After starting last week by splitting matches with two teams from the far side of the Schuylkill River, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy's volleyball team faced a squad that came across the Delaware on Friday.

The Blue Devils won the opening set against New Jersey's Lawrenceville School, 25-17, but the visiting Big Red recovered to take the next two rounds, 25-14 and 26-24. SCH answered with a convincing 25-15 win in the fourth frame, then won the fifth set, 15-11, to record a 3-2 match victory.

The Blue Devils would end the week with an overall record of 7-2. The stretch began with a 2-3 non-league loss to Shipley School on Monday, then they played another Bryn Mawr bunch, Baldwin School, on Tuesday.

Here, SCH logged its first Inter-Ac League victory, 3-1, balancing its ledger at 1-1 after opening up with a 3-1 loss to perennial power Academy of Notre Dame on September 20.

This season Dave Noll is in his eighth season as SCH head coach, while former collegiate standout Ayana Shakera Davis-Howard has moved up to varsity assistant coach after working with the JV in 2023.

SCH senior Ava Lanzetta, who will sign with NCAA Division I Marist College, was in the primary rotation last Friday along with classmates Bethany Haughton and Macy Moderski. Joining them were juniors London Jackson and Sarah Scally, sophomore Kalyn Freund, and freshmen Maddi Moynihan and Chloe Roberts, who were already members of the varsity squad last year as eighth-graders.

SCH and Lawrenceville quickly showed that they were evenly matched teams. The hosts trailed 10-9 in the middle of the first set, then Lanzetta stepped to the back line for a seven-point serving run that included a true ace to the left rear corner and two kills by Moynihan.

Later, Lawrenceville narrowed the gap to two points at 18-16, then sent a serve into the net for a side-out. Springside's Freund served up three points, including an ace through the middle of the court. The visitors got one point back to make it 22-17, then the Blue Devils scored on a tip by freshman Simisola Mabagunje.

With Roberts now serving, Moynihan made a kill to get the locals to set point, then a hard deep serve by Roberts tempted one of the visitors to swipe at the ball and the set was over.

The Big Red approached the second set with newfound vigor, reaching a 6-0 lead and going ahead by double figures at 13-3. The visitors triumphed, 25-14, then pulled out the win in a much closer third set, 26-24.

The Blue Devils seized the momentum as the fourth set unfolded, and when Freund served an ace through the right middle seam of the defense, Springside led 12-5 and forced a Lawrenceville time-out. The Jersey girls fought to get back within two points of the leaders, 17-15, but then gave a side-out to SCH with a net violation.

Moynihan opened her serving stint with an ace through the left middle, and Lawrenceville failed to return her next three serves, making it 22-15. The Blue Devils kept going with a hit by Haughton, then the visitors bopped the ball up into the ceiling to bring up set point. A hit by Roberts sealed the deal and forced a fifth set in the match.

The teams proceeded almost neck-and-neck up to a 10-all tie, then a kill by Lanzetta moved the Devils ahead for good and sent her to the service line. The hosts then got a clean kill from Moynihan, and they scored two more points when the ball wriggled across the net tape and dropped on the visitors' side of the floor.

Lawrenceville got one point back for a 14-11 tally, then a kill by Roberts ended the match.