Freeport fends off Armstrong in Class 3A volleyball thriller
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Tuesday, November 2, 2021 | 11:48 PM
Freeport’s Hadley Hellgren taps the ball back against Armstrong’s Kate Remaley during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Freeport’s Sidney Selker hits against Armstrong’s Jaide Dudek and Kali Allensworth during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Armstrong’s Emory Rumbaugh with a kill against Freeport during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Freeport’s Erica Lampus hits against Armstrong’s Jade Dudek during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Freeport’s Sidney Selker with a dig against Armstong during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Freeport’s Cassidy Dell with a kill against Armstrong’s Kali Allensworth during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Armstrong’s Emry Rumbaugh with a dig against Freeport during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Freeport’s Sydney Selker tries to save the ball in against Armstrong during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Armstrong’s Cassidy Adams makes a play during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
Armstrong’s Cassidy Adams with a kill against Freeport’s Cassidy Dell during a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball semifinal Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021 at Gateway High School.
The Freeport girls volleyball team is back in the WPIAL championship game.
The top-seeded Yellowjackets lost the first game of their WPIAL Class 3A semifinal match with section rival and fifth-seeded Armstrong on Tuesday.
But Freeport won three of the remaining four games, including the deciding Game 5 by a 17-15 score, to wrap up a wild 3-2 victory.
“We just had to stay composed and play together as a team, and we did that,” junior setter Cassidy Dell said. “We knew Armstrong was going to give us everything they had. We were prepared for a close match.”
Freeport opened an 8-2 lead in Game 5, but Armstrong used a 7-0 run to gain a 9-8 advantage.
The game was tied at 9-9, and the Yellowjackets and River Hawks traded points all the way to 15-15.
A block from senior Erica Lampus and sophomore Autumn English was successful, and Freeport gained a 16-15 lead.
Then an Armstrong hitting error at the net gave the Yellowjackets the match-deciding point.
Freeport, which also beat Armstrong twice in section play, will face No. 3 Hampton for the title at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Robert Morris University’s UPMC Events Center.
The Yellowjackets and Talbots, also rivals in Section 5, split their section series and finished as section co-champions with 11-1 records.
“We know Hampton really well, and it should be a great match,” said Dell, who led the team in assists in Tuesday’s match.
Freeport, now 18-1 overall, will be gunning for its second WPIAL title in three years, its first in Class 3A, and its sixth since 2010.
Despite the loss, Armstrong (12-4) is not done. All four semifinalists, including Hampton and Plum, will enter the PIAA playoffs set to begin next Tuesday.
The other semifinal between the No. 3 Talbots and No. 7 Mustangs also went five games. Hampton rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.
Armstrong seized the lead in the match with a 25-18 victory in Game 1. Junior outside hitter Cassidy Adams hit into a Freeport block, and the ball got down to give the River Hawks the game-ending point.
Freeport rallied from an 18-13 deficit to win Game 2. Dell had a trio of successful hits for Freeport down the stretch in the 25-22 victory.
The Yellowjackets took the lead for the first time in Game 3 at 5-4, and they built on it from there for a 25-18 win. English put down a kill for the final point.
Armstrong didn’t fold its tent in Game 4. The River Hawks gained the lead at 18-17 and didn’t relinquish it en route to a 25-20 victory.
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.
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