WPIAL Girls Volleyball Quarterfinals Recaps 2015

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 | 12:04 AM

Upsets in this years district girls volleyball postseason have been as frequent as tumbleweeds blowing down the streets of Pittsburgh. Ten of the twelve winners in Round Two were higher seeds as Montour and South Fayette in Class AA are the lone exceptions to Top Four Seeds heading into the Final Four on Thursday. Here are recaps from Quarterfinals Tuesday in the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs.

A special thanks to Cory Campano, Greg Kuntz, Sean Meyers, Bob Orkwis, Rob Longo, Brandon Showers, Sam Hall, James Dotson and Dave Floyd for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:

Baldwin Highlanders 3 – Hempfield Spartans 0 
The top seeded Baldwin Highlanders took on the Hempfield Spartans in the quarter final round of girls AAA volleyball action on Tuesday and the Highlanders won in three consecutive sets to go onto the semi final round to face Upper St. Clair on Thursday. The win didn’t come with ease for the Highlanders though as they struggled in game two and had to claw back to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Both teams played back and forth volleyball in game one until Baldwin took the lead at 13-12. The Highlanders would extend their lead to as much as 17-13 but Hempfield would begin to mount a come back scoring five of the next six points to make it 18-17. Sensing the lead slipping away Baldwin would take a time out and the lead was extended to 21-17 where Hempfield would answer calling a time out of their own. Baldwin though came out of the Spartans time out firing and was able to score 4 of the next 5 points to take game two 25-18. Senior Sierra Colbert had 4 kills for the Highlanders and fellow senior Mackenzie Voelker would add 3 of her own in game one. In the first break Hempfield would come out swinging though as they gained their largest lead of the match at 22-18 in game two. Game two statistically was lead for the Spartans by senior Emily Horwatt who had 3 kills of her match total 5 in game two. At the 21-18 mark of the 2nd game Baldwin would call a time out trying to stop Hempfield’s momentum and although the Spartans took the next point out of the time out the Highlanders were able to rip off 5 of the next 6 points to make it 23-22. Hempfield attempting a momentum squelching time out of their own came out and surrendered the tying point to knot it up at 23. We’d then go back to back and forth volleyball until the Highlanders took serve at 25 all and scored the next two points to win 27-25. Hempfield did a good job in the start of the third game to not show how crushing the game two loss could have been by keeping things close. Baldwin took the lead at 6-5 though and didn’t look back to finish game three by a score of 25-18. Leading hitters for Baldwin were Junior Maddi Sgattoni who had 10 kills followed by Colbert, Sydney Yanchik, and Voelker with 8, 7, 6 kills respectively. Sgattoni added 6 aces in the match for Baldwin. Hempfield stat leaders were Junior Gabby Holmberg, Junior Claire Staines, and Senior Emily Horwatt with 6, 5, and 5 kills respectivley. Sophomore Alyssa Boddicker and Senior Emma Pevarnik added two aces a piece for Hempfield.

Upper St. Clair Panthers 3 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 2 
After the first set in Tuesday’s Class AAA quarterfinal round, it seemed as if Upper Saint Clair was going to cruise past Bethel Park in straight sets, after dominating the first set with a 25-10 score. However, that was not the case. the Black Hawks battled in the second set, holding an advantage until the Panthers rallied late to secure the set 25-23. From there, it looked like Upper Saint Clair would ride that momentum into the third set, but Bethel Park held the lead for the majority of the third set, winning 25-21. The Black Hawks also had the upper hand for most of the fourth set, winning with an identical 25-21 score. In the fifth and deciding set, Upper Saint Clair took over and won 15-12, thanks to the help of the Amos sisters, Alex and Sam to win the match 3-2. Upper Saint Clair now advances to face top-seeded Baldwin on Thursday.

North Allegheny Tigers 3 – Armstrong River Hawks 1 
On the strength of a thrilling 29-27 fourth set victory, North Allegheny defeated Armstrong, 3-1, in the WPIAL AAA quarterfinals Tuesday night at Fox Chapel.  With the victory, the Lady Tigers earned a spot in the semifinals Thursday evening against section foe Seneca Valley. Tuesday’s match started out about as well as North Allegheny could have asked for, as the Lady Tigers never trailed in the first set en route to a 25-11 victory. Junior outside hitter Maria Mosbacher spearheaded the North Allegheny offense in that first game, notching six kills. In the second game, however, the Riverhawks showed how they finished 14-0 in Section 4 on their way to a league crown. Led by senior outside hitter Justyne Lasher and her six kills, Armstrong built a 21-16 advantage and then hung on for a 25-23 victory to tie the match at one game apiece. North Allegheny responded in the third set, cruising to a 25-15 win to set the stage for what would prove to be the decisive fourth set. That fourth set seesawed back and forth until the two teams found themselves tied at 23. North Allegheny senior right side hitter Lauren Swartz appeared to give the Lady Tigers the lead with a kill, but after a brief discussion, the referees awarded the point to Armstrong, citing what appeared to be an illegal substitution or rotation. North Allegheny coach Heidi Miller and the Lady Tiger players pleaded their case, though, and after a lengthy discussion involving both referees, both line judges, the official overseeing the match, and the consultation of a physical rule book, North Allegheny received the point and the lead. Five match points later, the Lady Tigers clinched the match and the berth in the semis on a service ace by senior setter Beth Muhlenkamp. Thursday evening’s semifinal match against Seneca Valley will be the third between the two Section 3 teams. The Lady Tigers defeated the Raiders on the road, 3-0, on Sept. 10 and then again at home, 3-1, on Oct. 6. Site and time of the match have yet to be determined.

Seneca Valley Raiders 3 – Norwin Knights 1
recap still to come

WPIAL CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

Freeport Yellowjackets 3 – Beaver Bobcats 0 
Everybody in attendance at North Allegheny High School was treated to a great matchup between two section champions in the Class-AA quarterfinals as Freeport took down Beaver in straight sets. The 8-seed Bobcats came out strong in the first set, jumping to a 10-2 lead. Macy McElhaney was dominant in the opening set, recording seven of her team-high kills in those first ten points. However, top-seed Freeport chipped away before knotting the score at 20-20. They would survive two Bobcat set points before taking the opening set 28-26. Coach Tom Phillips’ squad then found their groove. Clare Crytzer rattled off 16 straight service points for Freeport en route to a dominating 25-6 second set victory. Zoe Pawlak and Morgan Ruppersberger took control from there, each providing five kills in a 25-18 final set victory. Pawlak finished with 15 kills, Ruppersberger has 13 kills with 6 blocks, and Katie Zingaro chipped in with 7 kills and 6 blocks. The Yellowjackets dominated at the net in the match, and will look to continue that strong play in their return to the WPIAL semifinals. Beaver’s Macy McElhaney, only a sophomore, led the Bobcats with 11 kills and 9 blocks.

South Fayette Lions 3 – Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 1 
South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson and Seton-LaSalle finished the regular season as Tri-Champions in Section 6 (AA) and the three teams were seeded 5th, 4th and 3rd respectively in the WPIAL Girls Volleyball AA Tournament. The Lions and the Jaguars had played twice during the regular season with South Fayette taking both matches by scores of 3-2 and 3-1. The Lions turned the hat trick of wins tonight at Baldwin High School defeating Thomas Jefferson by scores of (25-18, 18-25, 25-12, and 25-20) in a hard fought match. South Fayette scored 5 of 6 points and added another run where the Lions netted 12 of 14 points to take a 21-12 lead on their way to a 7 point win in the first game. Senior libero Mikayla Fetchet was seemingly everywhere including on the floor for South Fayette, as her defense and serving were keys to the first set win for the Lions. The second game featured 10 ties before Thomas Jefferson broke open a 15-15 game by scoring 6 of 7 points to take a 21-16 lead. The Jaguars would make the lead stand up, recording eleven of the last thirteen points to reverse the first game score in their favor 25-18. Game three was back and forth early, before the Lions again were sparked by Fetchet’s digging abilities, which helped South Fayette score 9 of 11 points to take a 17-10 lead. Leading 18-12, the Lions finished the third game with 7 straight points to win by thirteen, 25-12. The Lions went on a 10-0 run in the fourth and final set, but to Thomas Jefferson’s credit, they showed no quit. Trailing 12-7, the Jaguars were able to battle back and tie the game at 16-16. Lions Head Coach Scott Sundgren took a time-out and immediately afterwards, senior outside hitter Sadie Dayton buried a kill along the sideline. TJ would tie the game at 17 and cut the Lions lead to 20-18 at one point, but South Fayette finished the game and the night off with a 25-20 win and a berth in the semifinals for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2006 and 2007. Junior hitter Carlee Kilgus paced the Lions at the net recording a team-high 12 kills. Dayton finished with 6 kills while sophomore outside hitter Haley Altemus added 5 kills and two aces in the win for the 5th seeded Lions. Thomas Jefferson, who was the 2104 Class AA runner-up losing to Ford City in the finals, was lead by Kayla Smith. The senior middle hitter closed out her high school career with 13 kills. Junior hitter Katie Birch added 9 kills for the #4 Thomas Jefferson while sophomore Morgan Yurkovich finished with 5 kills and an ace. Senior serve specialist Rachel Aul led all players by recording 6 aces for the Jaguars. South Fayette moves onto the semifinals to face top seeded Freeport on Thursday at a site and time to be determined. The win also qualifies the Lions for the PIAA Playoffs as all four semifinalists will represent District 7 in the state tournament.

West Shamokin Wolves 3 – Central Valley Warriors 0 
Both the Central Valley Warriors and the West Shamokin Wolves reached the Quarterfinal Round of the Girls AA bracket with straight set victories over Hopewell and Waynesburg respectively.  The first game of their match at Seneca Valley Tuesday night took on a back-and-forth character as neither team was able to build a lead of more than 4 points.  Down 3 with a game point staring them in the face, the Warriors were able to tie the game at 24 and force a win by 2 scenario, but the Wolves would the final 2 points to Game 1, 26-24. WS started to assert itself as the established #2-seed in the 2nd game. The Wolves took the lead for good at the 13-11 mark, building a lead by as many as 6 points en route to a 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.  WS outside hitter Katie Glover had a number of kills from the left side of the net which the Warriors could not defend. The Wolves picked up right where left off with a 5-0 run to start.  Central Valley was able to pull within 2 at 8-6 as middle hitter Kaleah Jones, who had a monster game against Hopewell, finally started to find her rhythm, but the Warriors did not come any closer as West Shamokin  closed out Game 3, 25-21, and eliminated Central Valley in straight sets.  The Warriors’ season cane to an end at 11-3 while the WS Wolves advanced to the Class AA Semifinals and will face the #6-seeded Montour Spartans, who upended the #3 Seton-LaSalle Rebels in straight sets.

Montour Spartans 3 – Seton-LaSalle Rebels 0 
In a surprising outcome, the No. 6 Montour Spartans ousted the third-seeded Seton-La Salle Rebels in Class AA quarterfinals play at Mount Lebanon High School. Not only did the Spartans knock off the higher seed, but they did so in convincing fashion, winning in straight sets 25-19, 25-23 and 25-21. Montour led from start to finish in the opening stanza, as the Spartans notched the first five points to take command early. Although the Rebels rebounded to pull within one, 11-10, Montour quickly extended its lead back to five. Although Seton-La Salle again pulled within a single point, it could never get over the hump, as Montour netted the final five points of the set. The Rebels took their first lead of the evening after the opening point of the second set, but again Montour held the lead for the majority of the frame, building the advantage to as many as seven points. A furious comeback allowed the Rebels to gain a late lead, 23-22, but Montour again finished strong, winning the final three points in short order to take the 2-0 edge in the match. Similarly, the third set featured back and forth action, as the Rebels notched the first five points. A 7-2 run by the Spartans drew them even, however, and Montour used another run to gain the upper hand. With the score deadlocked at 12-12, the Spartans tallied seven straight points. Although the Rebels would trim their deficit to two on multiple occasions, they could pull no closer, ultimately dropping the final set. A trio of sisters was paramount for Montour in the triumph, as senior Cecilia Esposito, sophomore Amalia Esposito and freshman Rosie Esposito all made a significant impact. Alaina Buechel also made a number of key contributions in the victory. For the Rebels, Megan Manion and Nicole Colligan led the way, while Michelle Sanders and libero Michaela Mahoney also turned in impressive performances. With the victory, Montour advances to the semifinals on Thursday, and also secures a spot in the PIAA postseason.

WPIAL CLASS A Quarterfinals:

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 3 – Vincentian Academy Royals 0 
The WPIAL defending girls A volleyball champs Greensburg Central Catholic continued their run at another crown on Tuesday by defeating Vincentian Academy in consecutive sets 3-0. The Centurions of Greensburg Central took game one 25-11 and at no time in the game were the Royals from Vincentian Academy able to lead. The scoring got as lopsided as 21-6 in game one and momentum was visibly on the Centurions side. Junior Mikayala Bisignani had 5 of her match high 22 kills in that game and Senior Kristin Hickey had 4 in game one as well. Game two was much of the same story for the Centurions who got out to a quick lead and didn’t look back. That game was won 25-13 and Bisignani followed up her 5 kill performance from game one with 10 kills, yes 10 kills, in game two. Game three started out decent for the Royals who were able to tie it at 3 a piece but that was the last time it was tied in the match as Greensburg Central would go on to win game three by a final of 25-15. Bisignani had 7 kills in game three. Both Haley Farmer and Kristin Hickey finished with four aces a piece for the Centurions. Leading stat getter on the Royals side was senior Lexi Griggs who had 5 kills in the match. Greensburg Central will go on to play a rematch of last years final vs Bishop Canevin on Thursday for the right to go back to the championship round on Saturday at Baldwin High School.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 3 – Avonworth Antelopes 0 
The #4 seed Bishop Canevin Crusaders rolled to a straight set win over fifth-seed Avonworth in the quarter-finals of the Girls WPIAL Single A playoffs at North Allegheny Tuesday night. Canevin tallied eight aces from the service line in winning 25-16, 25-16 and 25-22. After controlling the first two sets Canevin found themselves in a hole to start the third as the ‘Lopes opened up leads of 8-1 and 14-7 to begin what would be the final set. Ninth year head coach called a timeout trailing 8-1 in the third that, may have been the most brief timeout in the history of volleyball. Coach Walters would not reveal in the post game show what was said but, whatever it was it seemed to awaken Bishop Canevin and the Crusaders finished the match with an 18-8 run to advance to the semi-finals on Thursday night against the top seed in Single A the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions. Canevin will be trying to reach the WPIAL Championship match for a fourth straight season. Senior Alex Parra was credited with eight kills and four blocks in the victory. Jayde Morgan another of Canevins 11 seniors was a perfect seven of seven in kill attempts on the night. Julia Menosky tallied six kills and three aces for the victorious Crusaders. Bishop Canevin and GCC will meet in the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Canevin won in the quarters over the Centurions in 2011, and took the 2013 Championship match against GCC. The Centurions were victorious in the Championship match in 2012 and 2014 against the Crusaders. Bishop Cenevin celebrated the victory last night and they celebrated the return of one of their best players to the lineup as Loyola of Maryland recruit Erin Cunningham was cleared to play for the first time in the 2015 campaign coming off a leg injury Cunningham who has not had a chance to practice was held out of this match until the very end of the third set, when she entered to serve with the Crusaders up 24-22 and promptly served an ace to win the match for Bishop Canevin. Semifinal action Thursday right here on the MSA Sports
Network.

Serra Catholic Eagles 3 – Frazier Commodores 0 
It was a battle of Section Champions tonight at Baldwin High School, with second seeded Serra Catholic coming from Section (2) and Frazier wearing the crown from Section 5 for the Commodores seventh consecutive conference title. But it was the Eagles coming away with the straight set win (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) to defeat #7 Frazier and advance to the semifinals for the first time in school history. All three games were very competitive with Frazier leads of 10-6 and 14-11 in game one. But Serra was able to go on a 7-0 run and score 8 of 9 points to take the lead and win the opening set. Junior hitter Lauren Kolenik, who usually stars at the net for Serra Catholic, keyed the run from the service line recording three aces. The second game was even more back-and-forth than the first as it featured 11 ties. Trailing 16-14, Frazier went on a 6-0 run to take a 20-16 lead. But Serra remained calm and battled back to tie the score at 20-all using the service skills of freshman Julia Piccolino from the back line. Piccolino helped key a 7 point Serra Catholic run and the Eagles lead 23-20. The Commodores fought off game point twice and pulled within 1 before Serra finished game 2 at 25-23. Game 3 featured runs by both teams. Serra Catholic ran off 5 unanswered points and 7 of 8 to take a 10-5 lead. After Serra led 12-7, Frazier charged back by scoring six straight points to tie the game at 12. Senior Miranda Shepler recorded and ace and helped Frazier tie the game from the service line. Serra then answered by scoring 7 of the next 9 points to make the score 19-14. But the Commodores weren’t finished, scoring 7 of the next nine points to tie the game at 21-21. But Frazier was called for a double hit and that mistake would prove costly as Serra would finish out with a 4-0 to win the final game 25-21 fittingly enough with a Kolenik block point to end the match. The loss was the first of the season for Frazier, who finishes the year at (15-1). Senior Dyanna Shaporka paced Frazier with four kills, while fellow senior Alena Blaszczak added 4 kills and an ace in a losing effort. Kolenik, who had 3 aces in the opening round win over Neshannock, finished the match with 5 aces and also led the Eagles with 6 kills. Jen Pricener (5 kills, 1 ace), Erin Almeter (5 kills) also had strong games for Serra Catholic while Piccolino finished the game with 4 kills and a pair of aces for the Eagles. Serra (16-1) heads to the WPIAL Class A Girls Volleyball Semifinals to face #3 Shenango, a team the Eagles just recently saw during a late season tournament at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Shenango Wildcats 3 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 0 
The number 3 seed Shenango Wildcats defeated the number 6 seed OLSH Chargers on Tuesday night. The Wildcats will advance to face Serra Catholic in a matchup that will decide which powerhouse has a chance at the Class A WPIAL Title. Shenango was able to defeat OLSH in just 3 games which were scored 25-23, 25-15, and 25-21. The first game was a tight battle the whole way through. Neither team led by more than 3 points in the entire contest and it felt as if whoever prevailed would gain significant momentum. That turned out to be true for the Wildcats as they found a way to scratch and claw their way to victory. Marie Gonsar contributed everywhere on the court whether it be with her serve, spike, or defensively digging balls. Her team rallied around her constantly and especially when they almost let this game skip through their hands. Game two saw a total beat down as Shenango proved themselves worthy of a number 3 seed. Once again Gonsar led the way, but contributions came across the board as head coach Greg Dugan used a very deep 11 player rotation. In fact it was a rotation that seemingly had no weakness. OLSH fought hard throughout the night and especially in game three with their backs against a wall. Seniors Courtney Alexander and Paige Zilner had solid nights up front. The team responded well to head coach Mike McDonald and they never gave up. Ultimately game three was also taken over by Shenango. They started out on a 5-0 run and never looked back. Although they let the Chargers sneak back in at times, they still remained poised. Valentina Vincent was the unsung hero as she dug virtually every ball spiked in her vicinity. Seniors Sarah Herb and Taylor Wakeling also made a couple big plays when needed. The Wildcats showed up Tuesday night and will have to be ready again on Thursday as they put their undefeated record on the line against Serra Catholic at a site to be determined.