KING OF PRUSSIA — Though they tempted fate for two sets on Saturday afternoon, Upper Merion girls volleyball opted not to take the scenic route to the PIAA Tournament this year.
In 2023, the Vikings lost in the District 1-4A quarterfinals and had to win a pair of playback games just to sneak into the state playoffs. Their reward was a first-round match with Hempfield, an unbeaten opponent from District 3, and UM’s season ended in an unceremonious sweep.
One year later, the Vikings seemed destined for a similar fate, as this season’s district quarterfinal opponent was a familiar foe in PAC rival Spring-Ford, and the Rams did just about everything right through the first two sets. But volleyball is a best-of-five endeavor, and the fourth-seeded Vikings rode a sudden rush of momentum to take the final three sets and secure a 3-2 comeback win over the No. 12 Rams, advancing to Tuesday’s semifinals while simultaneously punching their ticket to next month’s state tournament. Set scores were 15-25, 14-25, 25-14, 26-24, 15-8.
Now, regardless of the result in Tuesday’s semifinal at top-seeded Bishop Shanahan, the Vikings are guaranteed at least three more matches together.
“It’s really exciting not to be in the position we were in last year where we had to win two playback games just to get to states,” said UM senior co-captain Sophia Schweikert, who registered a match-high 38 kills. “We had to play a top seed in the first round, and it was devastating to lose that way. I think we’re going to be a little more prepared for states this year.”
It took awhile for Schweikert and company to figure out Spring-Ford, a team the Vikings beat twice during the regular season. The Rams came out firing in set one, winning seven of the first 10 points, ensuring that UM never got any closer than four points the rest of the way.
The first half of set two was much more competitive, but an 11-10 nail-biter quickly turned on a dime when Spring-Ford buried five straight points, riding that wave to a 2-0 lead. The trio of junior Lila Olsen, senior Lauren Angelucci and Elle Sossong were aggressive on the attack, while junior Alanna Bricker and sophomore Marley Angelucci helped set the offense while also playing strong defense and not letting hardly anything near them hit the ground.
“I thought we were playing well, they were just playing incredibly well,” Upper Merion head coach Tony Funsten said. “We played good, but they played near-perfect volleyball for two sets. If it was two years ago, our kids would have been done in three (sets). But they’re experienced enough now that they don’t need to be talked into it.
“That match was on a district final level.”
Perhaps finally sensing time was in short supply and desperately needing to win three straight sets to avoid playbacks, the Vikings (19-4) got to work and quickly saw their fortunes beginning to turn. UM dominated the third set, jumping out to a 12-5 lead and never looking back.
The fourth set got a little dicey, with Spring-Ford (16-8) leading from the start and opening up a 15-10 lead as it approached its end. Schweikert picked a perfect time to go on a serving run, as the Vikings ripped off five straight points before the teams went punch-for-punch for the rest of the round. UM didn’t take its first lead of the set until 23-22, and when the Rams swung it back to 24-23 in their favor, Schweikert registered both the tying and winning kills to tie the match at 2-2.
“I’ll take our team in a close one against anybody, because we have Soph,” Funsten said. “She’s a finisher. She can finish a set and a match for you.”
By that point, it felt like the Rams had stepped into the path of a coming avalanche. The fifth set was fairly one-sided, with UM senior Maya Giles picking up two huge blocks to help her squad close out Spring-Ford. Additionally, Raven Albrecht posted 44 assists, Valeria Paneto contributed 13 digs and Sydney Bright chipped in five blocks. Bella Maiden and Emily Nguyen, a pair of freshmen, also had strong moments for the victors.
“The first two sets, we just played really frantic instead of calm, collected and confident,” Schweikert said. “High energy and intensity throughout the entire game is going to be one of the biggest things for us in making sure we’re prepared for states. But going into that fifth set, we were pretty confident we were going to win because of how we were executing.”
As for Spring-Ford, the Rams fell to 0-6 against Upper Merion and Pope John Paul II this season while posting a 16-2 mark versus everyone else. The good news is that they don’t have to play either team in the next round, as the Rams will head to No. 8 Downingtown East for a Tuesday playback game. If the Rams win that one, they will have to beat either Plymouth Whitemarsh or Upper Dublin on Halloween to make it into the state tournament via the same route Upper Merion in 2023. A loss in either playback round would end Spring-Ford’s season.
“At the end of the day it comes down to mental toughness, and we don’t quite have that yet,” Rams head coach George Fuller said. “In set four we started to play more not to lose. We were tentative on things, not taking aggressive plays and just made some uncharacteristic mistakes and mental lapses.”
Olsen led the Rams with 31 kills and three blocks, with Lauren Angelucci adding 12 kills and 17 digs and freshman Sossong posting 13 kills and 16 digs. Marley Angelucci had a match-high 53 assists along with 14 digs, and Bricker brought 14 digs and three assists to the table.
Fuller said there’s a bit of a snakebitten mentality being unable to beat either of the PAC’s top two teams, and when things start to go bad for the Rams, they often reach snowball status fast. But as bad as things went toward the end on Saturday, Spring-Ford can now distill this season down to its simplest formula: win two and you’re in.
“Look, we’ve got to go out and play our ball,” Fuller said. “We did that first two sets and then we got away from it.”
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