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“Right here, right here,” Justice Presley continuously called to teammates Friday at Edward Bok High School, 1901 S. Ninth St.
With lofty sets resulting from her instruction, the sophomore proved equally towering, skying to smash kills against the overmatched Kensington High School defenders. Though Presley excelled at net, her serves sizzled the foes, as a 3-0 victory secured a perfect regular season and the Public League’s Silver Division volleyball title for her institution.
The Wildcats registered their 12th-straight win courtesy of constant communication and timely tenacity. The qualities have become the core of the squads under 11th year coach Anthony Scafidi and daunted Kensington.
“One of our goals was to win the division,” Scafidi, a Blackwood, N.J., resident and a former inhabitant of the 2800 block of South Iseminger Street said pre-match.
Accomplishing that task would elevate the unit to Gold status, which the school enjoyed in 2009 after capturing the previous year’s Silver crown. Bok also romped to the ’05 Bronze championship, setting a precedent for perfection by thwarting a dozen foes. This year’s version desired to vault into the highest division, but the ladies, volunteers for their site’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day cleanups, almost performed extra community service, as they lost an early first game lead.
“My confidence never dips,” Scafidi, a life skills teacher, said as an 8-3 edge became a 10-8 deficit.
The six starters rebounded to capture eight of the next 10 points, but dropping the six subsequent ones forced a timeout. The bunch features one senior starter, Cynthia Vong, but she and her fellow fliers rebounded well. Their will and Kensington’s shaky serving resulted in a 25-22 triumph.
“Hi, Mo,” Scafidi and his charges said as a nod to gaining momentum.
The Wildcats dropped four of the first six second game points but regained good vibes when Presley earned six-straight scores with massive serves. The North Philadelphian — the team leader in service points and aces — and her cronies soon reveled with Scafidi again, as they cruised to a 25-10 conquest.
Losers of only five games in their previous clashes, Bok employed the same lineup for the whole match, giving the student body many occasions to see each player master her roles. The kills leader, Vong, of the 2800 block of Manton Street, and digs pacesetter Hazel Rivera, a junior from the 700 block of Mifflin Street, looked to send the visitors back to their bus quickly, as the combatants fought for supremacy in the third game.
The pace resembled the first game’s, but the Wildcats bonded to make achieving an impeccable mark a formality. Volleyball’s rules dictate teams take no more than three attempts to clear the net, and the girls crafted solid passes, sets and hits to build a 22-17 lead in the best-of-five affair.
Presley, who began to play four years ago, stepped to the service line to cement the celebration. Unable to fend off her power, the guests acknowledged it with congratulatory high-fives.
“It is hard to go undefeated in any sport,” Scafidi said. “I don’t care if you’re playing tiddlywinks.”
His crews have made the playoffs eight of the last 10 years, and though Friday’s game did not determine their postseason fate, it gave the members immense pride.
“You kept up your intensity throughout the year,” Scafidi, who has also led cross-country and track teams in his 28-year coaching career, said of the girls, who cherished becoming his second spotless competitors.
Presley finished the match with 16 service points and seven aces. Though her six-point run in the second game impressed the crowd, it trails her best by almost two dozen strikes.
“I had 27 serves at one point,” the youngster, who came to Bok for volleyball and to participate in its chapter of the Health Occupations Students of America, said.
She arrived with an underhand serve and perfected her thundering overhand launch after Scafidi suggested a change.
“I will do anything to be here for this team,” she said of altering her projections.
Her willingness includes an affinity for defending, too, and her composure kept the Wildcats going in the second game when their defense seemed impenetrable. Rivera, their defensive specialist, finished with six digs, successful tries at keeping the ball from striking the ground following an opponent’s spike. She credited camaraderie for their stellar campaign.
“They are so nice,” she said of her mates, a collection of African Americans, Cambodians, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Vietnamese.
She began playing at 8 and immediately developed her defensive-minded mentality. Even with their talent, she did not foresee an undefeated season. Vong felt differently.
“I had expected this,” the four-year participant said of earning a spot in the school’s annals. “We had the dedication to be this good.”
Rivera dedicated the game to Vong, the captain and vice president of the senior student council.
“I appreciate that,” she said of the gesture.
Vong said she took up volleyball to give her college applications more oomph. She is looking to study engineering and is considering Villanova University. She, Presley and Rivera earned selections to last year’s “Who’s Who in Amateur Athletic Union Volleyball,” so the leader can expect a credentials boost from her participation. This year is a far cry from her first, when the Wildcats finished in last place.
“We came from hell,” she said. “Now we’re in heaven.”
In Monday’s home playoff against The Academy at Palumbo, 1100 Catharine St., Bok fell, 3-0.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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