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Friday presented a dilemma here at FF- girls soccer or boys volleyball? On one hand, the girls were playing at King's college, which is a nicer facility than they will usually see. On the other, volleyball is the last season that will feature a Finkernagel for the foreseeable future, so it would be a shame to miss a game there. Either way, there was a Wingert in the picture. In the true spirit of compromise, our staff decided to cover both, and hope for the best. Luck was with us all, as the sun favored pictures in the first half of the soccer match, and the volleyball game lasted (dragged on) long enough to allow our staff time to catch all of the Varsity and some of the JV action.

First off were the girls, facing North Pocono in an early season match. There are lots of words that spring to mind while trying to describe the nature of the play- Lopsided is probably the most kind. The Lady Royals were up 6-0 when our staff had to leave, and reliable reports tell us that the remaining minutes were no different. Some sure signs that the game is going your way-

Christina Flaherty is taking over in goal this year. While we are familiar with her adventures on the basketball court, we have been looking forward to getting some shots of her in action on the pitch as well. This was as much action as she saw in the first half. Sorry Christina- we'll get better shots of you on a day when the other team manages a shot.

Sometimes, play becomes so one-sided that the team on the defensive side just never bothers to try an attack. They become so entrenched in their own end that it just doesn't feel worth it to send some players forward, because the ball is just coming right back at you anyway. It then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy- if you expect to defend, you will defend. Coaches will yell insightful comments from the sideline like "Push Up!" to correct this; It's a very bad sign when it happens in the first 10 minutes.

There are high expectations for this team, but surely not every game will be so easy. Thankfully you can savor this victory over and over with the photos from Friday.

Boys volleyball then rounded out the day, as our staff hurried back to the HR gym to see the battle against Abington Heights. After the Royals dropped the JV match, there was some concern among our staff. HR has seemed a little "out-of-sync" lately, and AH looked sharp in warm-ups. The games told a different, but familiar story (take note, that link will take you to last year's match photos), however, as your Royals powered to a 3-0 victory, behind some solid play from several team members. Give some special credit to Steve Covert, who has re-invented his serve this year into one that might even be more effective than last year's. It's hard to tell from those shots, but last year's was more of a power-jump serve, this year's is more of a sissy-mary push serve. Last year's was more exciting to watch, but you can't argue with 18 service points.

On to the match photos.

Entire site is here, as always.