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All it takes is one team to ruin a near-perfect season.
For South Philly resident Glory Epelle, of 20th and Mifflin streets, and her Masterman girls’ volleyball teammates it’s those Central Lancers.
Just like last season, her Blue Dragons advanced to the Public League championship game with an undefeated record, including a regular season win over Central. But those pesky Lancers last Thursday were the ones celebrating at Community College of Philadelphia following their 3-2 victory.
"Central is like our arch-nemesis," the 17-year-old said. "Whenever we go to battle it’s do or die. The last two years we haven’t been able to beat them in the [Public League championship game]. There is so much more emotion involved."
Prior to last year’s loss to the Lancers, Masterman won 28 straight matches against its Public League competition. The program also had taken 10 Public League titles since 1986, with the most recent coming in fall 2003.
Masterman, a magnet school, and Central split the first four games, with the Blue Dragons winning the first and third contests, both with scores of 26-24. With two apiece, they went to a fifth-game tiebreaker with the Lancers coming out on top, 15-10.
"It was a big disappointment, but we still played hard," said Epelle, who plays travel volleyball with the Philadelphia Starlings.
But there is no time for Epelle to get hung up over another heartbreaking defeat. The Blue Dragons immediately started focusing on Tuesday afternoon’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association first-round game against Merion Mercy at Northeast High School. Masterman qualified for the state tournament with last Tuesday’s 3-0 win over CAPA, which gave it the District XII AA crown. Masterman also defeated CAPA for the 2003 Public League crown and last year’s district title.
"Against CAPA, we played good volleyball," Epelle said. "We had good passing, good setting and everything flowed better. Against Central our passing wasn’t up to par."
Tuesday, the Blue Dragons also fell short of winning the PIAA Class AA first-round game, losing 3-0 to Merion Mercy.
THIS SEASON, EPELLE played a bigger role in Masterman’s success by serving as team co-captain and pumping her teammates up before matches. She enjoys playing the sport so much, it’s not uncommon to find Epelle and her teammates in the school’s third-floor gymnasium during off periods playing pick-up volleyball. At Masterman, the sport takes top billing with the girls.
"I play volleyball because I love it," Epelle said. "I just happen to be good at it."
Playing for the Starlings with the majority of her Masterman teammates has allowed Epelle to face competition as far west as California and south as Baltimore. She is considering the possibility of playing on the college level, including such schools as the University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland Baltimore County and Princeton.
Of course, she still has the spring to look forward to as she serves as team manager for the Masterman boys’ volleyball team.
The only thing missing is that championship win over Central. Instead of reflecting on those two losses, Epelle will remember the good times.
"I love my team," she said. "We have good chemistry."
