MSA Sports Elite Eight Girls Volleyball – Player of the Match

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 | 7:37 AM

After each broadcast of an Elite Eight WPIAL Girls Volleyball match here on the MSA Sports Network, we will acknowledge a player of the match from each participating program school. Don't miss Elite Eight girls high school volleyball action on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays here on the MSA Sports Network and check here afterward for the Player of the Match.   

Upper St. Clair 3 – Peters Township 0 on 10/2011
By Josh Rowntree

Player Of The Match: Caitlyn Ollendyke (OH) Upper St. Clair AND Shiloh Simonson (OH) Peters Township

In a match with the section title on the line, the Upper St. Clair Panthers held serve and routed the Peters Township Indians, 3-0. With the win, the Panthers avoided a split of the section 2 championship, winning it outright. Last season, USC defeated Peters Township on the last night of the regular season, which resulted in a split of the section 2 championship. This year though, the Panthers, led by Coach Yoko Nagao, made sure that was not the case. USC dominated game one, jumping out to a 15-7 lead before netting the final 10 points of the match, winning 25-7. Game two was more of the same, as the Panthers pulled away and won 25-14. Peters Township came out hard in the final game, building an 18-14 lead over USC. However, the Panthers would battle back, taking a 20-18 lead before both teams would do one more lead exchange each. However, the Panthers would take the lead when it counted, winning the game 25-23 and the match, 3-0. USC got strong efforts at the net from MSA Player of the Match winner Caitlyn Ollendyke (13 kills), Kelsey Michenko (7 kills) and Maggie Slowey (7 kills). Peters Township got a spirited effort from Player of the Match winner Shiloh Simonson, who had 7 kills. The win moves USC to 12-0 in the section on the year, while it drops Peters Township to 10-2. Both teams do qualify for the WPIAL Playoffs along with section mate Connellsville. 

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West Allegheny 3 – Quaker Valley 0 on 10/11/11
By Sam Hall

Player of The Match West Allegheny Freshman Setter Tara Savisky

On senior night at West Allegheny it was a freshman's night to shine as Tara Savisky led a loaded West Allegheny Indian team to their eighth straight AA section three win. The Indians straight-setted the Quakers, 12, 11 and 9 in a match that was never really too competitive. West Allegheny controlled this match with big runs in each game a seven point run in game one, an eight point run in game two and a fabulous eleven point run to start game three with All-WPIAL senior Jacklyn Placha on the service line. The Indians celebrated their five outstanding seniors on this night including Placha, Morgan Seybold, Emily Murn, Barb Lesko and Kaci Vandergrift, but it was Savisky's night to shine. The 5'6'' freshman seemed to be everywhere for Brian Begor's team getting to everything and putting the ball in the perfect spot time and time again for her big-hitters. Coach Begor called Savisky's night "absolutely fabulous, maybe the best handle I have ever seen her have in a game."  The Indians improve to 8-0 in section three with the win and look to close out the perfect section season over the next week home against Montour Thursday October 13th and then on the road next Tuesday, October 18th against a South Fayette team that gave them a run for their money before falling 3-2 on September 27th. Quaker Valley meanwhile falls to 0-8 in the section with two more cracks at getting that elusive section win hosting South Fayette Thursday and traveling to Central Valley next Tuesday night.

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South Side 3 – Eden Christian 0 on 10/11/11
By Mike Azadian

Player of the Match – Sarah Androlia – Sophomore – South Side

The South Side Rams in need of a win to keep their playoff hope alive  came alive at home and easily beat section 4 single A rival the Eden Christian Academy Warriors by a 3-0 score. The first game was tied at 2-2 before the Rams came alive. Sarah Androlia was serving when the Rams score ten straight points to go up 12-2. Katie Dennis had  several effective spikes at the net, and Kylie Wilson used an effective service in the middle of the match to propel South Side to a 25-11 game one victory. Game two saw the Rams take a 3-0 lead but the Warrior came back to tie it at 4-4. It seemed like Eden was back in the game and match but all that ended as SR Blaire Hunter stepped to the serving line. Ten services later it was 14-4 and South Side was on its way to an easy 25-12 game two victory. Hunter had four aces and used a hard line drive serve to stymie the Warriors. Carla Riggs played strong on defense as the Libero, and also had an ace when it was her turn to serve. Cheyenne Seek a Freshman was strong at the net, and Kylee Wilson a Junior  played great defense to spur the Rams to the win. Game three was more of the same as an overmatched Eden Christian with only one Senior, and in only their sixth year of their volleyball program is a program that is young with only nine players dressed. Three Freshman and one Sophomore see a lot of playing time for the Warriors. The Rams used their whole bench and it was a lively match as Eden fell to a 14-4 early deficit, but crawled back in to the game cutting it to 15-13. The Rams had strong serves and front court play from Alexis Dhayer, and Sloan Santillan, who took a serve to her face in game three getting a bloody nose. She came back to help win game 3 by a score of 25-16. The Rams scored 10 of the last 13 points to win going away. Player of the Match Sarah Androlia was strong in game one and two. Her serve  enabled the Rams to jump to an early game one lead, and her net prescience and strong arm led to offensive opportunities. Only a Sophomore she is already one of the top players in the section. Along with her career in softball she has a long career ahead of her in both sports at South Side. The Rams improve to 6-4, one game ahead of Rochester at 5-5, and a game and a half over Northgate at 4-5. The Rams face OLSH on Thursday on the road with their playoff destiny in their own hand. They must win one of their last two games to make the playoffs. " I feel we are playing our best volleyball right now " said Junior Kylie Wilson. " I  think we're ready for the challenge of playing OLSH on Thursday," said head coach Jason Benkowski. The Rams will end their section schedule at home on 10/18 at home versus section leader and rival undefeated Avonworth. It may come down to the Rams needing  a win in that game to make the playoffs.

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Bishop Canevin 3 – Burgettstown 0 on 10/4/11
By Sam Hall

Player of The Match – Katie Oliverio – Jr Setter – Bishop Canevin

Canevin continued their domination tour of the Class A Section six division with a 3-nil blanking of the Burgettstown Blue Devils winning 7, 11, and 13 in straight sets. Mostly when you talk about stars in volleyball you are talking about the big bangers up front, tall players who intimidate opponents by forming walls to block shots, or by winning points with thunderous kills. Bishop Canevin has those girls, in fact three great ones in Natalie Medved, Jodi Mackin and Ashley Grimm. But the star on this night was a junior setter who stands all of 5'3'' and had just a single kill on the evening. Katie Oliverio though, dominated the game in every other fashion. First she gets to balls that most people just would not get to with her quickness. But her performance on this night was especially fabulous from the back line and in setting up her teammates for their kills. Oliverio recorded an astounding 12 service aces in just 31 service attempts, she mixed in a very nice jump serve with her great vision and ability to find holes in the Burgettstown defense. She also recorded 23 assists on the night for Canevin, as a team they totaled 26 for the evening. That number gives you a pretty good idea of her importance to Kevin Walters' Crusaders. For this big night Katie Oliverio is named the MSA Sports Elite Eight Player of the Match.  

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Chartiers-Houston 3 – Carlynton 0 on 10/6/11
By Mike Azadian

Player of the Match:  Abbey Snoznik – SR MH – Chartiers Houston

In Houston PA the Carlynton Cougars came to town in an Elite Eight match up versus the home standing Chartiers Houston Bucs. The Bucs needed a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive and they came away with an impressive 3-0 match win. In game one the Bucs jumped out to a quick lead of 4-1, but the Cougars fought back and got close at 6-5. But at this point the Bucs slowly took over and would score 19 of the final 26 points to win easily 25-12.Star's for the Bucs in game one were Jr Tori Foster who's service mid game propelled Char Houston to 7 straight points, and Casey Guernsey who's net prescience on offense and defense garnered numerous rejections and scoring attempts. Into game two the Cougars took the 1-0 lead and would be much more competitive keeping the score close at 6-6 early on. The Bucs would use Abby Snoznik, and Piper Mclaughlin to set,and Guernsey would come in for the kill at the net. This play worked to perfection and they would add up the points in doing so but could not pull away from Carlynton. The Cougars played well and closed the lead to five points four times. However at 17-11 Julie Sliman found a seam in the Cougar defense and the Buc's would roll scoring nine of the last fifteen points to win game two 25-16. Freshman Kassie Kesneck, and Haley Sutton provided solid minutes off the bench on defense in helping Char Houston run away with game two. In game three the Bucs behind Snoznik's serve, ran out to a 5-0 lead but the Cougars cane charging back and would close the gap to 10-5. That would be as close as they would get as the Bucs would dominate the rest of the way scoring fifteen of the last 17 points to easily win game three 25-7 and the match at three games to none.  The Bucs move to 6-4 on the year and are in 4th place in section 6 A one game behind Fort Cherry. Chartiers Houston is without their star JR MH Lacey Levers a Division I talent for the rest of the year. Last week she sustained an knee injury that ended her season but she is already rehabbing in anticipation of her senior year. The Player of the Match is SR Abby Snoznik. She served well in game one, set well in game two, and played an overall great defensive game to lead the Bucs to the win. Head coach Tom Kurtz in describing her after the game said "she's our rock, she keeps us together and is a true leader "

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South Side 3 – Cornell 0 on 10/4/11
By Mike Azadian

Player of the Match – South Side Jr. Setter Kylee Wilson 

In Hookstown Pa, the home standing South Side Rams easily defeated the Cornell Raiders  25-12, 25-13, 25-11 to improve to  4-4 in section 4 single A.  In game one Cornell took an early 2-0 lead but the Rams came back and jumped to a 5-2 lead. Sarah Androlia a Sophomore came up  big with five straight  good serves to help her team take a 9-3 lead. Katie Dennis provided strength from the back court as she also was able to help her team as they got eight straight points off of her service and the Rams ran out to an insurmountable 16-6 lead. Claire Prezzia provided the setting, and Carla Riggs played strong on defense digging out Cornell spike attempts as South side won game one 25-12. On to game two it was the Rams who led early as Androlia quickly led them to a 5-1 lead off of her serve. However the Raiders came back to cut the score to 9-6. From that point the Rams would score 16 of the final 23 points to win going away 25-13 and take a 2-0 match lead. Kylee Wilson played an important role defensively  and setting the ball, and in the front court Gabby Gourley and Cheyenne Seik were strong on defense at the net. In game three it was more of the same as South Side ran to a 4-0 lead as Riggs services confused the Raiders. Cornell would come back with solid play to tie it at 5-5 but from there the Rams would score 20 of the last 26 points making it look easy in winning 25-11 to win the match 3-0. Hunter Blair came off the bench to provided a spark leading South Side to 7 straight points off of her serve. Kara Jones and Jennifer Gibson would also play strong up front at the net and SR Charity Davis- Busa had 6 straight strong , hard, overhand serves during a 10-1 scoring run. Player of the match Kylee Wilson was chosen due to her consistent play on all 3 games. An unsung hero the setter is the player who after receiving the pass after a dig, has to get a great "set" so the front court players can boom a spike , or find a hole in the opposing teams defense. Wilson in each game was responsible for many great sets, and was a leader during the game. South Side will travel to Rochester on Thursday October 6th in hopes of avenging an earlier section loss to the Rams at home. This game will prove important to the playoff race, if South Side wins they stand a good chance at making the playoffs again this year.

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Bishop Canevin 3 – Chartiers-Houston 0 on 9/29/11
By Sam Hall

Player of the Match – Bishop Canevin MH Senior Natalie Medved (C)
AND
Player of the Match – Chartiers-Houston MH Junior Tori Foster

Bishop Canevin continued their mastery of single A section six in girls volleyball on the road Thursday night at Chartiers-Houston, with a convincing 3-0 win against the Buccaneers. Canevin has now improved to 8-0 in section play. But they aren't just winning, they are dominating. The Crusaders have only dropped a single game in section all season long and that was in their section opener against the Buccaneers back on September 6th. Since then they have rattled off 22 straight game wins blanking every opponent in straight sets. Thursday Canevin once again got a huge effort from senior captain and middle hitter, Natalie Medved in throttling the Bucs, 25-12, 25-19, and 25-13. Medved came up with kills as she always does but time and time again seemed to come up with the key shot or block just when it looked like Chartiers-Houston might gain some kind of momentum. Medved got great help up front from junior Jodi Mackin who helped form the wall that the Bucs found they just could not break through, and also picked up several big kills of her own. Chartiers-Houston still reeling from the loss of their superstar junior Lacey Levers was game though. The Bucs fought hard despite being overmatched and the fight showed through in a herculean effort from junior Tori Foster whose tenacity, determination and brilliant athleticism kept them in almost every set. For their efforts Medved and Foster are named the MSA Sports Elite Eight Players of The Match. Canevin is looking forward to next week when they hope to get their own injured superstar back in senior Joie Hrapala, who has missed the entire first half of the season with an injury, her return will really stack an already formidable team for Head Coach Kevin Walters. It was a night of runs and the Crusaders had all the biggest ones; including a seven point stretch in game one, a seven out of eight run in game two, and as their depth started to wear down Chartiers-Houston an 18 – 2 run in the final set of the match. Canevin improves to 8-0 in section play they are home against Burgettstown on Tuesday October 4th. Chartiers-Houston meanwhile must regroup after falling to 4-4 in the section they will hit the road and begin to battle for their playoff lives at Avella on that same night.  

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Upper St. Clair 3 – Peters Township 1 on 9/27/11
By Mike Azadian

Player of the Match- Upper St Clair Senior Outside Hitter – Maggie Slowey
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Player of the Match- Peters Township Senior  Libero- Gabriella Santa Lucia

At Peters Township High School the home standing Indians fell to their arch rival the Upper St Clair Panthers by a 3-1 score. Both teams came into the match with perfect 5-0 records in section 2 AAA . The first game was all USC as SR Alyssa Ardolino started with great serving and led the Panthers to a 4-0 early lead. The Indians were down 10-1 at the start and just made too many mistakes. Strong spikes by Maggie Slowey, great net defense by Caitlyn Olendyke and Kelsy Michenko spurred the Panthers on. Slowey was on fire early in the match, she was unstoppable. At 13-4 Ardolino began serving again, and again Peters Township had problems with her serve as USC won 9 straight points to take a roaring 22-4 lead. They hung on to win game one 25-7.  In game two The Indians rebounded and went to a 6-0 early lead.  Jillian Kovac one of the Sophomores led the way with a great service run. However USC took over from there scoring 25 of the next 36 points to easily win again 25-17.  For the Panthers Kelly Reynolds and Rachel Hast were tremendous on defense, and Maya Craig came in to provide key serves to get USC out to a 2-0 lead in games. In game three the match took a turn as the Indians came out mad. " my kids were angry after losing the first two games" said second year coach Ashley Green. Well they showed it as the light came on for Peters Township and they were inspired. Early in game three it went back and forth and it was tied 6-6. Then the Indians took control as Kelly Johnson played a key roll on defense in the back court, Kellyn Perich came in with key serving, and inspired front court play by Shiloh Simonson. The biggest lead was 6 points as Peters led 20-14 and held on for a 25-23 win. USC made too many mistakes, and the Indians adjusted to the Panthers strong front court by rotating to the side with their offense. In game four both teams played well as they were tied 12 times, the last time at 13-13. Sarah Grippi and Lauren Belack made strong contributions for Peters Township and Elayna Kaynor came off the bench for USC to provide front court help. But the Panthers were too strong when tied at 13 they took off. Slowey had 2 spikes, Reynolds great digs in the back court and Craig with key serving took USC to a 20-13 lead. They proved too strong and too deep for the Indians and won game four 25-19 to win the match 3-1. Player of the Match Gabriella Santa Lucia from the Indians was an inspiration to her team. She was strong defensively in her Libero position making numerous saves, and digs keeping her team in the match. Even when her team was down early in the match she kept working hard. In game four she ran to the back court to save an errant set and slammed into the padded wall, and the MSA SPORTS sign and kept a rally going. For Upper St Clair Maggie Slowey set the tone in game one with fierce offense. She was unstoppable and led her team to the early 2-0 match lead. Again in game four when the Indians were rolling her offense helped them run off 7 straight points mid game to lead them to victory. She is part of a veteran 7 SR led team that has designs not only on a Section title but a WPIAL title.

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Moon 3 – Baldwin 1 on 9/20/11
By Sam Hall

Player of The Match  – Moon Senior Middle Hitter – Nicole Moorman

The Moon Tigers were in desperation mode early in the 2011 season in AAA section 5. Playing in a section with powerhouses like Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and Baldwin the Tigers had jumped out to a slow 1-2 start in section play and, early as it is, a loss to Baldwin would have really put them behind the eight-ball. The Tigers though had the answer on the road Tuesday night defeating Baldwin in four games 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21. The win pulled the Tigers into a fourth place tie in section five with Baldwin a half game back of third place Chartiers Valley. The top three teams in each section make the playoffs. Senior Nicole Moorman is the MSA Sports Player of the Match with another in a what has become over the last couple years a long string of impressive performances from the 6'1'' middle hitter. Moorman was to be frank at times just too much up front for the Highlanders to handle. Not only did she lead the Tigers in kills but almost always was the main part of the Moon wall up front that thwarted would be Highlander kills time and time again. Moorman also brings an impressive jump serve to the Tigers and the fabulous rotation on it gives opposing teams fits.  

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West Allegheny 3 – Keystone Oaks 0 on 9/15/11
By Josh Rowntree

POTM – West Allegheny Outside Hitter – Jaclyn Placha, 

The West Allegheny Indians made short work of the Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles Thursday night with a 3-0 victory in Imperial, Pennsylvania. The Indians, who are one of the best squads in AA, struggled early but eventually grew throughout the match, resulting in a decisive third game. The Indians were paced by a dynamic trio at the net in Jaclyn Placha, Barb Lesko and Morgan Seybold. After a strong effort by the Golden Eagles in the opening game, the Indians would pull away late and win 25-21. The second game was similar to the first, until the Indians ripped off 9 straight points with Placha displaying a tremendous jump serve. The excellent serving and team play by West Allegheny solidified game two, 25-18. The Indians jumped out to a huge lead in game three and never looking back, taking the game, along with the match, 25-11. Placha combined an excellent serve with strong net play to lead the Indians to a 2-0 record in the section to start the season. West Allegheny will next face Quaker Valley on September 20th.
 

Tags: Baldwin, Bishop Canevin, Chartiers-Houston, West Allegheny