HS VOLLEYBALL: Forest City starts season with upset; Week 1 Poll

It’s spring and time to get a look at the high school volleyball season.

As is routine, we will first introduce what we are trying to accomplish here ON THE BLOG. The goal will be to get something posted each FRIDAY of the season. We will effort to break down the week that was and give fans a little closer look into the league and a preview of the week ahead.

As best we can, we will have statistical updates on some of the top players and teams.

So, moving forward, let’s take a look at the opening week of action, remembering that this season, all matches count toward every team’s pursuit of District 2 playoff berths using the new Power Rating System.

We started the season with Abington Heights, the defending Lackawanna League champion, as the preseason favorite, but only by a slight margin as many coaches believe that this is the most balanced the boys league has been in a long time.

Like clock work, we had our first upset in the first week of the season.

 

 

Forest City 3, Abington Heights 2

 

Forest City’s Nicholas Andrews.

Matthew Giles had (13 points, nine kills and 11 assists and NicholasAndrews had 15 points, five digs, six kills and 15 assists to lead Forest City to a 3-2 win over Abington Heights in a Lackawanna League match.
Carmine Gigliotti had (six points and seven digs for the Foresters and Jake Gray had nine points.
Matt Pacyna had nine kills and 19 assists for Abington Heights and James McGrail had 13 kills and 10 digs.

 

 

	Forest City (1-0)	25	19	25	16	15
	Abington Heights (0-1)	23	25	23	25	11

 

 

 

 

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WEEK IN REVIEW

 

 

OK, Forest City went right back to work after its upset win over Abington Heights and posted a win over Western Wayne, another team given strong consideration to win the league championship this season.

Abington Heights bounced right back with a win over Susquehanna, 3-0. Blue Ridge flexed its muscles in a 3-0 win over Elk Lake.

Delaware Valley is a strong challenger, if not the favorite, to win the Wyoming Valley Conference title. And that would send shock waves through the district to say the least. The Warriors are 2-0 in the conference with wins over Coughlin and Lake-Lehman.

 

 

Players to watch

 

 

• 

  Forest City’s Matthew Giles

  Matthew GILES | FOREST CITY

Had eight points, eight blocks, 13 kills and seven assists against Western Wayne.

 

 

• Matt PACYNA | ABINGTON HEIGHTS

and had 12 assists against Susquehanna.

 

 

• 

  Blue Ridge’s Cameron Franks

  Cameron FRANKS | BLUE RIDGE

Had nine kills and seven digs in a win over Elk Lake.

 

 

• Thomas RANIERO | DELAWARE VALLEY

Has 36 assists to lead team to win over Lake-Lehman.

 

 

 

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TOP 5 POLL

 

 

In this the first official poll of the 2019 season, Delaware Valley starts at No. 1. The Warriors are the defending District 2 Class 3A champions and play a daunting schedule in the WVC.

Forest City, by virtue of its win over Abington Heights, debuts in the No. 2 spot, just ahead of the Comets, who are the defending champion in the the Lackawanna League.

Again, teams will have two records appear each week. Their league and then overall, because all matches do count toward a playoff spot.

 

 

	Rank	Team	League	Overall
	1	Delaware Valley WARRIORS	2–0	2–0
	2	Forest City FORESTERS	2–0	2–0
	3	Abington Heights COMETS	1–1	1–1
	4	Blue Ridge RAIDERS	1–0	1–0
	5	North Pocono TROJANS	0–1	2–1

 

 

 

 

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WHAT’S AHEAD

 

 

Here is a look at next week’s schedule:

 

TUESDAY

Lackawanna League
3-Abington Heights at 4-Blue Ridge
Mountain View at Elk Lake
Susquehanna at 2-Forest City
Wyoming Valley Conference
Coughlin at 5-North Pocono
1-Delaware Valley at Tunkhannock

 

 

THURSDAY

Lackawanna League
2-Forest City at Mountain View
Elk Lake at 3-Abington Heights
4-Blue Ridge at Western Wayne
Wyoming Valley Conference
Hazleton Area at 1-Delaware Valley
5-North Pocono at Lake-Lehman

 

 

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