LANSDALE — Exeter got back on track with a 3-0 victory over Lansdale Catholic in the first round of the PIAA Class boys volleyball tournament Tuesday.
The Eagles won by game scores of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-17.
Exeter (21-1) suffered a tough, 3-0 loss in the District 3 Class 2A championship match to Lower Dauphin last week, but bounced back dominantly.
“We’ve kind of taken each part of the season as a new start to the season,” Exeter coach Matt Hadley said. “In counties, we talked about going in 0-0, districts 0-0, and now state playoffs 0-0. They were focused at practice. We made a few lineup changes, put it in there tonight, and got the win.”
After a close first set, the Berks champion Eagles won the next two sets by a combined 19 points as they move to the quarterfinals on Saturday against District 1 champ Dock Mennonite (23-0), the top-ranked Class 2A team in the state by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association. The Pioneers beat District 2 runner-up Holy Redeemer 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-21) on Tuesday.
As for the District 12 champ Crusaders (11-9), their season ended on their home court in the first round of states for the second straight year, but coach Rachel Picozzi considered it a successful season for such a young team.
“We were just trying to come through and play a full game from start to finish,” Picozzi said. “We still have a very young, relatively inexperienced team. I think they held their own at least in the first set. The second set kind of got a little rough, but overall I think they did well. Definitely room for improvement, but I’m pretty proud of them.”
For the Eagles, Gaige Gabriel had 15 kills, two digs, and four aces; Ashton Wilson had eight kills and two digs; and Jack Forry had 44 assists and four digs.
The Eagles are ranked third in the state in Class 2A by the PVCA. Lower Dauphin, the defending state champ, is ranked second.
Source: Berkshire mont
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