Kouch, a reliable senior setter for West, peered intensely at the white ceiling for a few seconds before finally, the white ball found its way down and back into play.

Kouch didn't mind the wait at all Tuesday night. Methodically, he used a two-handed dig to set up the first point of the game for the Lions as if the ball was hit right to him.

Actually, Kouch would have waited much longer for the ball to fall his way. The way he figured it, he and his talented teammates had waited for over a week for a rematch with Eastern, ranked No. 6 in the Gannett State Poll.

The Lions had lost a one-game quarterfinal match to Eastern in the Viking Invitational just 10 days ago, so the sting was still fresh enough when the two Olympic Conference American Division teams met in this best-of-five match.

"I wanted to play them so bad," Kouch said afterward with intensity as if he were still staring for that ball up in the roof, as if still waiting to score the first point of the game. "I knew we could beat them."

Kouch was right about beating the powerful Vikings. The first of their two league matches wasn't really close either as the Lions won 3-1 over Eastern. West won the first two games - both by identical 25-12 counts - on spikes from junior Matt Parisi.

Incredibly, it looked like the Lions would sweep the Vikings, leading 24-22 in the third game of the match. However, Eastern scored the next four points.

The Lions didn't need a spike off the side of their heads to be reminded they were waiting more than a week for this chance. So, they played the next game with the same urgency as the first two. Another game-ending spike by Parisi gave West a 25-18 win.

"They are always a powerhouse," West senior outside hitter Eric Yoon said respectfully about Eastern, "but I looked at our team and was very confident."

The Lions are 1-0 in league while Eastern is 0-1. And, although it was great to get off to such a terrific start, West coach Scott Sweeten feels the American Division is so deep and evenly matched that teams will take turns beating each other this season. It could happen as early as today when West plays Washington Township and defending league champion Cherry Hill East plays Eastern.

Despite the balanced division, Sweeten lost just two starters from last year's 14-7 team, so expectations for this season were somewhere between the top of the volleyball net and the rafters the ball bounced around in above the West gym.

That is part of the reason the couple hundred fans made up the largest crowd in the three years the Lions have been playing in the West gym (before that, the Lions played all their games in the smaller auxiliary gym on the other side of the school).

The other reason the crowd was so large and loud was because Sweeten promised extra credit for his physics and astronomy students for attending. Whatever their motive for coming out in the rain, the fans were rewarded by watching their skilled home squad.

"We've worked very hard," Sweeten said about his veteran team. "Plus, this was the first year a number of guys played on a club team in the offseason."

Kouch, Parisi, senior Mike Farreny and junior Liam Howley all played for the first time over the winter on a club team at the International Sports Complex. Most of the other Lions played in an intramural league at the indoor facility on Kresson Road in Cherry Hill.

"If I learned anything from swimming," Sweeten, who is also the girls' swim coach, said, "it is you have to do your sport year-round."

Added outside hitter Steve Young: "Our program has gotten better since we play all year round."

This improvement can be seen in the standings, too. Cherry Hill West improved to 4-1 overall. The Lions lone loss was to Southern, which is ranked No. 5 in the Gannett State Poll.

"Although we lost to Southern, this year we have become a team," Farreny, an outside hitter, said. "We really work for the team and not as players playing for themselves."

Even if that means waiting for a ball to fall out of the rafters to score.