Skip to main content

Susquehannock sweeps Dover as new coach Pennewill settles in


Sometimes coaching changes can take some getting used to, for both the coaching staff and the players.

But for the Susquehannock Warriors girls' volleyball team, a new coach has produced some familiar results.

Darla Pennewill took over for Rob Marrison this season and has the Warriors playing winning volleyball early in the year.

The Warriors swept Dover on Wednesday night, 25-19,-25-6, 25-16, to improve to 2-0 on the regular season.

"Most of their drills and coaching style are still the same, it's just their personalities are different," Warriors senior Laura Savin said of Pennewill and Marrison. "They still have the same standards for us."

On Wednesday, Susquehannock (2-0, 2-0 YAIAA Division II) overcame some unforced errors and poor serving in Game 1 to completely dominate Game 2.

"I thought we came out a little flat in Game 1," Pennewill said. "We had a lot of unforced errors that made it tighter than I thought it should've been. Game 2, we got it back and got momentum and played very strong."

A big difference between the first two games was the Warriors' play at the service line. In Game 1, the home team had seven service line errors, compared to just one in Game 2.

"You can't do that, no matter who you're playing," Pennewill said of the service line errors. "You have to have good ball control and make the opponent earn it. Sometimes we did that, and sometimes we didn't. We have to clean that up to prepare for our next match."

Game 3 was the most competitive, featuring nine ties, including the final stalemate at 11-all.

"We just continued to make good plays and stick to the game plan," Pennewill said.

The Warriors were led Wednesday Savin and Kelly Franz, both seniors. Franz supplied 23 assists, 13 digs, six aces and four kills. Savin contributed seven digs, four kills, an ace and a block. Karah Sweitzer added 12 digs and four aces.

One of Franz's aces put the Warriors ahead 13-11 in Game 3, and Susquehannock never looked back.

It's the second straight sweep of a head-to-head match for the Warriors, who dispatched William Penn in three games on Tuesday.

Susquehannock opened the season with a second-place showing in the Lancaster Mennonite tournament, where the Warriors went 9-3. After being away from the varsity game for nearly two decades, Pennewill said she has noticed a difference.

"The pace of the game is a lot quicker now," said Pennewill, who was the varsity coach at Susquehannock for seven years in the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

Dover (0-2) was led by Chayce Hoffman's 10 digs and five kills. Katie Kann finished with 11 assists, seven digs and three aces.

Susquehannock def. Dover, 25-19, 25-6, 25-16 at Susquehannock

Dover stats — Katie Kann (3 aces, 7 digs, 11 assists), Chayce Hoffman (5 kills, 10 digs), Emma Davis (3 kills, 4 blocks), Rachael Wagner (5 kills, 4 digs), Kirstin Funk (7 digs), Abby Diehl (4 digs, 7 assists).

Susquehannock stats — Laura Savin (4 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs, 1 block), Abby Ferraro (4 kills), Kelly Franz (4 kills, 23 assists, 6 aces, 13 digs), Gabee Ogude (7 kills), Tyler Williams (6 kills), Karah Sweitzer (4 aces, 12 digs), Abby Deter (3 kills, 3 aces).

JV Score — Susquehannock def. Dover, 25-15, 25-23.