DENVER, Pa. — Tuesday was the happiest of birthdays for third-year Spring-Ford head volleyball coach George Fuller.
For the first time in program history, his team is bound for the state championship.
The Rams, who nearly missed out in qualifying for the PIAA-4A Tournament as the last team from District 1 into the field, are now one win away from winning the whole thing. It’s the most remarkable of runs, even for a school with so much rich and successful athletic history, and Tuesday’s 3-1 semifinal victory over District 3 runner-up Central Dauphin at Cocalico High School was yet another joyous occasion for a team that hardly anybody saw coming.
“It’s a fantastic run, and we still believe we have a lot of volleyball left in us,” Fuller said. “I sent my good college friend a text after we beat Parkland (in last weekend’s quarterfinals) and I said ‘I guess we can’t call these upsets anymore.’ We took the scenic route to get here, and because of that we don’t get intimidated in environments with a lot of spectators getting noisy on us. It’s helped us build character, and as a volleyball team we’ve established pretty darned good character.”
On Oct. 26 in the district quarterfinals, the Rams (20-8) held a 2-0 lead over league rival Upper Merion. Win one more set and Spring-Ford would clinch a berth in states — only it didn’t happen that way. The Vikings reverse-swept the Rams and sent them into playbacks, where Spring-Ford had to win two road matches at Downingtown East and Plymouth Whitemarsh to nab the fifth and final District One spot into the PIAA field.
Then, the Rams knocked off District 1 champion Unionville in five thrilling sets on the road to gain serious momentum before sweeping Parkland in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Spring-Ford fell into an 11-4 hole against Parkland in the first set, and earlier in the season this would have been a harbinger of bad things to come. However, the Rams flipped a switch in terms of having short memories on their mistakes, and they haven’t looked back since.
“We did some reflecting, and talked a lot about ‘next ball mentality,’” Fuller said. “They’re going to make mistakes, and we’ve talked about sticking to the game plan. It’s pretty basic stuff, but the kids really started to buy into it, and now they understand what it means. We have more composure and resiliency, and can chip away when we’re a little behind. They’re really starting to understand what it means to be a real program.”
On Tuesday, Spring-Ford and Central Dauphin (17-5) grappled through a tight first set before SF exerted control to win four straight points, flipping a tie score into a 17-13 advantage. Once this team smells blood in the water now, they shift into attack mode, and this current run of five straight wins has the Rams believing they can beat anybody who lines up against them.
Spring-Ford established a 20-14 lead in the second set before holding on to win before dropping the third set. The Rams got down early in set four but pushed through the adversity, winning five straight points at 11-11 to pull away for good.
“When we make mistakes now, we don’t let that affect us,” said senior Lauren Angelucci, who contributed 15 kills, 20 digs and two aces in the win. “As soon as we got into states, it was nice enough to be there, but in the back of my head I also knew we were not going to just roll over. I had so much faith that we were going to go far. We’re a great team that works really well together, and I just kind of knew we would get somewhere.”
Playing Upper Merion and Pope John Paul II three times each also thickened Spring-Ford’s resolve. Yes, the Rams went 0-6 against these two fantastic teams, but most of the matches were close and made the Spring-Ford players realize they weren’t far off from finding something special.
“Our confidence came from those losses to Upper Merion and PJP,” said junior Alanna Bricker, who posted 24 digs, two assists and three aces against Central Dauphin. “They were tight games that pushed us and made us all better. We all realized how much we wanted to win this and contribute on the court.”
Other Rams who produced strong performances on Tuesday night included junior Lila Olsen (14 kills, 16 digs, four blocks, one ace), sophomore Marley Angelucci (44 assists, 19 digs, three kills, three blocks) and freshman Elle Sossong (15 kills, 22 digs, one ace). Spring-Ford doesn’t have as deep a rotation as Upper Merion or PJP, but the girls who see the court all work together beautifully in unison.
“It’s a really good group of girls that has connections on and off the court,” Bricker said. “We all communicate and hype each other up. All of our efforts have helped us advance to this point. We all want to win the championship now that we’ve made it this far.”
Up next for the Rams will be a Saturday meeting with District 7 champion North Allegheny at 6 p.m. at Cumberland Valley High School. The Rams will certainly be the underdog again, as North Allegheny has lost only one match all season and made quick work of undefeated District 3 champion Hempfield in the quarterfinals. But, like Fuller said, how could any Rams win at this point be considered an upset with the confidence the team is playing with?
“Personally, it’s so amazing,” said Lauren Angelucci, the program’s all-time leader in kills. “I’m kind of speechless about it. This is my last season as a Spring-Ford volleyball player, so to make it this far is incredible, no matter what happens on Saturday.”
