On a night when Indian coach Kinsey Lynch was on the verge of giving
birth, CR North captured a key win over the Falcons.
NEWTOWN - Kinsey Lynch was hoping that she could make it through
Tuesday night before giving birth to her first child.
And that may have happened, since it was unknown whether Lynch had
given birth before the Courier Times went to press, but the Council Rock
North girls volleyball coach was unable to be on hand for the Indians
season opener, a huge Suburban One League National match against defending
champion Pennsbury.
"Around eight o'clock this morning I got a message," said CR North
junior varsity coach Gina Martson said after the Indians opened their
dual-match season with a convincing 3-1 win over the visiting Falcons. "It
was Lisa Stark, our assistant coach, and she said it's time. I was happy
that we already had our lineup together. It makes things so much easier
when we work so well together as coaches."
Not only were Lynch's fellow CR North coaches, players and fans excited
about the impending arrival of her first child, even her Indians'
vanquished foe was full of well-wishes.
"You always want to win the match," Pennsbury coach Tim Paulson said.
"But Kinsey brings so much enthusiasm to the matches. We wish her all the
best with her first child."
Pennsbury lost most of its varsity roster from last year's squad and
Council Rock North entered the season in many minds as the favorite to win
the SOL National.
The Indians didn't disappoint Tuesday night. They won a tight 26-24
battle in the first game before falling, 25-18, in the second game. CR
North won the third game, 25-20, and closed things out in dominant
fashion, 25-14.
"It was really exciting," junior Bailey Dowd said. "Everybody had fun
playing. It was just a great team effort."
Dowd, who plays both right side and middle hitter, had a dominant night
in front of the net, especially in the final two games, when she had eight
kills.
"There is always a rivalry between us and Pennsbury," Dowd said. "We
always look forward to playing them."
Senior middle hitter Sarah Kiely, recovering from a shoulder injury,
had nine kills and was very active in the final game. Senior setter Jackie
Davies had 32 assists and 13 digs; junior outside hitter-defensive
specialist Dani Borgia had 20 digs and 10 kills; junior Rachel Friedman,
who plays just about everywhere, also had 20 digs and five kills; while
junior middle hitter Caroline Anderson had eight kills and no errors.
"It was definitely a great way to start the season," Martson said. "Two
really good teams going at it."
Pennsbury lost its first meeting last year to CR North, but came back
to beat the Indians in the second meeting between the two teams and then
went on to win the conference because CR North also lost a conference
match to CR South.
"Hopefully, we've got a lot of improvement in us and they're playing
close to their peak," Paulson said.
Junior outside hitter Brittany Bigos had an all-around solid night for
the Falcons with a team-high 15 kills, three blocks and two aces. Senior
outside hitter Drew Jolly had 14 kills and 13 digs. Senior libero-defensive
specialist Paige Hensor had 14 digs and two services and senior libero-defensive
specialist Sydney Aizen also had 14 digs.
The two teams will meet again Oct. 1, 7 p.m., at Pennsbury.
New mother Lynch is expected to be there.
"She plans on only missing only about a week or so," Martson said.
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