It had all the earmarks of a class volleyball match.

And it delivered.

Cherry Hill East and Southern Regional met this week in a battle of Olympic Conference American Division unbeaten powerhouses. Southern Regional of Manahawkin won 3-2. In case you skipped over the fine print the game scores were: 24-26, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22 and 16-14.

Southern coach Eric Maxwell said: "It couldn't have been any closer. It was two hours and 20 minutes of intense volleyball."

Cherry Hill East coach David Gurst described it as being "by far the best match I've ever been associated with. People bombing away and bombing away, just taking swings and going after it.

"It was a classic match, a game of runs. Somebody would get a lead and the other team would catch up. It was like two heavyweights standing in the middle of the ring slugging it out. The team that made the most mistakes lost, and that was us."

The Cougars (5-1) made an uncharacteristic 10 service errors and that, Gurst felt, was the major reason they lost. You simply don't make those kinds of mistakes against a team as good as Southern (10-0).

The statistics bear out the caliber of play. Southern's Kubra Tanrikulu had 22 kills, 25 digs, 12 service points and 4 aces. She had help from Katie Brown with 11 kills and five blocked shots; Brooke Flemming with 40 assists and 18 digs; and Crystal Murdock with 6 kills and 20 digs.

The numbers are equally as impressive for the Cougars. The big girls up front - Katie Gold, Marci Polite, Laurel Johnson and Heather Leonhardt - combined for 46 kills, 17 blocks, and six digs. Sam Foss had four aces, 2 kills, 19 assists and 19 service points.

"There was never a point where either side was in control," Maxwell said. "There was never a comfort point.

"I have a lot of respect for Dave. He's a super guy, a great coach. He prepared his team and they were ready to go. It's fun to play knowing it's going to be a good match. Unfortunately, somebody had to lose. They certainly played well enough to win."

For his part, Gurst said he didn't leave the East gym thinking the Cougars had lost more than just a match.

"To be honest with you, I didn't feel like it was a heartbreaking loss," he said. "When we walked out of there, I felt good about the way we played. Plus, we got them again in a couple weeks. We walked out knowing we should've won. We made the most mistakes, that's why we lost. And that's not taking anything away from Southern. They played a fantastic match. They're a great defensive team."

The two meet again Thursday, Oct. 30. You can expect another heart-stopping contest.

Lions learning

The Cherry Hill West season is a work in progress.

There are 30 girls in the Lions program this season, which is a real nice number. They work hard and they are enthusiastic students of the game. At the outset of the season, they looked raw. Mistakes were plentiful. But they learn from them and they improve.

After Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Clearview, their overall record stood at 7-4. They were second in the Olympic Conference Patriot Division with a 4-1 record, trailing Williamstown, which was 5-0.

The problem coach Scott Sweeten faces is simple. He isn't blessed with a roster full of club players. In fact, there are only two. One is on the varsity and the other plays JV. The lack of a significant number of club players certainly makes it difficult to compete against teams like Cherry Hill East, Eastern and Southern Regional, where club players are more prevalent.

Not that Sweeten is complaining, mind you. He accepts what he has. Molds them into a team. Qualifies for the tournament and finishes with a winning record.

"The girls have been working very hard," Sweeten said. "It's not one of my bigger teams. It's not one of the quickest. They don't have the speed that teams like Williamstown, Southern, Eastern, East, all the better teams, have. They all have a significant number of year-round players. But the girls certainly give it everything they've got. They've improved a lot."

Two players who exemplify the type of player West has are senior Teresa Hansel and sophomore Kelly Smith. Both have come a long way in a short period of time and both are diligent workers, always looking to learn and improve.

"Teresa has a tremendous work ethic," Sweeten said. "She didn't complete the season with us last year so she started from scratch this year. She's starting on defense. She's got great stats. Her digs are up there every game.

"Kelly Smith has had to move to the middle from the outside. She's been working hard. She's just starting to get the hang of it, the difference between the two positions."

Could be the year

Pennsauken could accomplish something it never has done before - qualify for the state tournament.

The Indians are currently 4-4 overall and coach Lori Boehm believes they have a reasonable chance to make it.

"Last year we had a chance but we lost to (Cherry Hill) West by two points on the cutoff day," Boehm said. "By next week we should be 8-6 at the cutoff. At worst we should be 7-7 but we'd still get in."

The Indians' success can be linked to five veteran players who have been varsity players for at least two years. Seniors Chantel Pirolo, Nadiyah Abdullah and Imani Gillian and juniors Meghan Kendall and Porsch Rogers all have high school experience. What they don't have is consistency. Boehm thinks their record could've been even better had they all been on the same page every game.

"They have the talent, they just haven't all been ready to play on the same day," Boehm said. "They've been inconsistent. In rally scoring you have to make every play. They keep looking for the side out. In side out, it doesn't matter. But with rally scoring it does and you have to play hard for every point."

But Boehm is generally happy with her team. She says they're all good kids. They're all on the honor roll.

And together they have a chance to make Pennsauken history.