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Penns Valley volleyball cruises past Mount Union in District 6 Class AA quarters

By KENNY VARNER 4 min read

SPRING MILLS – Opening as the number one seed in District 6 Class AA, the Penns Valley girls volleyball team hosted its first game of the postseason on Tuesday welcoming in Mount Union. The Rams came into the contest sporting a record of 19-2 while the Lady Trojans muscled their way in with an 8-13.

Though the Lady Trojans put up a battle, they were no match for the more experienced Lady Rams. Penns Valley took the contest in three, winning 25-15, 25-10 and 25-8 to advance to the next round of playoff action.

"I told the girls that when we go into the postseason, we have to play the best volleyball that we can possibly play," said Penns Valley coach Skylar Fleshman. "I feel like tonight, that’s exactly what they did. We’ve been working hard all week long to come in here and really put on a show. So that was our goal."

Shining from the service line and from the front row was Caroline Wert. Wert finished her night lighting up at the line with 18 service points and three aces. She also came up big at the front line, as she was able to change up her hits to what the Trojan defense was giving her.

Taylor Homan was also strong at the service line as she rattled off 10 points and two aces.

The Rams started strong and just played stronger and stronger through their match.

In the first set, the Trojans battled early after a quick 4-0 run by Penns Valley. But Mount Union battled right back on a 3-0 run on its own. Madison Eichelberger hit two service points as she also landed an ace.

Wert put her team up by three with an ace after a Penns Valley side out.

Both teams exchanged four side outs before the Trojans cut the lead to 8-7. But with the game standing at 9-8, the Penns Valley offense started to heat up.

With Homan standing at the service line, the Rams went on a 4-0 run. The run was highlighted by an ace and a blast to the back corner by Wert, giving the team some breathing room at 14-8.

The scrappy Trojans kept things close, getting it to a 14-10 match, but one last run from Sydnie Dalton put the game out of reach, as she scored three service points to put the home team up 22-13. Penns Valley was able to ware down Mount Union from there en route to the 25-15 victory.

"We are working on some things for the next game, but communicating was a big one," said Fleshman when talking about the strong communication by her team. "High energy is another big one, and just doing our job. And if we do that, we will go far."

Sizzling in the second game, the Rams came out with all guns blazing as Wert served her team out to a 13-1 advantage. Jordan Johnson was a strong key in the run as she blocked a shot and was able to send a blazing bullet down the line.

After a mini run of two points from Mount Union, Sydnie Dalton once again had a strong scoring run, this time it would be six, upping the game to a 20-4 lead. Despite a Mount Union run, Penns Valley was able to ice the game winning 25-10.

Things got even better for the Rams in game three. The team was able to close things out in strong fashion, posting an impressive 25-8 win in front of a very electric home crowd to cap off the playoff win.

"We love when people show up, the energy is super high," said Fleshman. "Everyone’s here supporting the girls, and I definitely think it helps for us to win. "

The Rams will host Northern Cambria on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

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