(PHOENIXVILLE, Pa.) – United East actions started off excellent for the Wilson men's volleyball team as it defeated Valley Forge on in four sets on Saturday afternoon.
Jacob McCoy (Jr., York, Pa. / Spring Grove), Jackson Wolfe (FY, Abbottstown, Pa. / New Oxford) and
Ryan Koontz (So., York Haven, Pa. / Red Land) all hit in double figures to lead the Phoenix attack while
Satvik Sharma (FY, Hummelstown, Pa. / Hershey) and
Camden Sterner (So., Spring Grove, Pa. / Spring Grove) lifted the team up on the back line.
The Basics
Scores: Wilson 3, Valley Forge 1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-23, 32-30)
Venue: UVF Gymnasium
Records: Wilson 6-10, 1-0 UE; Valley Forge 7-6, 1-2 UE
How It Happened
- The hosting Patriots were the ones that got out to a hot start as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead and force the Phoenix to come from behind. Wilson was able to score the next four and stay within a couple of points for most of the remainder of the set before UVF took a 25-21 win.
- A solid start to the second helped Wilson turn it around. McCoy scored back-to-back kills for an 8-4 lead early on, and a pair of Sharma aces helped increase the lead to 14-7. Wilson continued to get strong with an 8-1 run that featured three kills from McCoy to go up 22-11. The Phoenix were never threatened again as they evened the match at one set each.
- Wilson took a strong lead to start the third with Demetrius Simmons (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Mechanicsburg) serving up a pair of aces en route to a 9-3 lead. Valley Forge didn't go down easily and quickly trimmed the deficit down to two, seemingly each time Wilson attempted to make a run. The Phoenix lead eventually cut to one at 22-21. Points alternated from there with Wolfe getting a kill, McCoy rejecting a Patriots attack, and a McCoy giving Wilson a 2-1 lead with a kill.
- Both teams gave fans a nail-biter for the fourth. UVF looked poised to tie the match with a 6-1 lead to open, but Wilson roared back to tie it at 12-all before eventually taking the lead on a Simmons Wolfe block. That started a back-and-forth the rest of the way. Valley Forge was the first to serve for the potential game point, but a Sharma kill and a Simmons ace gave Wilson the lead back at 25-24. The Patriots served for the potential game point thrice more before a pair of bad sets and a Sharma ace gave Wilson the match with a 32-30 final in the fourth.
Inside The Numbers
- McCoy had a monstrous match with a team-best 17 kills on 26 attempts with just two errors for a hitting percentage of .577.
- Wolfe and Koontz provided Sharma additional options with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Koontz was also solid on the back row with one dig shy of a double-double while Wolfe picked up six.
- Sharma set up the attack with 42 assists. He added 12 digs defensively.
- Wolfe and Simmons led the team with three blocks each.
- Valley Forge was led by Toby Harris who chalked up a match-best 21 kills. Clay Confer added 14.
Up Next
Wilson returns to the court against Mount Aloysius on Thursday. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
