![\"(Left-right)](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-10-29_0446-SF.jpg\")
(Left-right) Elle Sossong, Lily Ewalt, Lola DiRico, Marley Angelucci, Keira Murray and Caroline Butler walk off after winning the first set in Spring-Ford\u2019s 3-0 triumph over Souderton. (Photo by Joe Evans\/JoeEvansPictures.com)<\/p>\nGirls Volleyball<\/p>\n
District 1-6A Second Round<\/p>\n
(1) Spring-Ford 3, (17) Souderton 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20)<\/p>\n
If Spring-Ford learned anything from the first match of its district title defense, it\u2019s that seeds and records mean nothing this time of year.<\/p>\n
Despite securing a sweep of visiting Souderton in the second round of the 6A bracket, sets one and three were a virtual coin flip, and the Rams (21-2 overall), who won their 20th consecutive match, did not take their first lead of the match until the 20-19 mark of the opening set. The program, also the reigning state champion, knows how to win this time of year and figured out a way, but the close call was eye-opening enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouderton played a heck of a match,\u201d SF coach George Fuller said. \u201cWith our success the past two years, at this stage of the season, we need to remind ourselves that win-loss records don\u2019t matter when we step on the court. We need to expect the best from whomever we\u2019re playing. Slow starts will be more challenging to overcome as these playoffs continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior hitter Elle Sossong paced the Rams with 18 kills, 13 digs and eight service points, and she got plenty of offensive support from the trio of Lily Ewalt, Morgan Pupek and Caroline Butler, which combined for 19 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Other key contributors for SF included Allie Baker (11 digs, eight service points), Marley Angelucci (37 assists, 13 digs, 10 service points, four kills, three aces) and Keira Murray (18 digs).<\/p>\n
(Left-right) Elle Sossong, Lily Ewalt, Lola DiRico, Marley Angelucci, Keira Murray and Caroline Butler walk off after winning the first set in Spring-Ford\u2019s 3-0 triumph over Souderton. (Photo by Joe Evans\/JoeEvansPictures.com)<\/p>\n
The Rams advanced to Saturday afternoon\u2019s quarterfinals to host No. 8 Downingtown East at 12 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouderton exposed some areas we need to focus on and clean up,\u201d Fuller said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get back in the gym (Friday) and make sure we\u2019re ready for Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
(14) Methacton 3, (3) Lower Merion 2 (17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 15-12)<\/p>\n
Down the stretch at No. 3 Lower Merion, components of Methacton\u2019s epitaph seemed to form in real time \u2014 great effort and season, close but no cigar, heck of a fight and better luck next year were the prevailing sentiments as the gassed Warriors ran on fumes.<\/p>\n
Nobody would fault the Warriors for claiming moral victory after pushing the Aces to the limit, which included a 2-1 lead through three sets. Then, LM regrouped to win the fourth set and had Methacton on the ropes at 12-8 in the decisive fifth stanza.<\/p>\n
Spoiler alert: the Warriors rallied for seven unanswered points to close the match to nab one of the biggest wins in program history, a grueling five-set marathon that completely stunned the favored hosts. Their season lives on, and a win at No. 6 Conestoga on Saturday at noon would clinch a berth to the state tournament. Even a loss would keep the team alive into next weeks for playbacks.<\/p>\n
![\"Methacton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-22_1325-M2-Alesha-Ewing.jpg\")
Methacton junior Alesha Ewing tallied 17 digs, 11 kills, two aces and a block in the Warriors\u2019 epic 3-2 upset victory at Lower Merion in the second round of the District 1-6A Tournament on October 29, 2026. (Photo by Joe Evans\/JoeEvansPictures.com)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been telling my team all year that we can be dangerous,\u201d Methacton coach Alex Notaristefano said. \u201cWe play in such a tough league, so our (11-9) record does not tell the entire story of our talent. We\u2019ve played well out of conference and fought through illness and injury just to get to the playoffs. One match, one set, one five-point stretch \u2013 keep it simple and don\u2019t get wrapped up in the big picture. That is what we were able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anya Liu, Ava Wolf and Alesha Ewing led the offensive charge with 41 combined kills and three aces. Abby Stiansen distributed 47 assists, and five Warriors players notched double-digit digs: Liu (19), Ewing (17), Giselle Focht (14), Ella Korkus (13) and Stiansen (10).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I said in the huddle in set five was \u2018I believe in every single person on this team to make the right play at the right time,\u2019\u201d Notaristefano said. \u201cI made sure they believed it too. They deserve this win, and Saturday is going to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Girls Soccer<\/p>\n
District 1-4A Second Round<\/p>\n
(11) West Chester Henderson 0, (6) Methacton 0 (WCH, 3-0 PKs)<\/p>\n
For two teams that had allowed a total of 15 goals all season, being scoreless through two halves and two overtime periods was not much of a surprise.<\/p>\n
What was shocking was the abruptness in which the best girls soccer season in Methacton history came to a crushing end.<\/p>\n
The Warriors had two goals waved off due to offsides calls \u2014 one late in regulation and again in the first overtime \u2014 and had a host of other chances throughout the game that they could not convert. Despite controlling the pace of play for a majority of the proceedings, the end was left completely to chance.<\/p>\n
In the shootout, Henderson made three of its four kicks against Methacton (18-3-1 overall) keeper Penny Wolf, while the Warriors shockingly missed all of theirs: Tessa Dwyer fired over the crossbar, while a sensational Madison Brown saved the other three attempts by Grace Mumford, Brooke Cowan and Abby Masotta.<\/p>\n
Methacton set program records for most wins in a season (18) and shutouts (15) while also winning the first PAC championship in school history. Henderson will host Council Rock North on Saturday morning at 11 to try to clinch a trip to the state playoffs.<\/p>\n
District 1-3A Quarterfinals<\/p>\n
(6) West Chester Rustin 1, (3) Upper Perkiomen 0<\/p>\n
Back in the district playoffs for the first time since 2023, Upper Perk\u2019s journey would be a short one.<\/p>\n
The game turned with around five minutes to play in the first half, when UP freshman Kendall Parrish made a nice move on a Rustin defender and blasted a shot from just inside the 18 that sailed slightly over the crossbar. On the ensuing goal kick and counterattack, the Knights moved the ball up the field with a few crisp passes, culminating in a 30-yard feed to Ava Pascarella around the 10. Pascarella first beat her defender in a 1-on-1 race to the ball, then she bested UP goalie Amanda Gaffney too for the game\u2019s only goal.<\/p>\n
The Indians\u2019 season ended at 15-5 overall. Rustin will head to Strath Haven for Monday evening\u2019s semifinals.<\/p>\n
Boys Soccer<\/p>\n
District 1-4A Second Round<\/p>\n
(9) West Chester Henderson 1, (8) Phoenixville 0<\/p>\n
For the first time all season, Phoenixville was kept out of the back of the net. The Phantoms\u2019 brilliant season, which saw them go unbeaten for their first 19 games, was tripped up with losses in two of the team\u2019s final three games. They ended at 15-2-5 overall, while Henderson will try to win another road game on Saturday morning, this time against top seed Lower Merion.<\/p>\n
(5) Abington 4, (12) Spring-Ford 0<\/p>\n
Spring-Ford hardly had time to break a sweat before the game felt suddenly out of reach. Abington\u2019s Sam Arruda scored three goals, including two within the first six-plus minutes of the first half, to play a big part in ending the Rams\u2019 season at 12-4-6 overall. Kyle Kretschman added a third goal for the Ghosts with 13:15 left in the first half before Arruda completed the scoring after halftime off an assist by Carter Shannon. Abington will host league rival Neshaminy in a Saturday afternoon quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
Field Hockey<\/p>\n
District 1-1A Semifinals<\/p>\n
(1) New Hope-Solebury 2, (4) Pope John Paul II 1<\/p>\n
Following a 15-win season and a trip to the PAC playoffs, PJP\u2019s season ended one win short of a PIAA Tournament berth. Ava Fuges scored the Panthers\u2019 (15-5 overall) only goal on a penalty corner that was assisted by Erin Hunter toward the end of the first quarter. NHS punched their ticket to the state playoffs while also advancing to the 1A title game against Faith Christian Academy on Nov. 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team played really well,\u201d PJP head coach Tracey Rarich said. \u201cMost of the game was played in New Hope\u2019s defensive side; we just could not connect and score. We came up just a little short.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Girls Volleyball District 1-6A Second Round (1) Spring-Ford 3, (17) Souderton 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) If Spring-Ford learned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[129384,129382,129383,129380,129387,129375,129377,129378,183,185,184,186,129376,126048,129381,129379,126045,114595,129386,129385,126052,126047],"class_list":["post-317609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-abby-stiansen","tag-alesha-ewing","tag-anya-liu","tag-caroline-butler","tag-district-one-playoffs","tag-elle-sossong","tag-keira-murray","tag-lily-ewalt","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-marley-angelucci","tag-methacton-girls-soccer","tag-methacton-volleyball","tag-morgan-pupek","tag-phoenixville-boys-soccer","tag-pioneer-athletic-conference","tag-pjp-field-hockey","tag-spring-ford-boys-soccer","tag-spring-ford-girls-volleyball","tag-upper-perkiomen-girls-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}