EAST MARLBOROUGH - Just four days after Unionville captured the PIAA District 1 4A girls volleyball title, a scrappy Spring-Ford squad knocked off the district champs, 3-2, in the first round of the PIAA 4A state tournament Tuesday.

Unionville won the first set handily in front of the home crowd, 25-17, but then lost the next two sets, 22-25 and 20-25. With their backs to the wall, the Longhorns won the fourth set 25-18 but in the winner-take-all fifth set, the Rams took a quick 4-0 lead and never trailed, winning 15-7.

Spring-Ford, the fifth-place finisher in the District 1 4A tournament, came into Tuesday's match with an 18-7 record, but five of those losses were just to two squads -- two-time defending PIAA 3A state champion Pope John Paul II and Upper Merion, who finished fourth in the District 1 4A tourney. Both squads play in the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC).

"Playing in the PAC, it's tough to get prepared for those matches (against Pope John Paul II and Upper Merion), we play them competitively, and it prepares us for environments like this," said Spring-Ford girls' volleyball head coach George Fuller. "When you look at our won-loss record, I think people take us lightly because we have more losses than most teams typically have at this point in the season (at states). But you take (Pope John Paul II and Upper Merion) out of our conference and we're a two-loss team, hanging right there with teams like Unionville and Bishop Shanahan."

Unionville came into Tuesday's match with a 19-1 record. The Longhorns' only loss of the regular season was to Bishop Shanahan on Sept. 11. Unionville came into Tuesday's match on a 16-game winning streak.

Unionville head coach Stephanie Smith said, "Spring-Ford is a great team; they have big hitters and they were able to utilize them. We just got out of rhythm - we had a good start, but (later) we just couldn't find our rhythm."

Leading the way for Spring-Ford's big hitters were senior captain Lauren Angelucci, a University of Scranton volleyball commit and junior Lila Olsen. Olsen recorded 18 kills, 16 digs and two blocks, while Angelucci contributed 15 kills and 12 digs Tuesday.

Olsen said, "We knew that Unionville was a great team, and we would have to step it up tonight. We started off slow in the first set, but we figured out what we needed to do, we finally got into that rhythm. We tried to be as scrappy as (Unionville) - we had to pick up every ball, we had to outhustle them, that was our plan."

Angelucci said, "When the game ended, it was such a rush of excitement, this was amazing for us as a team. I think the key tonight was keeping our energy high. If we made a mistake (on the court), we didn't let it get into our head."

Spring-Ford lost to Unionville in the PIAA 4A quarterfinals last year, 3-0, posting scores of 23-25, 26-28 and 17-25.

"That loss was something that's motivated us all season long," said Fuller. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Unionville, they're a fantastic team. We've worked really hard this season on a next-ball mentality. Early in the season, we made mistakes and teams would get on big runs against us -- that would get in our heads, and we would lose a six- or seven-point lead. We (believed) the people who can get past their mistakes the fastest will be the ones who rebound and win more games, and I think we did a fantastic job tonight."

In the opening set, Unionville used an early 8-2 run to build a 13-6 lead that led to a 25-17 victory.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair for the first half, but and 8-3 run by the visitors gave the Rams a 16-12 lead that they never relinquished.

Both Olsen and Angelucci thought the turning point of this match was the second set.

When Olsen was asked if she thought there was a turning point in the match, she replied, "I think when we realized (in the second set) that they were beatable."

Angelucci noted, "After the first set we had to (adjust) to a couple of things."

In the third set, the hosts jumped out to an 8-5 lead, but the Rams rallied with kills by Angelucci and Olsen and took a 16-13 lead. Unionville tied the score at 16-16, but down the stretch the visitors closed out the set in the Unionville gym on a 9-4 run.

Fuller noted the Rams' toughness playing on the road, which he said was developed after Spring-Ford lost in the district quarterfinals to Upper Merion, 3-2.

"That loss really, really hurt because we beat them in the first two sets and we thought (beating Upper Merion) was going to be our path to states. We learned a lot from that match going into district playbacks. Being on the road for all of these games, this (on the road) is like our comfort zone right now."

In the fourth set, it was Unionville's turn to be resilient. The Longhorns trailed 9-6 early but went on a 9-3 run to take the lead for good. Unionville closed on a 6-1 run, which included some fine play up front from Maeve Stokes and Leah Wiswall for a 25-18 win.

In the final set, Spring-Ford led all the way. The Rams took a 4-0 lead, then after a Unionville timeout, the Longhorns scored the next three points. Spring-Ford then went on a 5-1 run, highlighted by a couple of Olsen kills.

With Unionville trailing 9-4, the Longhorns called their final time out of the set, but then the Rams continued their momentum as some good hitting by Spring-Ford's Elle Sossong helped the visitors move out to a 13-5 lead.

With Unionville's back to the wall, the Longhorns' Stalena Van Deusen delivered a couple of timely hits to cut the visitors' lead to 13-7 but that was as close as the Longhorns came.

Fuller said, "We match up well with Unionville offensively. I'd also like to mention our libero, Alanna Bricker, who played fantastic tonight (25 digs, five assists, three aces)."

Spring-Ford sophomore Marley Angelucci also was a major contributor, with 35 assists, 12 digs, three aces and two kills.

The Rams advance to play Parkland in the state quarterfinals Saturday. Should Spring-Ford defeat Parkland, it will be the furthest the Rams ever have advanced at states.

For Unionville, the loss ended the Longhorns' 2024 season - a campaign that Smith said had many positives.

"I'm so proud of this team - to do what they did in the regular season and in district playoffs, I'm so proud of them," said Smith. "Obviously, tonight didn't go the way we wanted it to, but there are a lot of positive things to take out of this (season), and we have a lot of strong returning players next year."