By Don Beideman

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Last season, Bishop Shanahan split its Ches-Mont League volleyball matches with Avon Grove, then lost to the Red Devils in the District 1 Class AAA playoffs.

That quarterfinal loss cost the Eagles a chance to go on to the PIAA playoffs. The Red Devils made it to the state playoffs and finished third.

That scenario was certainly on the mind of the Eagles, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association's weekly poll, when they met the Red Devils Tuesday in their first league meeting of the season.

"Revenge wasn't our main focus. We just wanted to make sure we came out strong. But you tend to remember those things," Shanahan's Emily Carlin said, referring to her team's fate last season.

And come out strong the visiting Eagles did en route to a sweep of Avon Grove, 25-13, 25-17, 25-17.

The win lifted the Eagles' unbeaten mark to 7-0 overall, 7-0 in league play. They have lost just one set in their seven matches, that coming in a 3-1 nonleague victory over Spring-Ford.

It was the first loss for Avon Grove in seven matches, seven of them in league play.

"We certainly played our strongest in the first set," said Carlin, who led the Eagles with 10 kills.

That was evident as the Eagles built up a 10-4 lead in the set. The Red Devils managed to close that to 15-11, but the Eagles scored six of the last seven points to seal it. A bullet by Maria Ficca on a beautiful set by Carlin put the exclamation point on the first-set win.

"I was trying to convince them to play our game, not to press," Avon Grove assistant coach Marlene Fiala said.

In the second set, the Red Devils ran off six straight points to take a 10-9 lead. The Eagles then collected four straight points to take a 13-10 lead that they did not relinquish.

Amanda Nickels had 10 blocks for the Eagles, one more than Carlin. MacKenzie Kleespies had 10 kills for Avon Grove, while Rhiannon Fiala contributed nine blocks.