home fans became a little anxious when Wood clawed back within four at 22-18. A kill by GA's Schildt broke the visitors' momentum, and after a Germantown error, Wood gave the ball right back through a muffed serve to bring up match point at 24-19.

The Patriots then served the ball into the net and committed two more errors. Now only ahead by two points (24-22), the Pats collected themselves and secured the last point when Wood tipped the ball out over the sideline for a 25-22 final.

Coach Sullivan is happy with the team's strong start to the season, especially in light of the fact that the GA program graduated some talented hitters and a libero from a year ago, and that the squad's primary setter from 2016 has still not fully recovered from knee surgery.

"What I've been pleased with most so far," he said, "is the versatility of our girls. We've had to move people around because of the players we lost. Caitlyn had never been a setter before, and she's picking it up very quickly."

Priore had a match-high 37 assists against Wood, and Schumann led the Patrots in kills, with 15. Schildt had a double-double in kills (11) and digs (13), while Weber wound up with six kills and junior libero Shannon Topley logged a dozen digs.