A-K Valley high school notebook: Deer Lakes volleyball gets seeded 12th

By: Doug Gulasy
Monday, May 13, 2019 | 6:06 PM

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Deer Lakes will face an uphill battle as it attempts to continue its recent WPIAL boys volleyball playoff success.

The Lancers drew the No. 12 seed in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs and a first-round match at No. 5 Bishop Canevin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner advancing to play No. 4 Ambridge or No. 13 Stee Valley in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Thursday at Derry.

Deer Lakes is making its 14th consecutive playoff appearance and advanced to at least the semifinals the past three seasons. The Lancers finished fourth in Section 2-AA after graduating the bulk of their 2018 rotation.

Borghol’s back

Freeport will get a boost to its lineup with the WPIAL softball playoffs about to begin.

Sophomore outfielder Maya Borghol, out since the preseason because of a lingering back injury, is expected to return to the Yellowjackets’ lineup in some capacity for their Class 3A first-round game against Ellwood City at 4 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny.

Borghol, who first felt pain after an Ohio Outlaws recruiting camp last summer, underwent spinal fusion surgery in late August after getting diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, caused by a slipping of the vertebra, and a herniated disk in her lower back. She played in some of Freeport’s preseason exhibitions but was shut down after feeling pain.

The speedy Borghol was one of Freeport’s leading hitters as a freshman, batting .405 with three homers and 14 RBIs. She also was 8 for 8 on stolen-base attempts.

Hutch and go

Noah Hutcherson will go from Valley to the Mountain Cats.

Valley’s senior wrestling standout announced his commitment Monday to Pitt-Johnstown, one of the top Division II wrestling programs.

Very proud to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown??. Thank you guys for the support over these past years pic.twitter.com/zQWhIaHGoa

— noah hutcherson??‍♂️? (@Noah_Hutch14) May 13, 2019

A four-year starter at Valley, Hutcherson had his best season as a senior. The 170-pounder posted a 29-9 record, won a Section 3-AA championship and finished runner-up at the WPIAL championships, fourth at the PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional and fifth at the PIAA championships, winning his first state medal in his first Hershey appearance.

Pitt-Johnstown won its fourth consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship and the NCAA Super Region I Tournament title last season.

Site/time change

Leechburg’s first-round WPIAL softball playoff game has a new time and location.

The Blue Devils’ Class A matchup against Quigley Catholic will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny. The game originally was scheduled for 4 p.m. at Seneca Valley.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Deer Lakes, Freeport, Leechburg, Valley