A pair of Centre County girls’ volleyball teams served up tournament victories over the weekend as the fall season hit the courts.
Bald Eagle Area captured the title at the Northern Cambria tournament, while Philipsburg-Osceola won the Central Mountain tournament.
After the holiday weekend, the regular season dual matches greeted teams, including the start of Mountain League play and the season opener for State College, and the opening of a new home in Penns Valley draws near.
BALD EAGLE AREA
The Lady Eagles dropped the host Lady Colts, 25-18, in the single-set championship match at Northern Cambria, following the lead of Grace Hugar’s 39 kills and nine aces over the course of their Sept. 1 matches. Elita Brown knocked down 22 kills and Taylor Kilmer registered 18 kills and four blocks. BEA showed its strength at the service line with 35 aces on the day, as Lexi Skripek’s seven winners followed Hugar’s top mark, and Lacee Barnhart delivered six aces. Skripek and Barnhart also paced the defense with 29 and 27 digs, respectively, and Madison Rockey handed out 96 assists to go with 22 digs.
BEA split two sets with Somerset to open the day (25-16, 18-25), then swept the rest of its pool play opponents in Northern Cambria (25-7, 25-14), Purchase Line (25-12, 25-17) and Hollidaysburg (25-20, 25-13). In the final bracket, BEA knocked off Somerset again 25-17 and Bishop Guilfoyle, 25-14, in the semifinals.
“We played more to our level as Saturday went on,” coach Larry Campbell said. “It was good to see us serve and pass well all event. Offensively we are a work in progress, but there were some really good signs Saturday.”
The Lady Eagles overcame a difficult day offensively to beat Dallastown 25-21, 25-14, 23-25, 25-18 to open the season Aug. 31. Hugar had 14 kills as they hit just .145. BEA prevailed thanks to seven aces and a relentless defense that made 68 digs, paced by Skripek’s 22, Rockey’s 13 and Barnhart’s 12. Rockey also gave out 35 assists and Brown notched seven kills.
“Offensively we were not very strong, but our serve and pass game was enough to get the win,” Campbell said. “We were able to stay in system most of the match and that proved to be the difference.”
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
The Lady Mounties defeated West Branch 2-1 in the finals at Central Mountain’s tournament. Offensive Player of the Tournament Jadyn Eckberg led the way with 21 kills and 26 digs through the five wins in the tournament. Paige Jarrett put down 15 kills and Kaleigh Kennedy added 10 kills and seven blocks. Kameryn Harris was a force from the service line, delivering two dozen aces, and Kalista Butler ran the offense with her 55 assists.
The Lady Mounties swept two-set matches against Troy, Sugar Valley and Bellefonte (25-13, 25-22) during pool play, then got the best of the Lady Red Raiders again (25-14, 25-20) in the gold bracket semifinals before holding off West Branch for the title. P-O and the Lady Raiders meet yet again Aug. 30 in Bellefonte, opening Mountain League play for both.
‘We were pleased with our overall play (on Sept. 1),” coach Dave Eckberg said. “We still have some issues to work out but anytime you can come home with a tournament win, you are happy. We hope to use this as momentum as we head into our regular season matches’
BELLEFONTE
The Lady Raiders had a good showing at Central Mountain, aside from their meetings with the Lady Mounties. They won pool play matches with Sugar Valley (25-10, 25-11) and Troy (25-18, 27-26) before the sweeps by P-O.
“I’m very proud of how well they played together and worked hard for those wins to put us into the Gold Bracket,” said first-year coach Teri Kerr, who is looking to the future with 20 freshmen on the roster. “With only three seniors on the team and the majority of the starting lineup having graduated, we are a fairly young team. But, I have high hopes for these ladies and am looking forward to an enjoyable and rewarding season.”
PENNS VALLEY
The Lady Rams had a strong start to the season with a tie for fifth out of 16 teams at Trinity’s tournament in Camp Hill. Penns Valley won its morning pool by taking five of 6 sets, then posted a 2-4 record for third in the afternoon gold pool. A first-round loss in the gold tournament final bracket ended the day.
Emma Butler had an all-around day for the Lady Rams with 22 kills, 28 digs and nine aces. Marissa Stecko added 18 kills, while Brooke Emel delivered seven aces and handed out 53 assists. The defense was paced by Cammie Upcraft’s 11 blocks and Bella Culver’s nine stuffs.
On Sept. 4, the Lady Rams hosted one final match in their old “Ram Dome” gymnasium against Central Mountain, earning a 25-6, 25-10, 25-10 sweep. The Lady Rams got 10 kills from Emma Butler, five digs from Jadyn Butler, and seven aces and 22 assists from Brooke Emel.
STATE COLLEGE
The Lady Little Lions opened their season Sept. 4 with a decisive Mid Penn Conference sweep of Red Land 25-6, 25-5, 25-9. State College used pressure from the service line for the victory with 22 team aces, led by seven from Kacy Sekunda and six apiece for Leah Henderson and Kate Lachendro. Henderson and Sekunda distributed 11 and six assists, respectively, and Jess Irwin put down five kills.
State College plays its first tournament of the season Saturday at Wilson.
ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC ACADEMY
The Lady Wolves posted a 2-7 pool-play record and lost 2-1 to Towanda in the first round of bracket play at the Central Mountain tournament. St. Joseph’s faced Towanda, West Branch and Glendale in the morning pool play.
“The matches we lost were played tough,” coach Cori Donaghy said. “They weren’t just surviving this time, they played with much more control and confidence than they ever have and were able to implement an offensive strategy. It was gratifying to see, even if the wins and losses didn’t stack up the way we hoped.”
