Delaware Valley, Berwick, Holy Redeemer and Blue Ridge all repeated District 2 girls volleyball chances, now they will try to find a way to avoid repeating last year’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association openers when they were all eliminated in straight sets in their first matches.
Even with the return to 16-team brackets, the challenges are significant for District 2, which has never won a girls volleyball state title and does not have a team ranked in the top 10 in any classification.
Delaware Valley, in Class 4A, and Berwick, in Class 3A, each open the state tournament against top-10 teams.
Blue Ridge, in Class A, and Delaware Valley each get to open at home Tuesday while Berwick and Holy Redeemer are on the road.
Wyoming Valley Conference champion Delaware Valley (18-0) faces District 3 runner-up Cumberland Valley, which is 15-2 and ranked ninth among Class 4A teams by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.
Berwick (15-1) is at District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic (15-5). Becahi is ranked sixth in the state in 3A.
Holy Redeemer (13-5) is at District 4 champion Wyalusing Valley (15-6) in Class 2A.
District 4 champion Canton (15-3) is at Lackawanna League Division 2 champion Blue Ridge (16-3). The same two teams met to open last year’s tournament and Canton rolled to a 25-16, 25-16, 25-8 victory.
While Berwick is just making a second straight state appearance as District 2 champion, the others are on long streaks.
Holy Redeemer has played in all 15 state tournaments since the school was created. It also has the district’s most successful state tournament history, including a trip to the 2018 finals and 2016 semifinals.
Delaware Valley has won 12 straight district titles and Blue Ridge has won 8.
