Derry volleyball team staying loose ahead of PIAA quarterfinal match

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, May 31, 2019 | 6:31 PM

Determination is one thing, a good thing, but Derry may have been playing with too much seriousness as it journeyed through this boys volleyball postseason.

Stoic game faces and tense play seemed to work against the Trojans, the players say, and it’s time to unbutton their vests and play loose.

Let the good times roll.

“Coach Spence has been telling us all season just to have fun, but the games that we went out there with straight faces and all serious, we lost,” Derry senior middle hitter John Kerr said. “We have to go out and have some fun.”

Derry (16-4) has advanced to the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals for the second straight season, and the Trojans will take on District 10 champion Meadville (16-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Penn Hills.

Senior right-side hitter Jason Geary is on board with Kerr’s assessment.

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, which is having fun and playing relaxed,” he said. “That’s what has worked for us all season. It’s been one of our goals to be more consistent all season, but our offense has been pretty solid most of the season.”

Derry earned a straight-sets win over West Shamokin in the PIAA first round, which followed a 3-1 win over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the WPIAL third-place game.

Before that, Derry dropped a tough-to-take, 3-2 loss to nemesis Ambridge in the WPIAL semifinals.

“It was an eye opener, and we’ve changed our lineup and tightened things up,” Geary said of the Ambridge defeat. “I don’t really think we have anything to prove to anybody but ourselves.”

Derry lost in the state quarterfinals last year to Cambridge Springs, 3-1.

“For us to get by Meadville, we have to play the way we are capable of and be able to match their defensive intensity,” Trojans coach Shawn Spencer said. “Defense is a staple mark of District 10 teams, so we have to bring the same passion they do to the table.”

And that passion begins on their hammer-it-down front line led by Division I commits Kerr and Geary.

Both of the dual-sport athletes signed letters of intent this month, the 6-foot-6 Kerr to play at Penn State, and Geary (6-5) with St. Francis (Pa.).

“Our size can cause any team issues, but we have to be able to use it to our advantage,” Spencer said. “We have to win the battle above the net for sure; that’s been one our strengths this year.”

Kerr said it will take more than size to knock off the Bulldogs, who swept past Seton LaSalle in the first round.

“We can’t just rely on (size),” Kerr said. “It’s going to take a lot of wanting to play defense and serving the ball in to win this game.”

Aiden Miller had 10 kills and seven digs, Mark Conrad had eight kills and six digs and Paul Leech added seven kills and 25 assists for Meadville in the state first round.

The winner of Saturday’s game plays either WPIAL champion Ambridge or District 11 runner-up Bethlehem Catholic Tuesday in the semifinals.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Derry Area