Penn-Trafford girls volleyball ends rewarding season

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, November 6, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Penn-Trafford’s girls volleyball season came to an end Nov. 1 in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals when the Warriors dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 1 North Allegheny.

The Warriors put up a good fight and had their highlights during the second and third games.

North Allegheny (18-0) has not lost a game in a regular-season match this season. They were beaten in a one-game final to North Catholic in their own tournament.

Penn-Trafford finished the season 11-6 and saw its seven-game winning streak snapped by North Allegheny. The Tigers won 25-13, 25-20 and 25-16.

The Warriors defeated Butler (3-0) and Canon-McMillan (3-2) to reach the semifinals.

“We were legit,” Penn-Trafford coach Jim Schall said. “The team improved so much, we were pretty legit. We kept getting better and better. We deserved to be in this position.”

Penn-Trafford played North Allegheny tough in the second game and led early before the Tigers rallied late to pull out the win.

The Warriors’ front line of Kate Schall, Laylah McPherson, Elle Visco, Kaelynn Loffredo and Ella Dindak held their own against North Allegheny during the second and third games.

In the third game, the Warriors took an early 7-3 lead, but the Tigers settled down and took control of the game.

Schall said having too many scoring droughts against North Allegheny hurt.

“They are a great team and when we played well we hung with them,” Schall said. “They are a balanced team. We played hard but had too many stretches giving up points.”

Loffredo had 12 kills and eight blocks against Canon-McMillan and Schall has 12 kills and 12 digs. Gia Pezze had 14 digs and Visco had 10 kills and 12 digs.

Against Butler, Dindak had 35 assists and Schall had 11 kills.

Penn-Trafford was 4-5 to start the season and ended up getting hot. The Warriors were the champions of Section 3 with a 7-1 record.

“This team came a long way since the beginning of the season,” Coach Schall said. “I’m really proud of them.

“It wasn’t luck being here. We had a good solid team and kept getting better. We played hard. North Allegheny is just too strong.”

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: Penn-Trafford