WPIAL Girls Volleyball Recaps for Semifinals Thursday

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, November 4, 2011 | 9:08 AM

Six matches to decide six teams that will serve for district gold on Saturday. Some of the matches were over rather quickly…convincing three game victories. Other however were monumental battles that went the ditance in five. Here are recaps from the matches heard here on the MSA Sports Network.

Thanks to Randy Gore, Mike Azadian and Josh Rowntree for their help on these recaps. 

WPIAL CLASS AAA SEMIFINALS:
Seneca Valley Raiders 3 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 0
For the third straight season, Seneca Valley will be playing for a WPIAL Championship as the Raiders toppled the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils, 3-0, in the Class AAA Semifinals.  Seneca Valley punched their ticket to the title game with set wins of 25-11, 25-21 and 25-17.  The Raiders overwhelmed the Blue Devils with an outstanding hitting night from senior Cate Seman, who posted an unofficial nine kills.  Mt. Lebanon hung tough in the second set behind the big swings of Caroline Gratton and Laura Dadowski.  In the end though, Seneca Valley was just too much for the Blue Devils as the Raiders will try to capture what has been an elusive WPIAL championship on Saturday.  SV has come up short in their last two trips to the title game and will face Pine-Richland in a rematch of the 2010 championship.  Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland split head-to-head match-ups during the regular season.

WPIAL CLASS AAA SEMIFINALS
Pine-Richland Rams 3 – North Allegheny Tigers 0
The reigning WPIAL champion Pine-Richland Rams have returned to the Class AAA title game following a 3-0 victory over Section 3 rival North Allegheny on Thursday night.  Pine-Richland defeated the Lady Tigers twice during the regular season and did so again in the semifinals with set victories of 25-17, 25-16, and 25-18.  Notre Dame recruit Hannah Muzzonigro was terrific, setting up teammates Caitlin Scoscia, Chloe DiPasquale and Abby Dix for kills throughout the night.  The Lady Tigers looked like they might force a fourth set by storming out of the gates in set three.  North Allegheny held a 14-11 lead, thanks in part to a nine kill effort by sophomore Danielle Wall, but the Rams rolled off nine straight points to take command of the set, 20-14, and eventually claim the victory to finish off the pesky Tigers.  As they did last year, Pine-Richland will battle the Seneca Valley Raiders for the WPIAL title on Saturday.       

WPIAL CLASS AA SEMIFINALS:
Freeport Yellowjackets 3 – West Allegheny Indians 0
AT North Allegheny High School in WPIAL Girls AA Volleyball semi final action the defending champion and number three seeded Freeport Yellow Jackets win a close match over the West Allegheny Indians by a 3-0 match score. Freeport with only three returning seniors from last years championship squad and no one on the roster over 5 ft 9 inches tall concentrated on defense to make it back to the finals. In game one it was close thru out the game  with Lauren Frazetta playing a strong role at the net and Jessica Mcfadden a stone wall on defense in the back court. The Yellow Jackets led early and held a 15-11 lead before an Indian uprising came. West A spurred on by Morgan Seybold at the service line went ahead 16-15. From this point on the game would be tied eight times as each team would go ahead only to find the other battle back to tie. Finally Frazetta took over getting two huge spikes at the net to put the Yellow Jackets up 24-23. But West A would tie two more times and this game would not be decided until Freeport would get the last two points to win a close battle 27-25.Despite the strong play from Senior Jaclyn Placha, West A couldnt get the offense going. The Indians were sloppy at the service line as four times they would serve into the net or serve wide to cost themselves points. Into game two Freeport would go up early but the Indians battled and the game was square 7-7. The Yellow Jackets took over and had two separate 4 point runs to lead 16-8.  Megan Sweeny was at the service line to help the Jackets take the big lead. Seybold would provide a spark once again and West A would climb to within two at 24-22, but unforced service errors again would cost them and the last point was gained as the Indians served into the net. The final in game two was 25-22. Barb Lesko was strong at the net for West A but again the Indians had four serves go into the net to cost point in a close game. In game three Freeport went up 4-1 in quick fashion Taylor and Alexis Schrecengost, and Lynsey Gugino were a force at the net.  This game was close as they were tied  seven times. Both teams took leads but could never pull away. Freeport was able to find holes in the Indian defense to score points. West A would make errors to cost themselves points. At 11-11  Seybold again came up big on offense and West A and they took a 13-11 lead , but could not hold it. The Yellow Jackets would tie, then go ahead up to 20-17 before the Indians tied again at 21-21. It looked like the Indians solved their problems and were about to send it to a 4th game, but Freeport would score four of the next five points to win 25-22 and the match at 3-0. The Indians will play Blackhawk in a consolation match Saturday at Franklin Regional for the right to go to the state playoffs. Freeport gets  a chance to defend their title on Saturday at Franklin Regional as they will take on the number one seeded Hopewell Vikings.

WPIAL CLASS AA SEMIFINALS
Hopewell Vikings 3 – Blackhawk Cougars 1
At North Allegheny High School in WPIAL Girls AAA Volleyball semi finals the Hopewell Vikings win a hard fought match against their section rival the Blackhawk Cougars by a 3-1 match score. Hopewell the number one seed came into game one confidant, though a pre game interview with head coach terry Borkovic revealed he was nervous. " Playing the Cougars, as a rival, you never know what will happen. They played us tough in the section, it wont be easy". He was right it wasn't, though game one was as the Vikings made quick work of the Cougars and won 25-15 in typical Hopewell fashion. strong net presence, great defense and serving, and a blistering attack from their veteran squad. Alexis Rains was at the service line for 8 straight points as they took a 13-11 lead to 20-11 and held on. Shator Kimbrough and Isabela Varvek were offensive stars in game one. Game two was close and the game was a back and forth affair won by the Cougars 25-20. Tied at 2-2 Blackhawk went ahead on an Oliva Wulf spike. They would never trail again but the Vikings would battle thru out and tie it at 19-19. Courtney Kress, and Mackenzie Biggs were strong at the net and Molly Bell provided strong defense for the Vikings. but Wulf was a force. The Senior was dominant as she seemed to touch the ball on every other play. Wulf was a vocal leader, and beside playing strong offense also provided great back court defense to keep the Viking attack at bay.The Cougars would score six of the last seven points to win 25-20 and tie the match at 1-1. Hannah Bevington was at the net to stuff back a Hopewell uprising on defense as she provided the key play to take the lead to 23-20. In game three Hopewell again would get great service from Rains, and strong net play to win 25-18. The game and the match turned on a play with the score 13-12 Hopewell. The Cougars had come back from down 12-8  to tie at 13-13, then down 17-14 to bring it to 18-16, and Wulf was on a mission. Blackhawk would set her up for three straight slams. Spikes that normally would be points but the Viking defense would dig out every one to get out of trouble and win the point to go up 19-16. Hopewell spurred on by this would score six of the last eight points to win 25-18 and take away any chance the Cougars would have. Blackhawk made a valiant effort in game four, but the were too tired, and had to many deficits to overcome. They trailed 12-3 and came back to 12-7, but Kimbrough was outstanding on offense, and provided a strong net defense as well. She also was at the service line to help with a seven pint run to take the lead to 19-10 as the Vikings eased to a 25-14 win and a 3-1 match win. Blackhawk will play West Allegheny on Saturday at Franklin Regional in a consolation match for the right to go to the PIAA State playoffs. Hopewell will face last years champion Freeport top try to win their 5th WPIAL title in 13 years.

WPIAL CLASS A SEMIFINALS:
Elderton Bobcats 3 – Bishop Canevin Crusaders 2
The top-seeded Elderton Bobcats were pushed to the brink, but ultimately battled back and moved on to their first WPIAL Championship since 2002, defeating the Bishop Canevin Crusaders 3-2 at Franklin Regional High School Thursday night. The Bobcats, who did not drop a single game in section play or in the playoffs, would drop two of the first three before rallying back and winning games four and five. Canevin jumped out to that early 1-0 lead as they would break an11-11 tie in game one and score 14 of the final 22 points, winning 25-19. However, as they would do throughtout the match, Elderton responded. They would go up 20-14 over the Crusaders, who would make things interesting but ultimately fall 25-21, evening the match at a game apiece. Bishop Canevin would snag game three though under a tremendous performance from Senior Outside Hitter Natalie Medved. They would net 6-straight points, extending their lead to 18-11 and wouldn't look back, winning 25-18 and going up 2-1 in the match. After going down 2-1, something ignited a flame in the bellies of the Bobcats, who would crush Bishop Canevin in game four, 25-13 under the strong play of Junior Outside Hitted Jill Glover. With the matched tied at two, Elderton used the momentum from that fourth game victory to jump out to a 10-3 lead. They would get to match point at 14-6 before letting up 4-straight points, making it 14-10. However, Ashley Grimm would send a spike into the net, giving Elderton the 15-10 game win and 3-2 match win. Glover was phenomenal for the Bobcats, recording 27 kills and 6 service points. She was helped out by teammates Laina Walker (11 kills), Lauren Schultheis (10 kills) and Zoe Zahorchak, a 6-foot freshman who netted 7 kills. Medved delivered an impressive 20 kills for the Crusaders, who will meet Bentworth Bearcats in the AA Consolation Match on Saturday. Elderton though will play for the Championship on Saturday against second-seeded Avonworth on Saturday, right back at Franklin Regional High School. 

Tags: Elderton, Freeport, Hopewell