Date

Opponent^{^}

Outcome

Records*

Tue. Nov. 1, Cherry Hill - The 2005 season came to an abrupt end today, much to the dismay of a group of 9 seniors that had to suddenly realize their great careers as Lady Lions were over.  The West team which had faced big challenges and injury issues over the final two weeks of the regular season felt the effects of those in a big way, leading to inconsistent passing and an ineffective attack against a solid WW-P South team and a squad simply can't get away without those ingredients in the playoffs.

No shame today, ladies.  Regardless of the outstanding effort you gave to each other day in and day out all season, a tough opponent and the additional adversity we faced were simply too much.  Hold your heads up and always remember your time together.  - Coach S.

Mon. Oct. 31, Marlton - The old enemy of lethargic Mondays came back at a bad time against the tough attacking Lady Chiefs of Cherokee as the Lady Lions never established any consistent passing or defense in a 0-2 loss.  The match will hopefully serve as a wake-up call that the energetic play the team showed often on Saturday can't be taken for granted as the team heads into its state tourney play tomorrow.

Sat. Oct. 29, Voorhees - The challenging, faster- paced volleyball of Eastern's McAleer Tourney was just what the doctor ordered to get the Lady Lions back into the flow of the brand of volleyball they will need to play in the upcoming Group III state tourney on Tuesday against West Windsor-Plainsboro South.  The ladies finished 4-4 in White Pool play, finishing in second place ahead of host Eastern, Washington Twp. and Clifton.  The team beat Township in the final 2 games of pool play to clinch their spot in the quarterfinals where they fell 11-15 in a well-played game against rival Williamstown.  For complete tourney results, go HERE.

Fri. Oct. 28, Cherry Hill - The Lady Lions closed the deal and earned a piece of the Patriot Division crown with a 2-0 win over the athletic, much-improved, neighboring Lady Indians of Pennsauken today.  A senior filled line-up did the job by way of Rachel Lee's 5 kills and 10 digs, Rebecca Pierce's 13 digs, Kelly Smith's 5 aces and middle Alana Gleckler's 4 kills in her first chance at a full match of play.  After the match, Coach Sweeten presented the team with shirts using a "Friday Night Lights" theme (the front and back look like THIS and THIS) and framed team photos to commemorate the season's achievement.

Wed. Oct. 26, Cherry Hill - The Lady Lions have set themselves up for a Patriot co-championship clincher on Friday the 28th against Pennsauken at home with a 2-0 win over a much improved Shawnee team.  Rebecca Pierce set the pace with 5 kills, 3 aces and 11 digs while Kelly Smith (5 kills, 7 digs) and Allie Kleeman (8 digs) also added strong efforts.

Mon. Oct. 24, Tabernacle - The Lady Lions reduced their magic number for a co-championship to 2 with a win over Seneca.  Rebecca Pierce's 7 kills, 4 solo blocks and 9 digs combined with Sina Teerarak's 5 aces and 9 digs and Vicky Long's 16 assists to lead the team's effort.

Tue. Oct. 18, Sicklerville - Remembering last year's 30-28 scare at Winslow, West took control of this division match from the start.  Rebecca Pierce's 5 kills, Sina Teerarak's 5 aces and Vicky Long's 7 assists led the way for the Lady Lions.

Mon. Oct. 17, Cherry Hill - After Friday's emotional win, the Lady Lions continued their winning ways with a team on the other end of the spectrum of experience as they faced a new team from a new school, the Camden Academy Charter school.  Rebecca Pierce (5 kills), Rachel Lee (4 kills), and Kelly Smith (3 kills) led the attack off of Julie Lo's (11 assists) and Vicky Long's (6 assists) sets.

Fri. Oct. 14, Cherry Hill - In a noisy Walsh Gym that hadn't seen as much energy since the guys' team's first win over East in 2001, the Lady Lions maintained their intensity and quickly put mistakes in the past to contain South Jersey's best player, Nina Camaioni, and defeat the defending Patriot Division champion Lady Braves of Williamstown.  The win leaves both teams at 5-1 in the division after each won their home match against the other and each now has the job of "taking care of business" for the rest of the season in order to be Patriot co-champs.  Attack contributions came from everywhere in a true team effort as Kelly McShay (7 kills), Kelly Smith (5 kills), Rebecca Pierce (4 kills) and Aubrey McNally (3 kills) each swung, tipped and pushed with intelligence and effectiveness.  Great digs came primarily from Rachel Lee, Allie Kleeman and Aubrey McNally (11 for each) as they patrolled the short and deep middle with quick first steps and aggressiveness.  Setter Julie Lo made it clear to all that she is truly back with many smart decisions and 25 assists to show for it.

          Ladies, on a personal note, I couldn't be more proud of you or happier for you.  After watching you grow as players and, more importantly, as people over the past 3 or 4 years, you deserved a moment of joy like this and you earned it today.  Despite the tough times we've shared together, both old and new, as I said in the huddle before the match, when people think of me and the last girls' volleyball team I coached at West, they'll think of us together.
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I can't think of a better group of people to be remembered with.
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Coach Sweeten

Tue. Oct. 11, Turnersville - Though they had revenge on their minds, inconsistent passing and incorrect defensive positioning combined with serving and hitting errors to make it another "close but no cigar" match for the Lady Lions against an American division foe.  Juniors Kelly McShay (5 kills, 2 solo blocks) and Allie Kleeman (7 aces, 9 digs, some spectacular) provided some highlights while Julie Lo continued her recovery to the tune of 19 assists.

Fri. Oct. 7, Cherry Hill - Sluggish play after a long delay waiting for an official still resulted for a win for West over the Lady Tornadoes of Pennsauken Tech.  Rebecca Pierce had 5 digs and right side Rachel Lee added 3 aces.

Thu. Oct. 6, Pennsauken - West remembered the tough match the Lady Indians gave them in Pennsauken last year and came prepared by serving, passing, digging and attacking aggressively from the start this time around to earn a 2-0 win and a stranglehold on 2nd place in the Patriot Division heading into next Friday's rematch at home with Williamstown.  Kelly McShay led the attack out of the middle with 7 kills while Rebecca Pierce (6 digs, 4 aces and 4 kills) and Kelly Smith (8 digs and 2 solo blocks) led the defensive effort.  After her 2 week absence due to injury, the return of senior setter and captain Julie Lo also inspired the team's effort as she earned 10 assists in just one game of work.

Mon. Oct. 3, Medford - The Lady Lions raised their Patriot Division record to 3-1 with a 2-0 win over the Lady Renegades of Shawnee.  Kelly Smith tallied 5 kills and 7 digs, Aubrey McNally earned 3 aces and 5 digs and Rebecca Pierce added 8 digs.

Fri. Sept. 30, Cherry Hill - Lady Lions not usually able to shine did just that as West defeated Seneca, 2-0.  Senior middle Megan Ryan earned 3 kills while senior setter Vicky Long accumulated 5 assists.  Senior right side Rachel Lee also added 7 aces.

Wed. Sept. 28, Cherry Hill - West made it 2 straight at home with a 2-0 win over Lenape.  An increasingly confident Kelly Smith smashed 6 kills and tallied 6 digs while senior Rebecca Pierce was sharp back in the middle with 2 kills, 3 aces and 9 digs.  A more relaxed approach brought results for junior setter Krista White, too, as she earned 11 assists and 9 aggressive, deep-floater aces.

Mon. Sept. 26, Cherry Hill - After a first game kept close by service errors, the Lady Lions earned their first Patriot Division win by defeating the improved Lady Eagles of Winslow Twp., 2-0.  Senior Rebecca Pierce tallied 6 aces and 4 digs while junior DS Allie Kleeman added another 5 digs.  Setter Krista White continued to make progress with 9 assists.

Fri. Sept. 23, Cherry Hill - Although their early efforts were strong, West fell to Moorestown, one of the new dominant teams in South Jersey, in two games.  Despite being thrust into the role of setter in an entirely different rotation than any she had seen before because of Thursday's injury to Julie Lo, junior setter Krista White performed admirably.  Kelly Smith and Allie Kleeman led the attack with 3 and 2 kills respectively.

Thu. Sept. 22, Williamstown - The Lady Lions first bid to introduce themselves into the Patriot Division race came up short with a 1-2 loss to the Lady Braves of Williamstown.  Hesitancy that created multiple passes and digs that were off the mark limited the West attack while also increasing the effectiveness of the Braves' deep rolls and Nina Camaioni's right side swings.  Kelly Smith led with 7 kills while Aubrey McNally added 6.  The team now holds its collective breath to learn more about long term effects of the knee injury suffered by setter Julie Lo late in game 2.

Tue. Sept. 20, Cherry Hill - Once again, it was an unsatisfying "close but no cigar" for the Lady Lions in a 0-2 loss to East as they were reminded that even in an emotional, cross-town rivalry between experienced teams, in high school girls' volleyball, the team that makes the fewest mistakes will always win.  Although aggressive serving often put the Lady Cougars on their heels, East still more consistently generated an attack from their first two touches than West did.  Kelly Smith led all attackers with 5 kills while Aubrey McNally and Kelly McShay each added 4 off of Julie Lo's 19 assists.

Thu. Sept. 15, Cherry Hill - The always highly-regarded Lady Vikings of Eastern truly found themselves in the Lion's den today as the match was moved to the smaller, louder and hotter Walsh Gym due to mechanical problems in the Jones Gym.  Although the `05 Lady Lions are not a bunch likely to take solace from moral victories instead of real ones, the West side took a huge step toward discovering its potential by way of a tight, heart-breaking loss to one of the American Division's favorites in 3 games, 21-25, 25-21, 20-25.  The Lions' character was admirable as each game featured a recovery from considerable deficits to make each competitive, including the second game's comeback from being down 16-7 for the victory.  A well-rounded attack was led by junior middle Kelly McShay (6 kills, 2 solo blocks), outsides Kelly Smith and Aubrey McNally (5 kills each) and right side Rebecca Pierce (also 5 kills).  Julie Lo turned in the most confident and consistent setting effort of her career with 18 assists.

Tue. Sept. 13, Pleasantville - A long drive down the AC Expressway resulted in a win for the Lady Lions in their opener and first-ever visit to the scrappy, athletic Lady Greyhounds of Pleasantville, a team poised to challenge OLMA for the Freedom Division crown.  Sophomore OH Aubrey McNally led the offensive attack with 5 kills while senior OH Kelly Smith added 3 of her own along with 5 aces.  Senior Rebecca Pierce put up 3 strong, solo blocks at her new right side position and senior setter Julie Lo tallied 16 assists.

Sat. Sept. 10, Voorhees - In their traditional warm-up for the regular season at Eastern's Viking Invitational, things got progressively better and better as the day wore on for the Lady Lions, eventually culminating in the team's first qualification for the tourney's quarterfinals in 5 years.  Not only did the team make the playoffs but they also went on to defeat consistent north Jersey power Clifton, 15-9, before bowing out in the semis in a well-contested 20-25 game against host and eventual tourney champ, Eastern.
          A consistent theme could easily summarize what our team learned about itself today -- that silence, hesitation and lack of self confidence will be bigger enemies for us all season than our opponents will.  Go HERE for complete tourney results.  Also, go HERE to see how Williamstown and several other future Olympic Conference foes fared in Williamstown's own Invitational tournament held the same day.

Tue. Sept. 13, Pleasantville - The Lady Lion JV squad beat Pleasantville 2-1 behind the great serving and defense of sophomore Gillian Arbuthnot, sophomore Rachel Knable, juniors Krista White and Shaina Bradley.  Some fine kills were added by freshman Maria Versace, Rachel and Gillian.