Pope John Paul II topples Big Spring to reach third straight state championship
DENVER, Pa. — How exactly do you stop a runaway train?
In the case of Pope John Paul II volleyball, you don't. Stand on the tracks and attempt to block its path at your own peril, a fact the last 77 opponents who have stared back across the net at the Golden Panthers know all too well.
This exceptional, well-oiled machine of a program is approaching its final stop for the third consecutive year: the PIAA state championship. The Golden Panthers, the top seed from District 1-3A, cruised to a dominant 3-0 semifinal victory over District 3's Big Spring on Tuesday night at Cocalico High School in Lancaster County and will now take on District 7 champion Mars in Saturday's state championship at Cumberland Valley High School for a 3:30 p.m. start.
PJP won the first two sets Tuesday by identical 25-10 scores, putting up the first 12 points in the second set before Big Spring registered a single one of their own. The third set was slightly more competitive at 25-13, but even in that one the Golden Panthers (23-0) jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back. The team was more on point than ever, making just two attacking errors the entire match, showing no signs of slowing down as they play deep into November for the third consecutive autumn.
"From our previous games, there's always improvements to be made," said junior hitter Norah Busch, who led PJP with 13 kills. "Our serve-receive was really on point. We'd only had one practice since our last game, so we knew we had to come in and give it our all. There's only one game left now, so it's time to put it all out on the court."
PJP has won 77 straight matches, but the devil is in the details for how the team prepares in between contests. The Panthers dropped a set against Southern Lehigh in the quarterfinals and trailed at the outset of another, so while the team hardly ever plays poorly for long stretches, it does drill down into the mistakes so that the errors don't carry over into the next performance.
Considering there was not a moment of let-up against Big Spring (18-5), so much so that the match breezed by in about an hour, PJP clearly utilized the time of its one practice wisely.
"We know it's a game of mistakes, so we try to do our best to utilize our efforts to make great plays in our spots on the court," said senior Maeve Gallagher, who added eight kills in the win. "The goal is to go to the state championship, and we're going now. The whole momentum leading into the postseason, we didn't want to get rid of that. That type of run we've been on over the past few years, we want to keep that intact."
All that stands between Pope and history is one more win. If the Panthers can defeat Mars on Saturday, they will become the first Pioneer Athletic Conference team — in any sport — to win three consecutive state championships. Only three, including themselves the last two years, have managed to do it twice, and even that feat had not been accomplished in more than 30 years until last year.
It is hard work to win a state championship at all. For some schools, it takes decades to maybe win one, so the Panthers truly find themselves in rarified airspace.
"I didn't even know that," Busch said when told of the history her team could make on Saturday. "We come into every game with the mentality that it's just volleyball. It's something we all love, and some of us have been playing together since fifth or sixth grade. It's just amazing to see how far we've all come, and if we come in Saturday with a strong game plan and play how we did today then I'm very confident we'll have a good outcome."
How can you bet against this group at this juncture? Most of them have never experienced a loss, period, let alone one together. Even a current senior like Gallagher has never felt the sting of defeat, as she transferred into PJP for her sophomore year when this current run of excellence began.
And while Gallagher and Busch are the team's headliners, PJP's depth and skill across the board is astounding, a collection of perfectly complementary parts that consistently performs with excellence. Sisters Ava and Haley Maloney each contributed seven kills to give PJP four legitimately fearsome hitters; Reece Benner (18 assists) and Kailey Hudy (12 assists) are seemingly good for double-digit helpers every match; and Ava Maloney also added nine digs, along with Mia Mobley (15 digs), Emma Bond (10 digs) and Sophia Benincasa (eight digs) all making their marks on the match as well.
The scariest part? Bond, Gallagher, Benner and Josie Arezina are the only seniors who get significant playing time, and while those are four very important players to lose, the Panthers lost seven to graduation after last season and came back even stronger than ever.
"Saturday is really important for all of us, not just the seniors," Busch said. "It's going to be really emotional. As we get closer it will get a little more nerve-wracking, but I think excitement and nervousness are the same emotion. If we come together as a team, which we have been doing, then we'll be good."
"I have had so many great memories with these girls," Gallagher added. "They really welcomed me to the team (in 2022), so it's definitely emotional and sentimental going into my last game with them. We're all extremely proud to be there again, but it's also upsetting to know it's going to be my final one. So, make it count as much as we can."
