Greensburg Central Catholic volleyball beats St. Joseph in matchup of playoff teams

By: Michael Love
Monday, October 14, 2024 | 9:33 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls volleyball team used its experience and skill Monday evening to defeat St. Joseph, 3-0, in a nonsection game at St. Joseph’s Walter Dublak Athletic Center.

The Centurions improved to 12-3 overall. They wrapped up Section 4-A play last week with a 6-2 record and finished runner-up to Frazier (8-0).

GCC hosts Eden Christian on Tuesday.

“I’ve said it all along how proud I am of these girls,” Centurions coach Erin Salas said. “From start to finish, they have been playing really strong as a team. They’ve put in the work. Now, we’re prepping for playoffs, and we want to make sure we’re playing our best.”

The teams could meet again in the WPIAL playoffs, as both are securely in the Class A field.

The playoff pairings tentatively are to be released Friday afternoon.

GCC and St. Joseph were section rivals as recently as last year before they were separated by the WPIAL’s offseason realignment for the current two-year cycle.

“This was a good test for the girls,” Salas said. “St. Joseph is a very good team. The girls all know each other from club. I am glad we were able to play this match.”

St. Joseph still has a lot in front of it this week with the opportunity to play for a section championship Thursday.

The Spartans, 13-3 overall, lead Section 1-A at 8-0, one game ahead of Apollo-Ridge (7-1).

St. Joseph plays Riverview (0-8) on senior night Tuesday, and Apollo-Ridge hosts Aquinas (5-3).

“They are deep, they have really good serves and they’re strong at the net,” St. Joseph coach Ann McCarthy said of GCC.

“It just wasn’t our night. We have a lot better team than we showed. The girls are excited to go after the (program’s) first-ever section title and hopefully put a banner up in the gym. That would really mean a lot to us to put a banner up. We’re also hoping to win a playoff game. We’ve never done that either.”

GCC opened a 7-0 lead in the first set before St. Joseph rallied to tie it 7-7. The teams went back and forth from there until the Centurions prevailed 25-23.

The second set saw GCC lead 20-15 en route to a 25-15 victory.

On the strength of five service points from Maura Oslosky, including two aces, the Centurions grabbed a quick 5-0 lead to start the third set.

A kill from junior Ashlyn Black made it 11-2. The lead swelled to as much as 11 points at 15-4.

But St. Joseph kept fighting.

A kill from junior Kate Giannetta — she finished with a team-best 11 — brought the Spartans to within 17-8 and forced a GCC timeout.

A few points later, a kill from senior Veronica McCarthy brought the hosts to within nine again at 20-11.

But kills from Black and seniors Erin Grace and Eva Denis put GCC on the edge of victory.

Denis then delivered the final kill for a 25-15 win, which closed out the match.

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: Greensburg C.C., St. Joseph