MSA Sports Elite Eight Girls Volleyball – Players of the Match

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 | 3:02 PM

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.   

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

Player of the Match – Bishop Canevin MH Senior Natalie Medved (C)
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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: Bishop Canevin, Chartiers-Houston, West Allegheny