Greensburg Central Catholic captures 4th WPIAL girls volleyball championship

By: Jeremy Sellew
Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 6:29 PM

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Coming into the WPIAL Class A volleyball championship game, No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic had no lack of motivation to face No. 1 Frazier at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

The Commodores picked up a pair of victories in section play over the Centurions, winning 3-2 in a reverse sweep on GCC’s floor and 3-1 three weeks later.

Saturday was significantly different.

The Centurions were dominant and easily swept the Commodores, 3-0, to capture the program’s fourth WPIAL title and first since 2016. The Centurions won by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-15.

“This senior class set this goal four years ago, to win this championship,” GCC coach Erin Salas said. “Frazier is a great team, and the girls put in a ton of work. We watched a lot of film, and we switched some things up in our lineup heading into Eden Christian that we have been successful with.”

The biggest change was a rotation switch to keep junior Ashlyn Black in the lineup longer.

The move paid off.

The junior finished with a team-high 24 kills and was dominant every time she touched the ball.

“We didn’t have an answer for her, just couldn’t stop her,” Frazier coach Mandy Hartman said. “Every time she touched the ball, she scored. I just think we let the ‘wow’ factor of her affect our blocking.”

The Commodores chose the absolute worst time to have their worst game of the season, committing 30 total errors in the loss.

“We had a lot of young players out there. Maddy Salisbury did a good job. She stepped up. My two seniors did a really good job,” Hartman said.

“I don’t think we executed or even tried to do one thing that we’ve been practicing. It was like we couldn’t even think. That’s a little nerve-wracking.”

The Commodores (15-4) committed 13 errors in the first set but still remained even at 17-17 until six straight errors helped the Centurions take a 23-17 lead and roll to the finish.

“We utilized our players in different ways,” Salas said. “They heavily focused on our two big hitters, so we shifted some things and put the ball in different places.

“Our defense was spectacular from Brianna Evans and Abbie Dei. They were getting to everything they threw at us.”

The second set was the closest, but in the end it was Black delivering 10 of her kills to help push her team to the win.

In the third, the Commodores didn’t show the fire that led them to their reverse sweep win in September.

“I gotta say, I didn’t have confidence in a situation like that prevailing,” Hartman said. “It’s one of those things where you can’t get it started. The head space and the mindset for that to happen was gone. I don’t think we had the proper attitude to reverse sweep anyone today.”

After a Frazier timeout trailing 18-15 in the third, the Commodores never scored another point.

The Centurions rattled off the next seven points to clinch the championship.

Black delivered three of them, and Frazier’s Salisbury hit a ball into the net to wrap up the match. Salisbury had nine kills to lead Frazier.

“All these girls put in the work,” Salas said. “Our defense was phenomenal. Our philosophy has been one point at a time. That’s what they did today.”

Maura Oslosky had 34 assists for the Centurions, who likely will host a first-round PIAA playoff game against the District 9 runner-up Tuesday.

The Commodores will travel to District 10 to face champion Saegertown.

Tags: Frazier, Greensburg C.C.