Plymouth-Whitemarsh had its first big test in the Suburban One American Conference on Monday night - and passed.
The Colonials (2-2 overall, 2-2 conference), picked by area coaches to supplant Upper Merion as conference champions, defeated the host Vikings by 15-11 and 15-10.
``This was the biggest win of the seniors' career, because we never beat Upper Merion,'' senior cocaptain Vickie Fisher said. ``It was the first time in six years that P-W beat Upper Merion.''
Fisher, an outside hitter, said the victory stamped the Colonials as legitimate title contenders and set the tone for the balance of the season.
``I gave them three things to do in order to win,'' P-W coach Dave Stewart said. ``Serve the seams well and hard, control the ball in passing, and be mature enough to take their lumps if the set wasn't there. Their decisions were better and so was their maturity, but they still have a long way to go.''
The Colonials started talking up the match with the Vikings soon after they defeated visiting Cheltenham, 15-12, 15-9, in the conference opener for both teams on Sept. 7. They were inactive until the Upper Merion match and had time to work on the shortcomings they exhibited against the Panthers.
The Colonials had problems with passing and receiving serves in the first game of the Cheltenham match, during which they found themselves down by 12-4. Some aces off aggressive serves turned the tide in P-W's favor, and the momentum spilled over into the second game.
Monarchs bounce back. When Gwynedd-Mercy Academy visited Christopher Dock on Thursday for a Bicentennial League match, the two teams had something in common: They had lost to top contenders, and they wanted to bounce back.
Gwynedd-Mercy (2-1, 1-1) banged out a 15-3, 15-1 victory against the Pioneers (0-3, 0-2), who succumbed to mental errors after playing tough against Mount St. Joseph earlier in the week.
``They had a little letdown today,'' Dock coach Theresa Berry said about her players, only two of whom played on the team last year. ``They weren't there mentally.''
Meanwhile, the Monarchs got to work on all of the errors they had made in their loss to Merion Mercy two days earlier. And they did so while senior middle hitter Kate Adams, one of their top players, sat out with a slight injury.
Gwynedd-Mercy worked on blocking, passing, serving and receiving serves, skills that had escaped the team against Merion Mercy. In that match, the Monarchs had trouble getting the ball to the setter.
Senior outside hitter Janice Rafferty kept her teammates on track against Dock, registering nine aces and two kills.
``Our defense was strong tonight, too,'' Gwynedd-Mercy coach Carl Tierney said. ``The kids were diving for the ball. It was a nice effort.''
The kind of effort the Monarchs will have to duplicate throughout the season if they hope to overcome Merion Mercy and Mount St. Joseph in the standings.
Loss mars opener. Upper Dublin made its scholastic volleyball debut Sept. 7 at Pennridge, and the results showed the fledgling team that it would have to work hard to excel in the Suburban One American Conference.
Pennridge pummeled the Cardinals, 15-3, 15-3, in the only match on the visitors' schedule last week.
``Our serve-receive needs work, and we need to be quicker,'' said Upper Dublin coach Karen Hegedus, who coached Catholic Youth Organization volleyball last year. Hegedus said the team had been playing together for only two weeks.
Two bright spots for Upper Dublin were the passing of Alanna Fritz and the setting of Danielle Copellini, both senior captains.
Fritz, who played volleyball for two years at a high school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said the Cardinals might have entered the match a little overconfident after defeating Norristown in a three-set scrimmage.
``We expected to win again, but Pennridge was better,'' the all-around player said. ``Only three of our players were on a team before.''
Senior tri-captain Cari Mirbach joins Fritz and Copellini as players with some experience. They are the ones who will set the tone for the younger players.
``One thing we did well was that we played as a team,'' Fritz said. ``We were cheering each other on.''
