Quaker Valley battles past Southmoreland to advance to Class 2A volleyball finals

By: Ted Sarneso
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 9:22 PM

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On the surface, the WPIAL Class 2A semifinal between top-seeded Quaker Valley and No. 5 Southmoreland appeared to be a battle throughout.

However, neither coach was happy with how their team played.

“We just need more energy on the court,” said Southmoreland coach Michelle Pergar. “I think that’s something we need to tweak before our next match.”

Said Quaker Valley coach Mike Vavrek: “I like that we won and found a way to move on, but, overall, we weren’t very crisp in our gameplay.”

Each school was looking for its first trip to the WPIAL finals.

In the end, the Quakers came out on top, sweeping the Scotties, 3-0, by scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 26-24 in the Class 2A semifinals at North Allegheny on Tuesday night.

“We are so excited,” said senior Quaker Valley setter Vanessa Pickett. “It was an expectation we had at the beginning of the year and the fact that we got it, we’re all ecstatic.”

The first set of the match was a back-and-forth battle until the Quakers (17-2) pulled away. In the second set, the Quakers took advantage of Southmoreland’s lack of communication and took a commanding lead.

In the third set, the Quakers jumped out to an 11-2 lead behind a stellar performance from senior outside hitter Nora Hammond, who put up five service points, including two aces.

Pergar was not happy with how the team looked and used a timeout to regroup.

After the huddle, the Scotties (16-4) found new life and started to whittle away at the Quakers lead after the score read 14-4.

Southmoreland made it 16-13 behind Quaker Valley hitting long on three kills and some miscommunication as players nearly ran into each other for return volleys.

Junior libero Ainsley Martin added an ace, and senior middle hitter Taylor Doppleheuer had two kills.

The Scotties came all the way back and tied the set 19-19 on a pair of blocks from Doppleheuer and a kill from senior Makayla Etling.

“We were up big in that third game and we relaxed a bit, which caused us to be sloppy and lazy,” said Vavrek.

The teams continued to trade points to a 20-20 tie and Doppleheuer gave the Scotties their first lead of the set 21-20 with her third kill.

“The girls are used to working hard no matter what situation they’re in,” said Pergar.

The teams kept it close and as Quaker Valley was looking for match point, senior setter Riley Puckey brought the game even at 24-24.

Hammond produced a kill of her own to give match point back to the Quakers ,and Pickett finished off the match with a block.

“I am proud of what they did in that third set,” said Pergar. “Looking at the match as a whole, these girls are better than what they showed tonight and we need to work on that for our next match.”

The first set opened up with the teams trading points, but Southmoreland was the first to get to a two-point edge with an 11-9 lead.

The Quakers then took over with solid blocks, strong kills and good communication to take a 21-16 lead.

The Scotties’ Zoey Welling was the catalyst for a comeback. With Welling serving, the Quakers found trouble returning, and Welling racked up three straight aces to bring Southmoreland to within 22-20.

After Quaker Valley finally was finally able to return a serve against Welling, Quakers libero Carmen Forsythe served her team to a 25-20 first set win.

Sophomore Morgan Riddle opened the second set for the Scotties with a kill. On the next volley, Doppleheuer laid down a soft tip for a Scotties 2-1 lead.

With a beautiful fake set and dump from Pickett, Quaker Valley jumped to an 8-4 lead.

From there, the Quakers capitalized on Southmoreland errors for a 20-13 lead.

Quaker Valley took advantage to win the second set 25-17.

“We need to work on our communication, getting excited and bringing each other together,” said Pergar. “We’re the underdogs, and we need to come out hungry, gain respect and show our opponents we’re a team to be feared.”

The Scotties will take on the loser of Tuesday’s late game between No. 2 seed Neshannock and No. 3 Hopewell. That third-place game will be played Thursday night and will be to seed the teams heading to the PIAA playoffs. The final four teams in the WPIAL bracket qualify.

Quaker Valley will play the winner of Neshannock and Hopewell for the title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Peters Township.

The Quakers understand there is still work to be done to refine their game.

“It’s a great accomplishment to make the finals,” said Pickett. “We need to work on staying calm and working as a team. We didn’t do it the way we wanted to, but it all worked out in the end.”

Tags: Quaker Valley, Southmoreland