EAST ROCKHILL – Lauren Angelucci did not know the exact number of kills she needed to break Spring-Ford girls volleyball’s career record only that the senior was closing in.
“I wasn’t really counting too much but I had a general idea,” Angelucci said. “But I was asking my sister cause she was setting me over and over again which was like, that’s just kind of weird. I was like ‘Am I close?’ and she’s like “I’m not telling you.’ I had a roundabout idea.”
It eventually came in the fourth set of Thursday night’s District 1-4A second round match against host Pennridge, Angelucci putting down a kill to give Spring-ford a 10-8 lead and surpassing the previous program mark of 1,065 set by 2019 graduate Olivia Olsen.
“Getting to this milestone solidifies my confidence in myself,” said Angelucci, a University of Scranton commit. “And just makes me feel really good about all the effort I put in as a captain or just in general in volleyball so it really helps me with that.”
After Angelucci’s record kill, fifth-seeded Pennridge pulled twice to within a point – the last time at 11-10 – but as it had done in the third set to take a 2-1 match lead, No. 12 Spring-Ford grabbed control with a lengthy run, winning 11 of the next 13 points to push its advantage to 22-12.
Pennridge rallied to cut the margin in half but could not deny Spring-Ford the upset win, the battle of the Rams going to the Pioneer Athletic Conference squad in four sets 22-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-18.
“I think today, especially, we were really connected as a team, everything kind of just clicked together,” Angelucci said. “Beforehand we watched them and looked at their tendencies and that really helped us. But overall we just really clicked tonight.”
Angelucci finished with 19 kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks while Lila Olsen had 22 kills, 14 kills, a block and an assist as Spring-Ford (16-7) advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight season and visits fellow PAC side No. 4 Upper Merion 1 p.m. Saturday. Upper Merion beat No. 20 Methacton 3-0.
Spring-Ford lost both regular-season meetings against Upper Merion – getting swept on the road Sept. 12 then falling at home in five sets Oct. 8.
“I think we really have to feed off of our energy from today, using that we came this far just to keep going,” Angelucci said. “Even last year, we’re able to stop them in PACs which I know it’s districts now, just knowing that we can do it and just feeding off of that could help.”
Marley Angelucci collected 43 assists, 10 digs, a kill and a block with Alanna Bricker having 14 digs, five aces and three assists as Spring-Ford posted an upset in districts for the fourth straight season.
As the 20th seed in 2021, Spring-Ford knocked off No. 13 Abington then in 2022 topped No. 12 Central Bucks West as the No. 21 seed. Last year as the 13th seed, Spring-Ford reached the semifinals with upsets over No. 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh in the second round then No. 5 Pennsbury in the quarters.
Spring-Ford lost to Unionville in the semis but finished third in districts and in the PIAA Tournament topped District 2 champ Delaware Valley to make the quarters, where it lost again to Unionville.
“Seeing how much we put into our practices and just gameplay in general, we know that we are capable of beating five seeds and et cetera and using that to not get scared with those really high ranked teams,” Lauren Angelucci said.
Pennridge, which had a first-round bye, was looking to reach the district quarterfinals for the first time since 2014 but instead ends its season at 18-3. Pennridge won the outright Suburban One League Continental Conference title after sharing it with Central Bucks West in 2023.
“We try not to focus on winning, our culture is about excellence and process and with that we hope the results come with it and they have,” Pennridge coach Michael Fleischacker said. “And I think we have another great group coming up next year and the year after that, so I can see that culture coming into play.”
Pennridge held off Spring-Ford in a tight opening set before the visitors pulled even, getting out to a 21-13 lead in the second set then staving off a late Pennridge charge.
Tied 9-9 in the third set, Spring-Ford sprinted away with a 14-1 burst capped by Alanna Bricker recording four aces as she collected nine straight service points.
“I was really excited and honestly I just love to win, I’m a very competitive person,” Bricker said. “So all the cheering and the crowd got me hyped up and so did my team.”
Pennridge jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fourth set and was up three again at 6-3 before Spring-Ford ripped off five consecutive points to go up 8-6. Pennridge pulled within a point four times but could never tie the set. Four straight points had Spring-Ford ahead 15-10 with a 5-0 run increasing its lead to 22-12.
The hosts responded by winning the five consecutive points to get within 22-17 and were down five again after a Maggie Dekutoski ace made it 23-18 but Spring-Ford won the next two to seal the four-set victory.
“They’re just a really good quality team like a lot of those teams that come from over on the west side,” Fleischacker said. “And it was evident in the teams they’ve played that we were going to have our hands full. We did the best we could, we went out there and we played really good volleyball, we just came up a little short today.
“Really proud of the team and they should be really proud of what they accomplished this year, it’s a great season, loved to have gone further into playoffs but sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Pennridge began Thursday night winning the first three points and never trailed in the opening set. Spring-Ford pulled level just once at 5-5 before Pennridge collected three straight points.
The home side’s biggest lead in the set was four, the last time at 22-18. From there, Spring-Ford got as close as two but Pennridge held on for a 25-22 win.
“I think a lot of it came down to ball control, “Fleischacker said. “I think in that first set we came out with a lot of energy and we kept the ball in play and put the pressure on them to make the plays. During those runs I think a couple of times we gave ‘em, they would start get in their heads a little bit but then we’d give them a point and they would just rebound from that and take advantage of that.”
In the second set, Spring-Ford led 9-7 before going on a 12-6 run to extend its advantage to 21-13 and force a Pennridge time out. The hosts answered by winning the next six points to make it 21-19 but a serve into the net had Spring-Ford back up three. Pennridge took the next point but Spring-Ford claimed the following three to win 25-20 and even the match at a set apiece.
The third game was close until Spring-Ford broke it open with its 14-1 run, which began with four straight points after Pennridge tied it 9-9. Pennridge got within 13-10 only for Spring-Ford to rip off 10 straight points, the last nine on Bricker’s serve to lead 23-10 as Spring-Ford cruised to a 25-11 victory.
