UPPER DUBLIN – West Chester Henderson girls’ volleyball head coach Greta Neff paid tribute to the grittiness of her team following the Warriors’ hard-fought defeat to host Upper Dublin in the second round of the PIAA District 1 4A tournament Thursday evening.
“That’s been our M.O. all season – we often say we might not have the best kids out there, but we have the best team,” said an emotional Neff following the season-ending defeat. “This group really sticks together, and they fight for each other, they fought hard tonight and I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
The Warriors, seeded 10th, lost the opening set to No. 7 seed Upper Dublin, 24-26, then battled closely in the second set before a 6-0 Cardinal ending run made it a 25-18 win for the hosts. The Cardinals (19-2) closed it out with a 25-11 win in the third set.
Interestingly, Upper Dublin faced Henderson in the opening round of last year’s district tournament as the 16th seed, and lost to the 17th seeded Warriors, 3-2.
Neff said, “I give Upper Dublin a ton of credit – they came in wanting revenge from last year, they swung hard and they played a great game. Their defense was incredible tonight. They served the ball well, and we just didn’t make the adjustments.”
Four Cardinals registered double digits in digs Thursday — libero Alisa Zeng (19), junior setter Kaitlyn Small (17), junior outside hitter Brooke Kinsley (15) and junior right side hitter Madison Small (10).
In the opening set, Upper Dublin jumped out to a 4-0 lead but then the Warriors rallied and held leads of 14-12 and 17-15, thanks in part to the all-around standout play by senior outside hitter Olivia Sladicka, the all-time leader in kills at Henderson.
Neff said, “Olivia has done so much for us over the past four years, and the past two years she has been such a great leader on and off the court. Olivia has carried us on her back – she does so much for us. She passes the ball in serve receive, she defends fantastically, she reads the ball, she hits the ball, she rolls the ball, she’s such a fun kid to coach just because of her ability to read the game and know the game. A great kid – everybody loves her to death, everybody loves playing next to her.”
A late run by the Cardinals gave the hosts a 24-21 lead, but with their backs to the wall, the Warriors battled back for the next three points, tying the score at 24-24 on a fine play up front by freshman Lauren Fields.
Upper Dublin got the next two points, the final one on a kill by Kinsley, who finished the night with 16 kills.
“Brooke has done a great job for us all season,” said Upper Dublin head coach Paul Choi. “When it’s a big match like this, she always shows up.”
In the second set Thursday, Henderson took an 11-6 lead, with the help of some strong serving from senior libero Nora Linahan. Upper Dublin called time out, then went on a 13-4 run to take a 19-15 lead.
Choi said, “Sometimes our players need to learn how to adjust at times, and sometimes we don’t adjust fast enough. That timeout gave us a little breather there, but our players know the game plan, they stuck to it, and they kept clawing back.”
The 13-4 Cardinal run was highlighted by several kills by Madison Small, who finished the night with eight kills. Her twin sister Kaitlyn dished out 29 assists Thursday.
“Madison and Kaitlyn have a special connection,” said Choi. “They play really well together, and sometimes I don’t think they realize that (smiles).”
Trailing by four points late in the second set, the Warriors battled back to cut the hosts’ lead to 19-18, but the Cardinals then went on a closing 6-0 run to carve out a 25-18 win.
Choi said, “Henderson has a great program and a great team. Their outsides and middles are great players, their setter is excellent in defense, and they’re coached very well. We knew that playing against Henderson was going to be a battle.
“I think this was one of our better games of the season. We lost to Plymouth Whitemarsh in our next-to-last match of the regular season, and I think that kind of lit a fire under our players.”
In the third set Thursday, Upper Dublin bolted out to an 8-4 lead, but the Warriors soon tied it at 8-8, with the help of some fine play up front by Fields.
Then, the Cardinals went on a 10-0 run (including back-to-back aces by Kaitlyn Small) to take an 18-8 lead en route to the 25-11 victory.
For the Warriors, the loss marked the end of the postseason, but not the memories of a never-say-die season.
Sladicka said, “I think it was a really special season. We never went down to a team that we shouldn’t have; we always pushed through, even if we were down (by) points, we always pushed through to the end.
“We played together as a team this season, lifting each other up. We all get along well, we’re great friends outside of volleyball. We all did what we needed to do.”
When asked what it meant to her to be the all-time kills leader at Henderson, Sladicka responded, “It’s not just me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Nora our libero, without Charlotte (McClain) setting me, without our (other) passers. Everyone on our team has our backs — I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the rest of our team.”
Linahan said, “I think we had very good communication this season, and we persevered through anything.”
Following the game, Neff praised her group of five seniors, including Sladicka, Linahan, Brianna Doorly, Maddie Murphy and Mia Herbert.
Neff said, “The group of seniors that we have has just been a great group of kids – they lead with an incredible amount of poise and confidence, and they symbolize everything (good) in our program. We’re going to miss them.”
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