BOALSBURG — It’s been a while since the Damsels and Wolfpack last met on the court, with St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy only losing a single set over two matches in 2024-25. Yet, while time allowed a lot to change, the upper hand didn’t look at all altered for the Wolfpack in the return of familiar foes, as St. Joe’s ultimately earned a 3-0 sweep over visiting Moshannon Valley.
The Wolfpack got off to a quick start in the opening set despite early back-and-forth play, as they traded the opening six points. St. Joe’s attack began operating with maximum efficiency to undo that trend, however, creating a threat that was often too hard to stop for the Damsels’ defense.
With a 10-5 lead already in its favor, St. Joe’s started an 11-point run to put the first set in striking distance, as vocal play from the Wolfpack catalyzed utter dominance over a Moshannon Valley side which began to show early frustrations.
“We played Mifflin County last night, and we went one and three with them, and we played good in game one, good in game four,” SJCA Coach Tod McPherson said. “Had some communication issues that they kind of ironed out on their own, which I was really proud to see them do something like that.”
The Wolfpack closed out the first set with a 25-8 advantage, yet the second frame opened with a lengthy opening exchange that went Moshannon Valley’s way, as it added a block to go up 2-0.
The Damsels suffered another Wolfpack scoring run, however, as SJCA ran up the score to 11-2 with a pair of aces and difficult-to-play strong serves enacting the onslaught, which also forced a Moshannon Valley timeout.
“One of our emphases for tonight was going to be our serve game, which I thought was very strong, and I also thought we wanted to focus on transition passing, and I thought we did a pretty good job with that,” McPherson said. “As a coach, you’re always looking for more, you know, but I thought for tonight, I thought we did a pretty good job with that portion of the game.”
Six players logged aces for the Wolfpack, led by Claire Peters’ five and Julia Albertine’s and Maddie Ridenour’s four. Jaidyn Young, Hana Ohmoto and Elena Edmondson all contributed a pair from the back line. After that run to cut the Moshannon Valley lead, it would be all St. Joe’s en route to a 25-12 set win to give the Wolfpack to match point.
The third set saw more rotation for the Wolfpack, which ultimately led to the closest finish in the Wolfpack’s sweep, 25-14. For the victors, nine players finished with kills, led by Mikayla Thomas’s five, as Peters trailed with four and Albertine and Maya Edmondson contributed three.
“Claire is a pretty phenomenal player, and I really appreciate all the different aspects of the game that she brings. She’s a great passer, she’s a great hitter, she’s a block, a good blocker,” McPherson said. “Julia kind of came into her own tonight. I thought she had one of the best games that she’s had in quite a while, so I was really pleased to see that added an aspect to our offense.”
The crowd never dissipated, nor did students lose passion, as every timeout and break brought another opportunity for spectacle. The SJCA students even started a push-up competition, knocked over the padding to their section to cause it to collapse and one member even ran across the length of the court with a shirt tied on his head.
For the team on the court, it became clear that energy fueled St. Joe’s crusade toward victory, with a performance that had almost no flaws.
“I’d like to see our speed increase, the pace of the game. I think we kind of tend to pass the ball a little too high. I think if you can lower it down, but when you have two freshman setters, you know you got to let them go and develop a little bit,” McPherson said.
The result paused the Wolfpack’s nonconference slate before a seven-game stretch to begin Tri-Valley Athletic Association play.
