The Springside Chestnut Hill Academy volleyball team took the short ride to Germantown Academy last Thursday, looking to complete an undefeated Inter-Ac League championship season. The Blue Devils had swept GA, 3-0, in their first encounter this season, but last week the Patriots gave SCH all it could handle.

GA won the first set, 25-22, but the visitors rebounded to take the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-21. Germantown trailed by a point in the middle of the fourth set, 15-16, but the Patriots then took the lead for good, winning 25-21 to force a fifth set. That hadn’t happened to the Blue Devils all season long.

Fifth sets are only played up to 15 points instead of 25, so a strong start is important. SCH stepped out to a 4-0 advantage, but later GA got a little closer, 6-3. The Patriots wouldn’t score again, however, and the visitors proceeded to win the set, 15-3, and the match, 3-2.

Springside Chestnut Hill (14-0 overall) finished the league schedule with a record of 10-0, while GA was 7-3. The Patriots lost twice to SCH and split their two matches against Agnes Irwin.

During much of the first set, SCH was in the lead. GA called time-out, trailing 16-10, but things didn’t improve when play resumed as the score reached 21-13.

That’s when things switched around. A kill by freshman Sterling Forer launched a string of 10 straight points that boosted the Patriots into a 23-21 lead. The stretch included three kills by sophomore Chloe Armenakis, a scoring tip by freshman Olive Kou, and a number of SCH errors. A tip by junior Maddi Moynihan got the Blue Devils back within one point, but then a GA hit struck an SCH block and went out of bounds. A joint block by Armenakis and senior Delaney Schwartz finished out the 25-22 GA victory.

GA scored first in set two thanks to a failed service return by SCH, then the Blue Devils’ two standout junior hitters, Moynihan and Chloe Roberts, got going. Senior Sidney Smith made back-to-back kills and junior Simisola Mabagunje delivered a service ace, and the visitors led 8-4 when GA called time-out.

SCH gradually increased its lead to 15-9 in the middle of the set. Kills by Kou and junior Harper Sylva helped the Patriots tighten the score to 17-13, then an errant serve caused a side-out. Smith stepped to the baseline to serve up four straight points for the Blue Devils, including an ace along the right sideline of the GA court.

GA got one point back thanks to Kou, then consecutive kills my Moynihan got SCH to set point at 24-14. The Pats delayed defeat by scoring three straight points, then another Moynihan kill locked in the final score at 25-17.

It would be remiss not to mention the incredibly tenacious defense played in this match. Well-coordinated blocks and astounding digs and saves kept rallies going even when a particular hit appeared to be unstoppable. The errors that occurred could almost entirely put down to a rush of adrenalin in the players. They were egged on by a large and loud home crowd; this was GA’s Dig Pink event in honor of breast cancer awareness.

Seeking to take the lead in the match in the third set, the teams battled up to a 21-21 tie. SCH would seal the deal with blocks. On the first one, Smith combined with Roberts, and on the second one Smith and Magabunje stopped the ball. At the end of a very long rally, Roberts made a block on her own to bring up set point, which came when GA hit the ball into the net instead of over it.

Needing to win in set four to stay alive, the Patriots started with strong serving by Silva to go up 5-0. She executed a true service ace, and had several other serves where SCH made contact with the ball but could not return it. SCH got back in it with a four-point run that included hits by Moynihan and Smith, as well as a well-aimed push over the net by senior Kalyn Freund.

The Blue Devils pulled even at 8-8, and the score was tied many times after that. SCH was ahead 16-15, but an Armenakis block got GA the side-out. Kou then served up seven straight points, starting with a serve that dove right down toward the floor just after clearing the net tape. She had two other unreturned serves and an ace to the right rear corner.

Along with a hit and a putback by Silva, the Patriots were now up 23-16. The Blue Devils picked up a few more points, but ultimately succumbed 25-21, with set point coming on a hit at the right post by Schwartz. The ball hit an SCH block and then went out-of-bounds.

In the short fifth set, SCH picked up the opening point on a GA serving error, then three more points came on hits by Roberts and Moynihan and an unreturned serve by Moynihan. Each team scored on a tip, then a Germantown block made it 5-2.

After a Moynihan kill made it 6-2, each side had a hit go out beyond the boundaries for a 7-3 tally. With Roberts now serving for the visitors, successful hits by Monynihan and Smith caused the Patriots to call time-out at 9-3. This didn’t halt Springside’s momentum.

A hit and a tip by Moynihan and a block by Smith raised the tally to 12-3. Then one of many skillful sets by sophomore Lielle Fruend assisted a hit by Smith. Smith and Moynihan then joined up for a successful block, bringing up set and match point. GA set a soft tip over the net but Smith was right there to tip it back for the score.