WARMINSTER — Wednesday night's goal for the Archbishop Wood boys volleyball team was simple — get back to the game that ended its season last year, the Philadelphia Catholic League final.
Standing in the way of the Viking was Roman Catholic but the Cahillites were no match for Wood as it won the semifinals match in straight games 25-18, 25-18, 25-20.
"We knew they were going to come out strong wanting to beat us,' Wood setter Chris Quaglia said. "They're really the only team all year saying they want to beat us. We wanted to come out here and prove a point today.'
Quaglia was running point on the Wood offense all match as he finished with two kills, two blocks and 17 assists. Quaglia's passing allowed the Wood hitters to get consistently good and varied looks. If Quaglia was like the Vikings' Chris Paul, Robert Russell was Blake Griffin as Quaglia assisted on four of his nine kills.
"Chris did a great job today setting a consistent ball,' Wood coach Brendan Ledwith said. "He spread the ball nicely tonight. Normally we're a team that goes to one or two key hitters.'
Next up for the Vikes is a date with Lansdale Catholic for the PCL title and a trip to the PIAA tournament 7 p.m. Friday at Cairn University. Lansdale Catholic beat La Salle 3-2 in the other semifinal Wednesday.
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A big key to Wood's success was getting on Roman quickly through the first two games as it only briefly trailed very early in the first game and built as much as a 10 point lead in the second as took leads of 6-1, 10-3 and 16-6.
"Our plan in the first game was [get on them early] but it really matriculated into the second game,' Ledwith said.
Sensing its season was coming to an end, Roman hit the Viking with its best shot, taking advantage of some Wood unforced errors. The Vikings, not wanting to extend the match, tightened up as Roman pulled to within three points at 23-20. Wood, however, closed out to win the final game 25-20.
"We got a little frazzled there hitting some balls into the net, doing different things that we probably shouldn't have done,' Quaglia said. "We brought it in the huddle [and] talked about real quick. We said listen don't kill the ball, hit your spot. Just hit the ball like you've been hitting it all year. Don't get cute because we're down, just hit the ball. That's what we did, hit the ball, came back and won the third set.'


PCL boys volleyball semifinal: Archbishop Wood 3, Roman Catholic 0BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Archbishop Wood sweeps Roman Catholic

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Archbishop Wood 3, Roman Catholic 0
Roman Catholic18 18 20
Archbishop Wood25 25 25
Records: RC (5-10); AW (18-3).
Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 9:54 pm | Updated: 8:44 am, Thu May 14, 2015.
By Christiaan DeFranco Correspondent
WARMINSTER — There is no slowing down and no looking back for the Archbishop Wood boys volleyball team, which has one goal in mind: a Philadelphia Catholic League championship.
Wood wasted no time disposing of Roman Catholic 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20) in the PCL semifinals Wednesday, setting up a showdown with Lansdale Catholic in the final.
“It feels great to advance, but I just wish we were going to face La Salle again,” Vikings senior defensive specialist David Lehmann said. “We’d like another shot at them.”
La Salle beat Wood in the title match last spring, but lost to LC 3-2 in this year’s semifinals.
The Vikings (18-3) charged out to an eight-point lead in the opening set against Roman Catholic. They built a 5-0 lead in the second game as the Cahilites struggled up front and had trouble returning serves.
“We played a lot better than the last two times we faced them,” said Roman Catholic coach Ping Lee, whose club lost to Wood for the third time in as many meetings this season. “They’re a great team, and we knew it would be a big challenge coming in here.”
The Cahilites (5-10) hung around in the third game and led several times — including at 14-13 — before Wood finally pulled away to secure the victory.
“Our plan was to start strong and take control quickly,” Wood coach Brendan Ledwith said. “I saw what I wanted to see in the first two sets, but in the third set, I think we were a little more relaxed than we should have been.
“Our guys turned on the intensity when they needed to, though.”
Robert Russell racked up nine kills and three blocks for Wood. Outside hitter Jack Waltrich had nine kills and blocked a shot. And setter Chris Quaglia delivered 18 assists.
“We just wanted to make sure we played well so we’d be ready for the final, whether we were going to be facing La Salle or LC,” Waltrich said. “They’re both high-level teams, so we wanted to kind of tune up so we’re at our best when we go for the championship.”
The Vikings beat Lansdale Catholic 3-1 and 3-0 in their two previous meetings this year, but some extra familiarity exists between the teams. Many of the LC and Wood guys play together in club volleyball.
“It’s really a different type of match when the kids know each other that well,” Ledwith said. “We’ll have to play with a lot of intensity and stick to our game.
“We really spread the ball around well tonight, and that’s going to be a key for us going forward.”
Lehmann said the Vikings are peaking at the right time.
“We wanted to work on our communication today, and we did a good job with that,” he said. “We’re feeling really confident heading into the final.”
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