Greensburg CC girls volleyball looking to complete goal with state championship

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, November 14, 2024 | 7:32 PM

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When the Greensburg Central Catholic girls volleyball set goals for the 2024 season, winning a PIAA title was not one of them.

“They wanted to reach the WPIAL championship game and win,” GCC coach Erin Salas said. “Now they have reset those goals. They want to win the PIAA title.”

With their 3-2 victory against Frazier on Tuesday, the Centurions find themselves in the gold-medal match against District 3 champion Linville Hill at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School.

Linville Hill, which won its first district title, is making its first appearance in the state finals. It defeated District 1 champion Faith Christian Academy, 3-1, in the semifinals.

Linville Hill rolled to 3-0 wins against Northern Cambria and Mountain View to improve to 21-4.

Kaley Higgins, Desiree Smucker, Courtney Good and Lyndi Esh help lead a strong defense by Linville Hill.

They are facing a GCC team that also plays outstanding defense.

Junior Ashlyn Black, senior Eva Denis, senior Evelyn Viehl, senior Erin Grace, senior Brianna Evans and senior Abigail Dei lead the Centurions.

Black, a lefty, leads the Centurions in kills.

In many games, she is the Centurions go-to player.

In the victory against Frazier, Greensburg Central Catholic jumped out to big leads and held on for 25-23 victories to take a 2-0 lead.

But Frazier bounced back to win Games 3 and 4, 25-21 and 25-8.

During that fourth game, Salas had a concerned look on her face as Frazier took it to her squad.

“We looked a little bit like we were just going to lay down in Game 4,” Salas said. “But before the fifth set, we talked about that we do not want this to be a repeat.

“We’ve been putting in so much work, and they’re a very good team. So, we decided to go point-by-point.”

Salas’ squad responded.

They scored the first points of Game 5 and went on for a 15-8 win.

“We wanted it more,” Evans said. “We weren’t going to lose.”

“We were mentally tougher,” Denis said. “We were not going to be denied. We did not let them get into our heads.”

Salas said: “This is a good group, and nothing has come easy for them. Getting the lead in Game 5 was huge.”

As for Linville Hill, Salas did not know much about them.

“I didn’t know much about Clarion-Limestone or West Branch, either,” Salas said. “We’ll just play our game and see what happens.”

And that’s worked well so far in the playoffs.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.