Pine-Richland wins thrilling 5-set quarterfinal match over Norwin

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 29, 2018 | 10:54 PM

Trailing 14-8 in a winner-take-all fifth set with a trip to the semifinals in Class 4A on the line, No. 3-seeded Pine-Richland used a strong run to force a win-by-two situation, and eventually defeated No. 6 Norwin, 17-15, to win a WPIAL Class AAAA girls volleyball quarterfinal 3-2 on Monday at North Allegheny.

The Rams were paced by senior Michaela Pettinato, who had 18 kills, and freshman Sophie Catalano, who had 13 kills. After taking the first set 25-23, the Rams dropped the second set 25-21. The Rams came back with a 25-23 victory in the third set, but Norwin forced the decisive fifth set with a 25-23 win in set four.

Norwin, whose season comes to an end, received 14 kills from senior Rebecca Miller, nine kills and four blocks from senior Rachel Langsdorf and seven kills from both junior Victoria Nicholes and senior Jameson Stoner.

Pine-Richland advances to Wednesday’s semifinals, their first final four appearance since 2012 when they defeated North Allegheny before losing in the title match.

The Rams will meet No. 2 Baldwin, which defeated No. 10 Shaler in five sets. The match will be played at a site and time to be determined.

Kyle Dawson is a freelance writer.

Tags: Norwin, Pine-Richland