Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent men’s volleyball posts 1st playoff win

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, April 17, 2023 | 4:40 PM

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New athletic programs usually need an adjustment period — give or take five years — before they start thinking postseason wins.

But the Saint Vincent men’s volleyball program, which began playing competitive games just four years ago, is ahead of the curve.

The Bearcats posted their first playoff win, taking down visiting Hilbert, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.

SVC moved on to the semifinals, but fell to top-seeded Penn State Behrend, 3-0, to finish the season with an 11-10 record.

Shawn McSwiggen had 18 kills and 11 digs, and Matt Minkin added 11 kills and 12 digs for a pair of postseason double-doubles, in the quarterfinal win.

Baseball

Allegheny: Senior Sullivan Schueltz (Ligonier Valley) went 2 for 5 with two RBIs in an 8-3 win over Bethany. He added three hits in as many at-bats, with a triple and four RBIs in a 22-10 win over the Bison for a two-game sweep.

Cal (Pa.): Freshman Jake Kramer (Hempfield) picked up his fourth save of the season, retiring the final two batters on flyouts as the Vulcans held off IUP, 7-5.

Mercyhurst: Sophomore Eric Chorba (Norwin) went 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs as the Lakers defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 10-6.

Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt junior Mario Disso (Penn-Trafford) had two RBIs for the Mountain Cats in a 10-6 loss to Mercyhurst. Disso was hitting .252 with three doubles and 13 RBIs for UPJ, while sophomore Josh Ulery (Derry) had a .333 batting average with four triples, two homers, 15 RBIs and 18 runs.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats won a pair of nail biters against Westminster. In the opener of a doubleheader, Jordan Sabol (Penn-Trafford) scored the tying run, then junior pinch-runner J’Shawn Taylor raced home with the winning run after an error for an 8-7, walk-off win.

SVC rallied for three runs in the ninth after the Titans scored five in the eighth.

Dalton Nicklow tripled, junior Billy Perroz (Kiski Area) had two hits, two RBIs and two runs, and freshman Connor Bannias (Penn-Trafford) and sophomore Devin Bonine each had two hits.

In Game 2, grad student Michael Klingensmith (Franklin Regional) pitched 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball and struck out eight, and junior reliever Jeremy Kreuzwieser came on for the save as SVC won, 1-0.

The offense came from Perroz, who hit a solo homer in the fourth.

Perroz was named the PAC Hitter of the Week.

Seton Hill: With a four-game sweep of Clarion, the Griffins (28-8) improved their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West record to 16-0.

They have won 18 conference games in a row dating to last year.

Senior Vincenzo Rauso had seven hits in the series against Clarion, while grad student Logan Vietmeier drove in three, freshman Jack Whalen (Norwin) had a 4-for-4 game with two doubles, and senior Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) drove in eight over the last two games and had a home run.

Rauso was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week; junior Jon McCullough the pitcher of the week.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Tyler Horvat (Penn-Trafford) had three hits in the opening game, then reached base five times and had two doubles in Game 2 of a doubleheader sweep of Franciscan (11-3 and 15-1).

Horvat provided some excitement in a thrilling, 6-5 win over Mount Union as he stole home with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth for the go-ahead run.

Westminster: Junior second baseman Donnie Shimko (Latrobe) ripped a two-run double as the Titans got by Waynesburg, 9-7, in 10 innings.

Men’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Senior attacker Matthew Cassidy had five points, including the 100th of his career, as the Bearcats defeated Allegheny, 15-3.

Junior Ben Wohlin (Franklin Regional), meanwhile, was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week. He had four caused turnovers and six ground balls in a win over Westminster.

Grad goalie Noah Sperling was tabbed the PAC Specialist of the Week. Je had a .680 save-percentage in a pair of wins. His 6.55 goals-against average leads the conference.

Women’s lacrosse

Seton Hill: Redshirt sophomore Skylar Orlowski and senior Makayla Kintner reached career milestones for the Griffins.

Orlowski topped 100 career points, while Kintner went over the 100 ground balls mark.

Grove City: Sophomore midfielder Mara Polczynski (Norwin) had two goals and an assist in a dominant, 22-0 win over Waynesburg.

Saint Vincent: Through 11 games, junior Maggie Edwards (Norwin) was leading the Bearcats in goals with 31. She also had seven assists for 35 points, third-most on the team.

Edwards also had 25 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. She had a six-goal game (8 points) in a 19-5 win over Mt. Aloysius.

Men’s volleyball

Thiel: Sophomore JC Govannucci (Norwin) led with a team-high 10 kills and three blocks as the Tomcats blanked Hiram, 3-0, in the AMCC quarterfinals.

Men’s golf

Grove City: Sophomore Luke Kimmich (Franklin Regional) registered a fourth-place finish at the Westminster Invitational with a 6-over-par 78.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Brendan Cooley was tabbed the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week after a pair of strong finishes.

Cooley was second in a 60-player field at the Moravian College Classic, shooting a 3-over-par 75 as SVC took third overall.

He added an 82 to tie for 13th at the Westminster Invitational.

Westminster: Senior Sam Napper (Mt. Pleasant) tied for fourth place at the Westminster Invitational at Avalon Field Club in New Castle.

Napper shot a 6-over-par 78.

Westminster finished second on the team leaderboard.

At the Mercyhurst Invitational, Napper carded a 149 (73-76) to tie for fourth place.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.