By DENNY DYROFF, Staff Writer

WEST GROVE — This was supposed to be Bishop Shanahan's toughest challenge in its pursuit of its sixth consecutive Ches-Mont League title. If any team in the National Division was going to pose a serious threat the Eagles' dominance this season, it would be Avon Grove. And the Red Devils would have a much better chance in their home match rather than in the Eagles' gym.

Tuesday afternoon, Shanahan put its perfect season record — and its number two ranking in the PVCA (Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association) poll -- on the line when it traveled to West Grove to face the Red Devils, who were also undefeated in division play.

While there were stretches of good competition, the serious threat was never posed. The tough challenge never materialized as the Eagles posted a 3-0 sweep and won all three games by comfortable margins - 25-13, 25-17, 25-17.

"The great thing was that we came out in the first game and set the tone for the match," said Shanahan coach Greg Ashman, whose team is now 7-0. "It was tight up to seven or eight. Then we pulled away and built a good lead. Amanda (Nickels) had an eight-point service run that really separated the game."

Nickels, a hard-hitting senior, said, "This was the game we were looking forward to. We got so excited and pumped up. We put everything we had into it. We wanted to show them how good we are - to show them no mercy, basically. The first game was our best game."

Avon Grove was hit hard by graduation but still returned a lot of power at the net with MacKenzie Kleespies and Rhiannon Fiala. Unfortunately for the Devils, their maturation process was not speedy enough to prepare them for their first encounter with the deep, talented and experienced Eagles.

"It was a little disappointing today," said Fiala, a senior. "We're a very young team and we knew Shanahan was a strong team. They're

definitely the toughest team we've played this season. They're strong all over. We weren't used to getting blocks back in our faces."

The Eagles have not only been getting stellar play from their veteran trio of net standouts Emily Carlin, Maria Ficca and Nickels, they also have been getting power surges from Nicole Lott, Susan Frick and Summer Jaros.

"We played against a lot of tall teams last Saturday in the tournament at Haverford and that helped us see the blocks today," said Frick. "In practice, we've been working a lot on serve and serve-receive and they went well. We just wanted to play with intensity every game and keep our energy at a high level."

Avon Grove hung tough in the second game and used a strong service run by Kleespies to close to within a point at 17-16. But Frick smothered any upset hopes the Red Devils might have been harboring when she served five straight points to put the game out of reach.

The third game also was a close affair for the first half when Shanahan held a two-point advantage at 12-10. Ficca picked her team up with a four-point service run that pushed the Eagles' lead to 17-10. The teams traded points for the remainder of the contest with Shanahan finishing on top by eight.