Bulldogs, Panthers duke it out for District 10 gold

Saegertown will attempt to knock off top-ranked Meadville in today’s District 10 boys volleyball championship match at Allegheny College at 7 p.m.

Meadville swept Saegertown in both regular season matchups. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the latest poll from the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association and have occupied that spot all season.

Despite Meadville’s undefeated record (15-0), Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson wants his players to remember that the Bulldogs are high school kids too.

“I think they just have to realize something. Everyone looks at Meadville and thinks ‘Man, those guys are like invincible,’ but they’re just kids like we have. Everybody is just a kid,” Johnson said. “It’s getting toward the end of the school year. Some people might be stressed out about graduation or this or that. They all have the same things going on in their lives.

“Hopefully, we can realize they’re not 23-year-old professional volleyball players, but they’re 15, 16-year-old kids like we are. I think that’s the most important message.”

Saegertown (12-3) beat Conneaut 3-1 on Thursday in the D-10 semifinals. In the win, sophomore Cru Scott exploded with 30 kills and 15 digs. Jackson Scott dished 49 assists with 11 kills while Josh Weaver added 12 kills at middle hitter.

The Panthers are ranked No. 7 by the PVCA and their only losses are to Meadville, twice, and Conneaut once 3-2.

“We are going to have to serve way better than what we did on Thursday. We missed too many. That’s a key to get them out of system. Their biggest asset is their size,” Johnson said. “They don’t always need a perfect pass to get a good attack. We need to get them out of system as much as we can. I’d like to see us push them and see what can happen.

“We could take a set and see what happens. They haven’t been put in that position a whole lot. We’ll be ready to go.”

Meadville will attempt to defend its District 10 title, which the ‘Dogs won 3-1 against Saegertown last year at Allegheny College. The Bulldogs are also attempting to defend their state championship and are led by all-state juniors Luc Soerensen, Tymir Phillips and Parker Gosnell.

To win and defend their title, Meadville head coach Nick Bancroft wants his team to minimize errors and limit Saegertown’s Cru Scott.

“We need to minimize our errors and make them earn all of their points. They run their offense through their pins,” Bancroft said. “We need to slow down Cru and make sure the other players don’t get easy points on us. They come out the gates fast and play with lots of intensity. We need to weather the storm and not let them build momentum.”

Both teams will advance to the PIAA playoffs. The winner will host the third seed from District 7. The loser will play at the District 7 champion. The first round of the state playoffs is Tuesday.