High school roundup for Oct. 17, 2019: Trinity, Ellis School score first WPIAL wins

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 17, 2019 | 11:27 PM

Hannah Abbondanza scored twice to lead Trinity (8-7-1) to a 6-0 victory over Laurel Highlands (7-11-0) in a Class AAA girls soccer preliminary round match Thursday night. It’s the first WPIAL playoff victory in program history. Olivia Mauro, Courtney Lowe, Alyssa Clutter and Courtney Dahlquist also scored for Trinity, which will face top-seeded Mars in the first round on Monday.

Ellis School 5, Beth-Center 1 — Ellis School (6-9-2) also recorded the first WPIAL victory in school history, winning a Class A preliminary match over Beth-Center (8-10-0). Ellis will face undefeated Freedom in the first round Monday.

Boys soccer

Beaver County Christian 3, Riverview 0 — Beaver County Christian (7-8-1) scored a pair of goals within the first 15 minutes of play and added a third for some insurance in the latter stages of the second half to defeat Riverview (7-8-0) in a WPIAL Class A preliminary-round game at Hampton.

“We didn’t come out the way we wanted to, and they caught us quick and put us behind the eight ball,” Raiders coach Mickey Namey said. “They have speed and are aggressive. We just couldn’t find a goal to get the momentum back after we went down 2-0.”

Senior Mark McClelland made 13 saves in net for the Raiders.

BCC advances to the main draw and will face No. 1 seed Winchester Thurston on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Moon.

The playoff game was a quick turnaround for the Raiders, who played their final regular season game against Burrell less than 24 hours earlier.

“We played the hand we were dealt,” Namey said. “Their legs were a little tired from yesterday, but they came out and gave a great effort. They were in good spirits after the game.”

Namey said he was very proud of the way his small roster of players performed throughout the season.

“I don’t think anyone expected us to be where we were,” he said. “We had 14 guys most of the year and played some games with 12. Some guys never left the field. They played with heart and never quit. It was a good year. Hopefully, we can get back here next year.”

Girls volleyball

Freeport 3, Deer Lakes 1 — Deer Lakes girls volleyball did something not too many teams in Section 5-AA have done the last few years: They took a set off of Freeport.

But after falling behind early, the second-ranked Yellowjackets (14-0, 12-0) regrouped and played like a team that has won 15 consecutive section titles en route to 24-26, 25-10, 25-15, 25-15 victory.

“Senior night is one of those things can work for you or against you,” Freeport coach Tom Phillips said. “Take nothing away from Deer Lakes, because they played a great game that first game, but we made some uncharacteristic mistakes that got us in trouble.”

The Lancers (8-6, 8-4) came out and took the lead in the first set and held it until a 3-0 run capped by a kill by Isabella Russo gave Freeport a 24-23 lead.

Deer Lakes got a timely kill from Renee Robson that tied it, and consecutive hitting errors by the Yellowjackets gave the Lancers the win.

“We did something that nobody else can say they did this year so far,” Deer Lakes coach Terry Gaston said. “But they are who they are. They really don’t make any mistakes.”

Freeport took advantage of 14 hitting errors by the Lancers in the second set and cruised to victory.

Then the Yellowjackets built sizable leads in the third and fourth sets on its way to closing out the match.

“We started to be a little more aggressive serving the ball,” Phillips said. “At first we were going through the motions, and in the second game, we started to bear down a little bit. I told them that good teams can get their claws out and go play, and we were able to do that.”

Isabella Russo and Lauren Lampus had 15 kills apiece for the Yellowjackets. Desiree Herman led Deer Lakes with seven kills, and Cameron Simurda had six kills.

Shaler 3, North Hills 1 — Mia Schubert had 20 kills and three aces to help Shaler (7-5) to a 21-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-19 Section 1-AAAA victory. Addie Kania had seven kills and 19 digs. Tia Bozzo had 16 digs and 35 assists.

Moon 3, Oakland Catholic 0 — Molly Simmons had 14 kills and three blocks as Moon finished Section 2-AAAA play with an 11-3 record. Abby Santacroce had 26 digs.

Plum 3, Penn Hills 0 — The Mustangs wrapped up Section 3-AAAA play with a three-set victory over Penn Hills. Plum (4-12, 3-9) won with game scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-14. Makayla Jackson led the way with 17 kills, and Francesca Iervoline added 19 digs.

Knoch 3, New Castle 0 — The Class AAA No. 1 Knights (17-0, 14-0) had no trouble with New Castle as they closed out their Section 4 slate with a senior-night sweep. Knoch, which won with set scores of 25-11, 25-13 and 25-10, finished undefeated in section play for the third year in a row. Skylar Burkett led the Knights with eight kills, and Kennedy Christy added seven kills in the victory.

Belle Vernon 3, Yough 2 — Mandy Fine had nine kills and 12 service points to lead Belle Vernon (4-10) to a 25-19, 17-25, 25-15, 22-25, 15-7 Section 3-AAA victory. Allie Brooks added 22 digs.

Serra Catholic 3, South Allegheny 0 — Grace Fazio had eight kills and Hannah Kessler added six aces as Serra Catholic beat South Allegheny in Section 4-AA.

Derry 3, Apollo Ridge 0 — Hannah Wedow had eight digs and five kills to lead Derry to a 25-16, 25-7, 25-18 victory over Apollo Ridge in Section 5-AA. Rylee Ellis had 11 kills and eight aces. Kamryn Kelly added seven kills.

Burrell 3, Valley 0 – The playoff-bound Bucs (6-6, 6-6) swept past the Vikings (2-10) in the Section 5-AA finale for both teams. Burrell won with set scores of 25-17, 25-8 and 25-17. Sara Novak had five kills, seven aces and 10 assists for Burrell, while Anna Novak added six digs and six kills, and Avery Bain delivered five kills.

California 3, Bentworth 0 — Marlee Renner had 11 kills and three aces to send California to a Section 2-A victory. Ca’mari Walden had four kills and four aces.

Riverview 3, Springdale 2 — The Section 4-A rivals went the distance before the Raiders (8-7, 7-7) prevailed with a 15-12 victory in the fifth and deciding game. Riverview, playing its third section game in as many days, rallied from an early deficit to win games two and three, 25-19 and 25-14. Springdale won game one, 25-17, and later tied the match with a 25-19 game-four triumph. Becca Selzer, the lone senior for the Dynamos (4-10), led her team with 22 kills. Alexis Sykes, Aleah Walendziewicz and Alivia Schultheis were leading players for playoff-bound Riverview.

Leechburg 3, St. Joseph – Playing their third Section 4-A game in as many nights, the Blue Devils (12-4, 10-4) celebrated senior night with a sweep of the Spartans (3-14, 0-14). Leechburg, No. 10 in this week’s WPVCA Class A rankings, got seven kills from Maddie Ancosky, seven aces from Ava Powell and six aces from Brenna Callahan. The Blue Devils recorded set victories of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-14.

Hockey

Greensburg Salem 12, Wheeling Catholic 1 — Cole McNair, Brendon Lineman and Jake Smith had hat tricks for Greensburg Salem. Owen Tutich had a five-point game.

Ringgold 7, Connellsville 1 — Nathan Todd had a hat trick and Justin Day scored twice to lead Ringgold.

Quaker Valley 2, South Fayette 1 — Josh Bemis scored the tie-breaking goal with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the third period to lead Quaker Valley.

North Allegheny 7, Central Catholic 4 — Tyler Lamark had a goal and three assists to power North Allegheny.

Latrobe 7, Hempfield 0 — Alex Walker and Cole Ferri had six-point games in Latrobe’s shutout win.