By: John Knebels

Losing any kind of a championship requires time and perspective to assuage the disappointment and “what if” regrets.

Lansdale Catholic’s volleyball team can tell you all about it.

With a few weeks of healing behind them, the Crusaders have emerged reflective and grateful for their overall experience of the PIAA Class 2A state tournament, despite losing to Avonworth in four sets November 15 at Cumberland Valley High School.

“Looking back, I’ve realized how close our team truly was,” said first-team all-state junior Greta Swope. “We are all such great friends who support each other, and I think that made a huge difference in how we played. You could feel the energy and support from everyone, and it helped us play with a competitive and positive mindset.

“Every day at practice, we pushed ourselves to get better, and you wanted to play the best you could for everyone around you. That definitely helped us go into the championship feeling prepared and full of energy.”

With both teams making their first-ever trip to the final, the Crusaders were at their particular best in the second set. Bouncing back from a tough 25–21 defeat in the first set, Lansdale Catholic raced out to leads of 10–2 and 16–2 and never let up in a 25–6 blowout.

After a flat 25–12 loss in the third set, the Crusaders displayed their mettle in the fourth. After falling behind 20–14 and with Avonworth sensing imminent victory, LC fought back to within 23–20 and nearly to 23–21, but a highly questionable referee overturn of a Crusader point instead gave Avonworth four match points. The Crusaders survived three of them but not the fourth, and Avonworth’s 25–23 win ended the season.

Not surprisingly, copious tears flowed during the post-match trophy ceremony and the subsequent meeting of families and friends at an adjacent gymnasium. It didn’t matter then that numerous Crusaders had contributed flashy stats, particularly first-team all-state senior Ellie Carickhoff (14 kills, block), junior Molly Callen (10 kills), junior Rylee Hassinger (8 kills, block), sophomore Reece Fidler (4 kills), senior Marissa Passerini (6 aces), and the aforementioned Swope (11 kills, 5 aces).

But as players snapped cell-phone selfies and paused for formal photos with the runner-up trophy, a sense of accomplishment seeped through the sadness.

“Now that I've had some time to reflect on the importance of that state championship, it makes me feel even more honored to have been there, fighting for that win,” said Callen. “I didn't know it before the game, but I later learned that there were 162 schools in PIAA Class AA girls' volleyball, which was the largest number of schools in any classification in our sport. To be there as one of the final two teams—wow, what an honor.

(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnknebels.)