Dallas girls volleyball comeback falls short vs. Gwynedd Mercy

Home High School Hight School Volleyball Dallas girls volleyball comeback falls short vs. Gwynedd Mercy Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin ReddIt Email Print By John Erzar [email protected] 🔊 Listen to this DALLAS TWP. — The empty volleyball banner in the Dallas gymnasium will eventually have 2026 on it to represent the District 2 championship won by the girls team. The year won’t display how hard the Mountaineers battled to keep their season alive Tuesday night. Dallas lost the first two sets to Gwynedd Mercy and then won a marathon third set. Then, when the situation looked bleak in the fourth set, the Mountaineers fought within a point of a tie, only to fall as Gwynedd Mercy pulled off a 3-1 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs. District 1 runner-up Gwynedd Mercy (21-3) won the opener 25-18 and the second set 25-20. Dallas took the third set 28-26. Dallas fell behind 7-1 in the fourth set and pulled within 12-11 on consecutive kills by Ava Adams but fell 25-18. “Our team, I’m extremely proud of them,” said Dallas coach VanEssa Kerecman, whose team finished 18-2. “Our goal was to make it to states and we did that. It’s not the outcome we wanted, but the girls gave everything they had.” The hitting of Gwynedd Mercy’s Reilly Graham and Emma Fazio was key throughout the match. Graham had the height to match up with Adams, while Fazio showed the versatility to spike from the back row. Neither team had a lead bigger than four in the third set. A spike by Adams gave Dallas a 25-24 lead, only for Graham to add two kills to give Gwynedd Mercy a 26-25 advantage. Adams came back with another kills to knot the score 26-26, and Aurora Deem finished off the win with two service points. The first came on a hit into the net and the second on an ace. Dallas fell into a 7-1 hole to start the fourth set. The Mountaineers then went on a 10-5 run to pull within 12-11, with the final four points coming off serves by Karly Kovitch. They could never pull ahead as Gwynedd Mercy distanced itself with a 6-0 run. Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more. Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism. Click for subscription offers.