Westmoreland County high school notebook: Pair of boys volleyball standouts honored

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 1, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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A local pair of boys volleyball players were lauded by the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association for their recent play.

Penn-Trafford senior setter Daniel Tarabrella was named a Class 3A player of the week, while Tyler Nelson, a senior hitter from Latrobe, received the same honor in 2A.

Latrobe recently vaulted into the No. 1 spot in the 2A rankings.

Penn-Trafford is No. 3, a spot behind Norwin, in the 3A top 10.

Tennis, anyone?

The WPIAL boys tennis season opened March 13, and the individual postseason already is underway.

Section singles tournaments were played last week, and the WPIAL finals will be April 10-11 at Bethel Park.

Section doubles action will be April 18-19, with the WPIAL tournament set for April 25-26 at Bethel Park.

The team playoffs will begin May 1. The finals are set for May 10 at Washington & Jefferson.

Higher seeds will play at home for the first round and quarterfinals.

Record-breakers

Derry sophomroe Sophia Mazzoni took over the top spot in the Trojans’ record book in the javelin with a toss of 138 feet, 1 inch in a meet against Greensburg Central Catholic.

In the same meet, GCC freshman Samir Crosby cleared 6 feet in the high jump for a school record.

Mazzoni’s mark is the top throw in the state, according to the previous top mark posted by PAmilesplit.com.

YMCA champ

Greensburg YMCA swimmer Kaitlyn Stetchock could be making a splash at the varsity level in the coming years. She recently won a state championship.

Stetchock, a sixth grader from Hempfield, won a 11-12-year-old title in the 200-yard breaststroke at the YMCA finals at West Virginia University.

She also came in third in the 100 and 50 breaststroke. Two other YMCA locals, Penn-Trafford junior Patton Graziano (50 free, 100 free, 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly) and senior Reegan Brown of Mt. Pleasant (100 free, 50 free and 100 fly), will compete in the YMCA national championship April 3-7 in Greensboro N.C.

Recruiting

• Anthony Govern is taking his athletic career in a new direction. Govern, a recent Southmoreland grad, will wrestle at Fairmont State, a Division II school in West Virginia. Initially, Govern had planned to wrestle and play football at Waynesburg. He took a year off to get things figured out.

• Jeannette’s versatile senior, Mitchell Steele III, will continue his football career at Bethany. Steele played a number of positions for the Jayhawks, from tight end and right tackle to middle linebacker, safety and defensive end. He also handled the kicking and punting duties. Steele additionally has been a mainstay at goalkeeper for the soccer team.

• Greensburg Salem had a pair of athletes sign with colleges last week. Seniors Mia Peticca and Ashley Smith will play their respective sports at the next level. Peticca will play softball at Chatham, while Smith signed to play soccer at Saint Vincent.

• Norwin football player AJ Clemens committed to Washington & Jefferson. Clemens is a 6-foot-3, 240-pound all-conference offensive tackle.

• Burrell senior wrestler Niko Ferra committed to Seton Hill.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Jeannette, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland