Kiski Area volleyball sweeps Plum in nonsection play

By: Michael Love
Monday, October 9, 2023 | 9:33 PM

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Plum and Kiski Area teams are no strangers to each other as the schools match up in multiple sports across fall, winter and spring.

The Mustangs and Cavaliers girls volleyball teams continued that series Monday with a nonsection matchup at Kiski Area High School.

With both teams hoping to build momentum heading in their section stretch runs, it was Kiski Area that got the better of Plum in a 3-0 sweep.

The Cavaliers won with set scores of 25-15, 25-23, and 25-18 and improved to 8-6 overall .

“Plum is a good team, and we want to schedule those teams in our nonsection schedule,” Kiski Area coach Dakoda Fickes said. “It makes us better for when we get back into section play. Plum and Kiski is definitely an underrated rivalry for high school sports. It’s back and forth every year between every sport, from football to basketball to volleyball. It’s a pretty intense rivalry. The girls played well tonight. It was a good win.”

Kiski Area, 4-4 in Section 5-3A and in a battle for a playoff spot with Franklin Regional (5-4) and Indiana (5-4), pays a visit to Highlands on Tuesday before hosting Greensburg Salem on Thursday.

The Cavaliers also are eyeing rematches with Latrobe (7-1) and Franklin Regional next week. The Wildcats and Panthers meet Tuesday.

“It was nice to get a good win against a team like Plum to help us with our confidence and building momentum for the rest of our section matches,” Kiski junior libero Maddie Joyce said. “We started off quick, but (Plum) kept fighting. It was a pretty tough match, but we played well together.”

Plum, third place at 6-3 in Section 1-3A behind Hampton and Gateway, returns to section play Tuesday at home against Woodland Hills before visiting West Mifflin on Thursday.

“We switched our lineup a little bit just to put some new faces out there, and they had to hold each other accountable with that,” Plum coach Rachel Satira said. “It was just a tough match for us. We were trying to find our place and find what was working, but it just came a little too late.

“We have to learn from this match, and they know they have a good chance of finishing the section strong with wins. We can’t let this match get us down. We have more work to do. They know they can be better.”

Down two games and with their backs against the wall, the Mustangs established their biggest lead of the third set, 11-6, on a tap kill from senior Kate Joyce. That forced a Cavaliers timeout.

Another tap kill from Joyce put Plum ahead 13-8 before Kiski Area made its comeback.

An ace by sophomore Gia Devito gave the Cavaliers the lead for good at 18-17. She added two more aces as part of a 7-1 run that closed out a 25-18 victory and the match sweep.

“The girls played good defense, and they showed maturity to be able to come back and get the lead in the third set,” Fickes said. “We had some nice play from some of the underclassmen.”

Everything was working for the Cavaliers, from serving and defense to passing, blocking and hitting, as they established themselves in the first set.

Kiski Area jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a kill and another hit from senior hitter Chloe Welshans, a block from sophomore Makayla Kiebler and a couple of Plum miss-hits.

Sophomore Mackenzie Marotta got Plum on the board with a tap kill, but the Cavaliers used a 6-0 run, capped by a hit from Maddie Joyce, to take control.

Kiski Area built the lead to 18-4 and 20-5. Plum strung some late points together with a 6-0 run on a combination of strong play at the net and a couple of Kiski errors, but a Mustangs carry violation at the net ended the set at 25-15 in the Cavaliers’ favor.

Plum came out in set two looking to tie the match and opened a 6-2 lead. But Kiski Area came back and moved ahead 8-7 on a Kiebler kill.

The Cavaliers never trailed after that, but as they did in the first set, the Mustangs made it interesting down the stretch.

Kiski Area led 24-19, but Plum used a 4-0 run with two Cavalier hits that landed beyond the end line and back-to-back blocks.

The second block, a combo effort from junior Lilliana Davis and senior Maria Hunter, closed the score to 24-23.

But a hit from Cavaliers senior Isabella Delia at the net wasn’t returned by the Plum defense, and Kiski Area won 25-23 to go ahead 2-0.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Plum