There’s nothing like going toe-to-toe with some of the state’s best teams to get an idea how strong a team is.
Philipsburg-Osceola defeated three ranked teams, two of them from Class 4A, on its way to the finals of the Bulldog Invitational tournament at Wilson West Lawn on Sept. 11. The Lady Mounties lost in the title match to Unionville, ranked third in Class 4A in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s weekly poll.
The Lady Mounties, No. 2 in Class 2A and PIAA runner-up last season, posted a 7-1 pool-play record with 2-0 victories against Garden Spot (unranked in Class 4A), Hempfield (No. 7 in Class 4A) and Bethlehem Catholic (No. 1 and defending PIAA champion in Class 3A) and split 1-1 with Liberty (unranked in Class 4A).
Later in the day, they scored a 25-23 win over State College (Class 4A No. 10) and host Wilson (Class 4A) to reach the final.
“Having the success that we had at the tournament this past weekend gave us an early shot of confidence,” P-O coach Dave Eckberg said. “This is a new year, with new challenges, so to compete at that level against top-caliber teams established a high bar for the remainder of the season. This is what we will need if we hope to accomplish our goal.”
Reese Hazelton paced the Lady Mounties with 55 kills on the day and adding 37 digs, and Kalista Butler directed the offense with 96 assists to go with eight aces. Jayden Perks had 14 kills, Starcia Bainey had nine blocks, Janey Johnson picked up 48 digs and London Cutler added 33 digs.
P-O swept past Bellefonte 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 on Sept. 13 behind 15 kills and 10 digs from Hazelton, 27 assists from Butler and three aces from Johnson.
Hazelton posted another double-double of 19 kills and 18 digs, to go with four aces, during a 17-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-15 season-opening victory at Tyrone on Sept. 9. Butler posted 30 assists, Johnson picked up 17 digs, Perks had five aces and four blocks, and Abby Lumadue put up three blocks.
P-O swept Hollidaysburg 25-21, 25-18, 25-20 on Sept. 14, with 14 kills and five aces from Hazelton, 26 assists from Butler, 10 digs from Johnson, six kills from Perks and a pair of blocks from Cutler.
BALD EAGLE AREA
The Lady Eagles won their first dual match of the season 25-12, 24-26, 25-9, 23-25, 15-11 at Williamsport with nine kills from Maddison Perry, six kills for Ava Steere, 20 assists for Megan Reese, three blocks from Claire Andrews and four aces for Peighton Brownson. Defensively, the Lady Eagles had the court covered with 26 digs from Olivia Boone, 20 for Steere and 17 each from Perry and Maddie Guenot.
At Wilson’s Bulldog Invitational, BEA (ranked No. 6 in Class 2A) posted a 3-5 record during pool play and did not make the quarterfinals. The Lady Eagles swept Palmyra 2-0, split 1-1 with Southern Lehigh (No. 7 in Class 3A) and lost 2-0 to Bishop Shanahan (No. 5 in Class 4A) and host Wilson. They were led by Perry’s 15 kills and 20 digs, Steere’s 12 kills and 25 digs, Andrews’ two blocks and Reese’s 35 assists. Boone delivered six aces, with for from Steere and three from Reese and Brownson.
BEA endured another five-set match on Sept. 14 — giving the team 10 sets played in two days and 20 sets played over four days. Tyrone prevailed 22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 13-25, 15-11, as Steere notched 11 kills and 14 digs, Perry posted nine kills and 20 digs, and Reese had 29 assists and 15 digs to go with two aces. Boone picked up 27 digs and a pair of aces and Guenot had 14 digs.
BELLEFONTE
The Lady Red Raiders’ service game was on fire for their first match of the season, delivering 17 aces in a 25-17, 25-13, 25-8 sweep of Clearfield on Sept. 9. Grace Novitsky had eight of those aces, to go with a pair of blocks, while three aces each came from Carlee Pepperman, Carley Clarkson and Madison Melius. Melius also gave out a dozen assists and four kills, and Pepperman added eight kills and six digs.
In the Sept. 13 loss to P-O, Pepperman recorded eight kills and eight digs, Novitsky notched three blocks and two kills and Tayla Miller had nine digs. Melius passed out 16 assists to go with 10 digs and three blocks.
PENNS VALLEY
After plenty of difficulties over the last few weeks, the Lady Rams finally got on the court Sept. 13 and won their opening match 25-21, 25-20, 27-25 against St. Marys. The preseason has included Covid-19 cases and other illnesses on the team and coaching staff, quarantines and the deaths of two family members of players in the program.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging time in general, let alone a start to a volleyball season and school year,” said Amy Bessoir, who earned her first head coaching win in taking over leading the program.
“It feels great to finally start our competition season, extra-especially with a win. We are so proud of our players for the resilience and heart they’ve shown in such difficult circumstances. Thankfully they can be rewarded now with chances to shine on the court in front of their friends, families, and community again.”
Against the Dutchwomen, with the Lady Rams also honoring their seniors, Kailen Winkelblech led the way with 10 kills and three aces, while Ella Hadley also had 10 kills and Cammie Upcraft had six kills and four blocks. Julia Emel provided 26 assists and Ashlie Boyles had nine digs.
Penns Valley (2-0) earned another sweep, 25-15, 25-12, 25-15 at Clearfield on Sept. 14. Upcraft had an all-around day with a dozen kills, seven blocks and a pair of aces. Winkelblech followed with 10 kills, Emel gave out 18 assists, Maddie Butler had 12 digs and nine each were picked up by Boyles and Laney Aston.
ST. JOSEPH’S
The Wolfpack dropped their first three matches of the season, with 3-0 losses to Juniata and Bishop Guilfoyle, and 3-1 to Sugar Valley Charter School.
In the season-opening 25-11, 25-19, 25-14 loss to the Indians on Sept. 8, Saint Joseph’s struggled in serving and service receptions, and were led by Madison Mazza’s two kills and two aces, and Sam Zally’s five blocks. Madie Coskgren added a pair of blocks and Car Burwell had two digs.
The next night saw a 25-7, 25-4, 25-12 sweep by the Marauders.
“A loss like this is hard to take, but the ’Pack kept their composure and fought on in spite of the difficulties we were having,” coach Cori Donaghy said. “They showed a lot of heart for a young team.”
The Wolfpack (0-3) will take part in a tournament at Saint Francis on Sept. 18.
STATE COLLEGE
The Lady Little Lions (No. 10 in Class 4A) posted a 5-3 record in morning pool play at the Bulldog Invitational before the loss to the 25-23 Lady Mounties. Joining State College in its pool were Exeter, Unionville (No. 3 in Class 4A), Cumberland Valley and Pope John Paul (No. 6 in Class 3A).
Claire Jordan carried a heavy load offensively on the day, with 41 kills, while Kate Lally added 10 kills to go with 35 assists and 22 digs. Sophie Wales had nine kills and five blocks, Sam Shala provided 24 assists, Molly Thompson picked up 23 digs and Iris Archibald notched five aces.
“Good competition throughout the day,” Chad Weight said. “Tournaments are always good for seeing where you are, what you learn and what we’ve got to do better.”
The Lady Little Lions battled to a 25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 25-11 victory over Altoona on Sept. 9, with 13 kills and five aces from Jordan, 10 kills from Shala and 20 assists for Lally. Defensively, Archibald recorded 13 digs while two blocks each came from Wales and Anna Witmer.
“Although we didn’t play particularly well as a whole, it was good to persevere and get the win.”
