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Jersey Shore volleyball falls to Sugar Valley on road

By HENRY HUBER 6 min read

LOGANTON - Through the early goings of the 2026 season, Sugar Valley volleyball head coach JT Bitner has placed a lot of focus on improving his team’s serves. A demanding serve is the first step in putting pressure on an opponent after all, and it works wonders when it comes to controlling a match and establishing tone.

That was certainly the case in Tuesday's home rematch against Jersey Shore. After going set-for-set in a 3-2 thriller against the Bulldogs two weeks prior, the Phoenix needed just three sets to sweep the season series in front of their home crowd.

Alaina Leigey and Lyla Breon were dominant from behind the service line, combining for 24 aces while helping Sugar Valley (2-3) control the pace of all three sets. Their efforts were crucial in earning the Phoenix their second victory of the season, as they defeated the Bulldogs, 3-0, behind set scores of 25-18, 25-11 and 25-12 on Tuesday night.

"That's definitely one of the best serving nights we've ever had," said Bitner when discussing the performance. "We've been doing a lot of serving in practice, trying to put more pressure on them so that we're not in such high-pressure situations in a game."

"Strong serving, and we've got a really good libero (Halen Martin). Our attacks were better than we've had in a couple nights, and team play was big tonight. They played together, supported each other and the energy level was up," he added.

At the time of Leigey's second serving stint, Jersey Shore was scraping away at Sugar Valley's first-set lead. Kills from Brooke Charley, Noa Gutierrez and Jemma Kowalchick, coupled with four separate aces, had helped the Bulldogs whittle an 8-2 deficit down to one at 14-13, and the pressure was on the Phoenix to respond.

Following a Shore service error, they'd do just that. Low, fast serves from Leigey put Jersey Shore on its heels, and she'd ultimately rack up five service points in a row, including four aces, to put Sugar Valley up 20-13.

That placed the Phoenix in the driver's seat for the rest of the set. Though the Bulldogs worked the deficit back down to five on two separate occasions, kills from Harper Tressler and Lyla Breon kept them ahead, with the set ending at 25-18 on a Shore side out.

Sugar Valley would carry that success forward in a big way throughout the second and third sets, as its serving only seemed to get stronger as the match rolled by.

Breon opened the second set with ten straight service points to put the Phoenix up 10-0, finishing a dominant set that saw the Phoenix lead by as many as 15 points with 11 service points and five aces. And every remaining time Leigey manned the service line, she posted four straight aces, doing so on three separate occasions in set-defining spots.

The biggest such occurrence came early in the third. Jersey Shore opened the final frame with one of its strongest spans of the night, getting out to a 5-2 lead before Leigey got the serve and dished out five service points in a row.

From there, a Payson Jeffries kill, Halen Martin ace and trio of aces from Kohana Yamashita helped the Phoenix build up a 16-7 lead. They'd maintain that lead up until 21-12, when Leigey took up the service line for the final time of the night and closed it out with one last quartet of aces.

Alongside Leigey and Breon, Payson Jeffries, Halen Martin and Kohana Yamashita also left their mark from the service line, combining for 18 service points and seven aces. Jeffries led the team on the night in kills with three, and Martin played a big role in hampering Shore attacks with numerous key digs at libero.

"Halen had some really good digs in the back as a libero, and we had a ninth grader (Payson Jeffries) step up today with a sick outside hitter," said Bitner. "Payson Jeffries stepped in there and did real well in her first varsity effort."

All in all, it was a strong performance for the Phoenix, one they'll look to build on as they prepare for a chance to get back to .500. They'll face Midd-West in their quest to do so, with that road match set for next Monday at 6:30 p.m.

"We're focusing on trying to get our record up as high as possible because we know that there's a huge chance of us going to districts this year," said Bitner. "They're taking four of the five teams, so we've got a huge shot to be there. We would like to get there, get our three sets and get our first district playoff win."

Though the loss stings for Jersey Shore, it came with a fair share of positive flashes. Charlotte Smith and Leah White racked up a combined 14 service points and four aces, and senior Brooke Charney finished with multiple kills and an ace of her own.

Moving forward, the focus is on continuing to grow. The Bulldogs are in the early goings of their inaugural season of volleyball, so there are bound to be growing pains, but their coaching staff is excited with what they've got.

"It's definitely a work in progress. We've been practicing every day, getting in the gym," said Shore assistant coach Jessica Kowalchick, who heads the junior varsity program. "They're really showing promise this year for being new. I mean, we only got approved in August."

The Bulldogs return to action on the road at North Penn-Liberty on Thursday, with that match set for 7 p.m.

Sugar Valley 3, Jersey Shore 0

(25-18, 25-11, 25-12)

Jersey Shore service points: Charlotte Smith 8, Leah White 6, Noa Gutierrez 2, Maylee Sechrist 1, Brooke Charney 1. Jersey Shore kills: Brooke Charney 2, Charlotte Smith 1, Isabelle Whitman 1, Noa Gutierrez 1. Jersey Shore assists: Josephine Renninger 4, Leah White 1. Jersey Shore aces: Leah White 2, Charlotte Smith 2, Brooke Charney 1, Noa Gutierrez 1.

Sugar Valley service points: Alaina Leigey 21, Lyla Breon 13, Payson Jeffries 8, Halen Martin 6, Kohana Yamashita 4. Sugar Valley kills: Payson Jeffries 3, Alaina Leigey 2, Marlee Bickel 2, Harper Tressler 2, Lyla Breon 2, Najiah Staton 1. Sugar Valley assists: Lyla Breon 3, Kohana Yamashita 2, Najiah Staton 1, Payson Jeffries 1, Alaina Leigey 1, Harper Tressler 1. Sugar Valley aces: Alaina Leigey 17, Lyla Breon 7, Kohana Yamashita 4, Halen Martin 2, Payson Jeffries 1, Harper Tressler 1.

Starting at /week.