MSA Sports Hometown Girls Volleyball Broadcast Recaps

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 | 4:53 PM

Here are recaps from all twelve matches featuring Avonworth, Blackhawk, Chartiers-Houston and South Side broadcast here on the MSA Sports Network. Go to our broadcast page and the date shown below to listen to the archived action and interviews from these matches.

10/16/12: CHARTIERS-HOUSTON BUCCANEERS 3 – Burgettstown Blue Devils 0
By Josh Rowntree

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Chartiers-Houston (11-2) pounded Burgettstown (6-7) Tuesday, defeating the Blue Devils 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-17) on a night in which six seniors were honored prior to the match. Of those 6 seniors five are starters and all six play meaningful amounts of time. The Bucs were headlined by Duquesne recruit Lacey Levers, who finished with 13 kills and four blocks, while playing a limited role around the net. Levers, who tore her ACL last year and missed the majority of the season, moved from Middle Hitter to Middle Back during the game, allowing other players to get time around the net in. Tori Foster finished with six kills and played strong defensively for the Bucs, who have clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2010, when they lost to Hometown Broadcast Team South Side, 3-0 in Round 1. This year though, the Bucs appear to be able to go deeper. With a talented cast of veterans and a strong defense player/setter in Freshman Kylee Levers, Lori Levers’ first year as Head Coach is poised to be a memorable one. Against Burgettstown though, the Bucs used superior size to dismantle a Burgettstown team that made a number of mistakes throughout, The Blue Devils received five kills from Abby Manni. They will not make the postseason for the fourth-straight season. Chartiers-Houston will wrap up the regular season with Fort Cherry on Friday, with a chance to finish 12-2 in Class A Section 6, with their only two losses coming to undefeated Bishop Canevin.    

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10/16/12: SOUTH SIDE BEAVER RAMS 3 – Cornell Raiders 0
By Mike Azadian

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In Hookstown on Tuesday October 16th the South Side Rams took care of business by winning a match over the Cornell Raiders by a 3-0 match score. The games were 25-3, 25-10, and 25-23. The Rams had to win, and in combination with Northgate's loss to OLSH the Rams now have to win on Thursday night at Rochester and Northgate will have to lose at home to Avonworth for the Rams to make the playoffs. It all started last week as they had their backs to the wall needing to win out. They went to Northgate and won, and with tonites win have put everything in place to make the playoffs. They will try to avenge an earlier home loss to Rochester and if they do, and Northgate loses all three team will be 6-6 and tied for 3rd place in section 4 A. OLSH has clinched first place and is 11-0, Avonworth has clinched 2nd and is 9-2. In tonites match up it was senior night and the Rams honored 5 seniors with roses, they also showed a tremendous amount of class in getting the 6 Cornell seniors roses as well. After the South Side girls and their families were introduced play began. Coach Jason Benkowski started al 5 seniors and one junior. The 5 seniors who played their last home game were: Hanna Reese a libero, Kylee Wilson a defensive player and a regular starter, Gabrielle Gourley a tremendous left handed server, Kara Jones a middle hitter and net player,  and Stephanie Myak a front court player. Gourley started serving in game one  and before you know it the score was 19-0 on the way to an easy 25-3 victory. Junior Sarah Androlia kept her resurgence coming as she was tremendous on offense in game one for the Rams. Game two saw the Raiders play much better and have two leads but the seniors took hold along with help from Cheyenne Seik a sophomore and went on to win 25-10. Junior reserve Cheyenne Winkle played well at the front court net and helped lead the Rams to another easy victory. Game three saw more of the traditional starters play and Cornell started strong and led 10-3.Sophomore  Alexis Dhayer in her first game of the night came on strong and helped the Rams rebound and tie at 10-10. South Side would take the lead to 20-14 until the Raiders came roaring back and cut the lead to one at 24-23, but the Rams would win it 25-23 and the match 3-0 to go to 5-6 in the section. South Side has to win Thursday in the rematch against Rochester. Along with a Northgate loss at home versus Avonworth all three will make it. Northgate has struggled lately and will be an underdog. The Rams on the road will look for their 4th straight win and a playoff berth. They will need solid play up front for Seik, Androlia and Dhayer. On defense the Libero Sam Gibson, Wilson, Amanda Frasier, and Ashley Laughlin the new setter will have to all step up to make the playoffs. Stay tuned to the MSA Sports Network for playoff action with the Hometown Softball 4. Chartiers Houston, Avonworth, and Blackhawk have all clinched playoff berths. South Side looks to make it a clean sweep.

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10/11/12:  Beaver Bobcats 3 – BLACKHAWK COUGARS 1
By Mike Azadian

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At Blackhawk High School in Hometown Volleyball action the Blackhawk Cougars fell to the Beaver Bobcats by a score of 3-1. It was Senior night for the Cougars and three girls would participate in their last home game. Brittany Davids the setter, Leah Hornfeck the Libero, two senior leaders who give their heart every minute on the court would see their last match on their home field be a defeat. Finally Kristan Ostach the Senior that the Cougar's looked to lead them this year, but inury has prevented her from playing watched and helped coach from the bench. Ostach may be back playing next week pending doctor approval. They hope she's ready for the playoffs in two weeks. The Cougars will finish in 3rd place in section 1 AA. Right now Hopewell leads the section and is undefeated. Beaver is 7-2 with one game left, then the Cougars at 6-3. Even if Blackhawk beats Hopewell next week and Beaver loses it doesn't matter. The Bobcats swept the season series over the Cougars and have solidified 2nd place. With the section standings decided and all three teams in the playoffs next weeks final section games will be for practice and playoff seeding. The Cougars tonite used an 11 girl rotation. Coach Robin Ostach gives playong time to the girls that have earned it thru practice and games. The crowd saw solid play as usual from Junior Haley Schram who had 10 kills on the night. At times she takes over games and did so in the 3rd game with three straight kills at one point mid game to put Blackhawk ahead 11-10. Her prescience at the net and on defense in the back court kept the Cougars in the match all night.  Hanna Pringle, Hanna Schally, Brooke Tomasko and Allie Menges all shared time. Each has a role of either defense, offense  or serving and when inserted into the game all help the team. Tiye Boyd a Sophomore will come into serve a few times each game, and Brianna Camp is used as a setter and on defense.  Two players that have really improved thru the year are Makenna Malinowski a Junior, and  Nikki Beatty a Sophomore. Malinowski has become a very good offensive player and her serve gets better every match. Beatty is fast becoming a force at the net on defense, and her offense and serving improve with each game. Tonites match was a battle for all 4 games. Based on their last match at Beaver which the Bobcats won 3-2 you would figure this would be close too. Well the Cougars won game one by a 25-21 score. This game was tied 10 times and no team had a lead of more than 3 points all game until the end. The Cougars made some mistakes as they had 5 net serves and 2 long serves. Unforced errors also haunted the Bobcats as well.  Into game 2 again is was close. Back and forth these teams battled and tied each other 8 times. The Cougars led most of the time but at 19-19 Beaver took the edge and held on to win 25-23. This game could have went either way but the Bobcats prevailed. Game three was a heartbreaker for the Cougars as the played phenomenally early, They led 16-10 and had dominant play by Schram and Malinowski along with great service by Menges. But the Bobcats would come on and tie it at 20-20. Together these team would tie 10 times in this game, 5 after 20-19. At 24-23 the Cougars were serving to win the game and had a net serve, their 9th of the match. It cost them dearly as Beaver would score 4 of the final 5 points to win 27-25 and take a 2-1 edge. Into game 4 again it was close and there were 5 ties but the Cougars had run out of steam. Beaver would take control late and win 25-21. The cougars on the night would be haunted by bad service as they served into the net or long 22 times. Those were all point for Beaver. The Bobcats earned the win but if the Cougars served their usual way this may have been a different story. For Blackhawk they play section leader Hopewell next week, and that will provide a tough test, but get them prepared for the playoffs. The Cougars have the talent with a lot of younger players coming on strong, and if they get their senior leader Ostach back it could propel them thru the playoffs. The keys to their game are serving as they can keep the other team off balance. The defense can stop the other team from scoring, and finally on offense. With Schram, a healthy Ostach, and the defense of Hoernfeck, and setting of Davids this can be a formidable team. Stay tuned  as the Cougars head to the AA WPIAL playoffs.

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10/4/12:  AVONWORTH ANTELOPES 3 – SOUTH SIDE BEAVER RAMS 0
By Mike Azadian
At Avonworth High School in Hometown Volleyball action the home standing Antelopes took on the visiting South Side Rams. Both teams are Hometown Teams and were on the network a few weeks ago at South Side. In that match Avonworth easily beat the Rams at South Side. well it was more of the same as Avonworth won the match 3-0. They won by scores of 25-7 in game one, 25-13 in game two and 25-16 in game three. It was another case of the two rivals playing in opposite directions. The Lopes couldn't do no wrong, and the Rams made as many mistakes as they do in three total games. In fact the stats showed over half of Avonworths points were off South Side mistakes. Unforced errors, serves into the net, long serves, the list goes on for the Rams. However it was the Lopes defense, and the way they run their offense that forced many of the errors. "I take nothing away from that team, they are a solid squad and they played well" said Rams head coach Jason Benkowski after the game. "We made so many errors, its just not our year" And so far it isnt the Rams year. They fall to 2-6 in section 4 A and are 5th place with four games left. "One thing we will do is keep fighting" said Benkowski. If the Rams can win out in games versus Eden Christian, Cornell, and avenge two earlier losses against both Northgate and Rochester they can finish 6-6 and tie Northgate for the third playoff spot and get in the playoffs. Stranger things have happened, but the Rams need to play together on defense, stay positive, and not get down on themselves. The Antelopes right now move to 8-1 on the year and have three conference games left. They are currently in second place behind OLSH and have a rematch on Tuesday October 9th at OLSH. If the win that game and win the other 2, they will tie for the section lead and win their 4th straight section title."It means alot for us to send the 4 four Seniors out as 4 time section champs" said Junior Katie Pendrak. "Our Junior class is so proud to play a roll in how well this team is playing" Yes the Lopes are playing well and they showed why tonite. As usual Moriah Eck the Senior star outside hitter was dominant at times taking over the game. When she gets rolling she's hard to stop. In game three alone she simply took over with six spikes for winners, and even on her service had a nice run of points for her team. When asked how it might feel for a player to see her powerful shot coming at them she just smiled at laughed and said " I don't know" Avonworth had help tonite as both Senior Lauren Brace, and Senior Jamie Rezabeck had big games. Both served well and had good all around games on offense and defense. Add that to the front court presence of Eck and Pendrak and the Rams had a tough time getting points on this Antelope team. Coach Doug Vandevort was pleased with his team, in an interview afterward he agreed its a team effort."All the girls work hard and deserve to play" That is true. Tonite they had one injury as Mackenzie Mayernik was out for the game. They did get a great performance form Rezabeck and Ericka Thomas two players who really came into their own tonite. The one thing this team has is that they all get along, they all seem happy with each other and have great attitudes. "We have fun from the time we put the Emminen tape on during warm ups thru the game and even after, its so much fun to be a part of this team" said Eck after the game. For both teams its been an interesting year. For Avonworth its another strong year despite losing four key Seniors. But they bring back key players that played in the championship game last year, they play great defense, serve well, and offensively have power and quickness. They have the look of a team that could go far in the playoffs this year, but one thing to remember is that class A is really strong with so many god teams. Greensburg Central Catholic, Serra, Shenango, OLSH, Frazier, Bishop Canevin, and Chartiers Houston all are undefeated in section play, and Hometown Team Chartiers Houston has one section loss. For the Antelopes it will be a fun playoffs. The Rams have not lost hope, they have talent as Cheyenne Seik is fast becoming a star. As a Sophomore she has really blossomed as an outside hitter, and has been strong in the back court as well. Coach Benkowski has made a few lineup changes and just cant get the right mix as several players Alexis Dhayer, Amanda Frasier, Samantha Gibson, Kylee Wilson, Stephanie Myak, and Sarah Androlia all are talented and at times are very good , but at others they are inconsistent. If they can play as a team they can make the playoffs and make some noise, and as coach Benkowski says they will fight to the end. They will have to as the four final games will determine if they can make the playoffs this year.

9/25/12:  Hopewell Vikings 3 – BLACKHAWK COUGARS 0
By Mike Azadian
In Chippewa at Blackhawk high school, the Hopewell Vikings came to town and showed everyone why they are the number 1 team in the MSA SPORTS top ten in girls WPIAL AA Volleyball rankings as they win over the Blackhawk Cougars 3-0. A big crowd was on hand to see their Cougars take on a top WPIAL team in Hopewell. The Vikings coming off a WPIAL title in 2011, and having one of the top teams in the state are a big rival of the Cougars. In fact Hopewell and Blackhawk are rival in every sport, and whenever they play there is a big crowd. Tonight the Vikings brought their fans as well and the atmosphere was tense before the game started. To make the game even more intense, 4 year Viking 3 sport star Shatori Walker Kimbrough was making her last volleyball appearance at Blackhawk. The first game was everything. Simply put it was one of the best individual games of the year. It started with the Cougars serving at taking a 4-0 lead. Junior Hannah Pringle was the first server. "That's the first time I was first in the rotation to start serving" she said after the game. Well she got the Cougars up and rolling. Junior Haley Schramm was a force at the net, on defense and using her strong arm for kills as she had key points early as the Cougars climbed to a 9-3 lead. The Cougars played strong net defense early in game 1, and got a big play from sophomore Nikki Beatty as she rejected Kimbrough at the net for a key Blackhawk point."We were playing well and came into the match with a plan on defense to try to limit them at the net" said head coach Robin Ostach after the game. Mid game Schramm had a huge kill to stop a Viking rally and put the Cougars up 14-9. At this time Beatty started serving and helped lead the Cougars to a 17-10 lead. It looked like Blackhawk was on a roll and had the Viking on the ropes but they would score only 1 of the next 8 points and Hopewell came back to tie at 18-18. This is when the game got crazy. The game would tie at every number from here except 21. Each team would take a lead, and the other would come back. There were tremendous rally's, great defense, strong service receive, exceptional serving, and fantastic all around play thru the rest of the game. Both teams had  3 chances to win needing only one point near the end of the game. The Cougars had leads of 24-23, 25-24, and 28-27 but could not finish off the Vikings. Hopewell had leads of 26-25, and 27-26 but the Cougars tied it both times. Finally down 28-27 the Vikings tied it then got the next 2 points to win game one 30-28 and go up 1-0 in the match. The second game was all Hopewell as the  led 3-0 early and would have runs of three points twice, four twice and nine once as they easily won 25-6. The Cougars just were spent emotionally and the loss of game one took a lot out of them. The Cougars made errors, hit shots long, struggled defensively, and couldn't get going. The Vikings were on fire though and forced their offense on the Cougars. Mackenzie Biggs the 6'1" Sr was all over the place. With the other 3 Sr's, Kimbrough, Monet Smith the setter, and Sydney Belcastro, the defensive specialist all playing well the Vikings were tough to beat and went up 2-0 in the match. In game three it was much more competitive. Though Hopewell got up early to a 4-1 score the Cougars would hang in there. JR Makenna Malinowski was strong serving as usual and the whole team played better in general but the Vikings would net be stopped. They would hold on and win 25-17 and win the match 3-0. Blackhawk coach Robin Ostach after the game said. " We stayed positive, we know how good they are, but after that tough loss in the first game it just deflated us" Jr Allie Menges when asked about the big crowd said "It didn't make me nervous, I just shut it all out" The Cougars are a family, and had 3 graduates from the past few years come back for the big game and help hit ball, and coach from the sidelines." We are a family around here, every game someone shows up and the girls love it cause it means a lot to them" said coach Ostach. Sophomore Beatty said " We were so excited to see all of them come back, it really gave us a boost" Unfortunately no matter how tough the Cougars played, no matter how positive they kept, and no mater what they did the Vikings were just too strong tonight. Blackhawk falls to 3-2 in section 1 AA. They are now behind Hopewell at 5-0, and Beaver (their other section loss) at 4-1. They will see both teams near the end of the season and travel to Hopewell on the final day of the regular season. They are one game ahead of 4th place Ellwood City 2-3, and will see them again next week along with Mohawk in games they need to win to stay in the playoff hunt.

9/25/12:  CHARTIERS-HOUSTON BUCCANEERS 3- Fort Cherry Rangers 0
By Sam Hall
The Chartiers-Houston Bucanneers are on a roll, make no mistake about that. The Bucs since losing the first set in a match against the Bentworth Bearcats back on September 18th have rattled off nine straight set wins in section play down in single A section 6. Last night against the Fort Cherry Rangers the Bucs put on an offensive clinic from the outset with a seven point run to begin the contest behind the fabulous setting skills of senior Piper McLaughlin and the kill-power of fellow senior, Lacey Levers. The Bucs get the straight sets win 14, 11 and 17. McLaughlin says the Bucs are rolling and ready for the second half of the season. “We know what the other teams are like now and so it’s just kind of working hard and pushing to fix the things we did not do right in the first half.” The big numbers are there night in and night out for the stars of this team like Lacey Levers and Piper McLaughlin but assistant coach Brittany Snyder says the role players and team first attitude are what really make the Bucs roll. “Huge team effort, these girls go out there and they make plays that even we didn’t know they had in them, they play their hearts out, they really do.” Snyder told us in the post game show. Tori Foster had another big night for the Bucs in the middle coming up double digit kills as well as a big night blocking up front. The Bucs’ lone section loss came earlier this year to first place Canevin on the road. You can bet that Chartiers-Houston has the rematch at their place on October 4th circled on their calendar, but head coach Lori Levers says volleyball is not a look ahead type of sport no matter what team the schedule holds, “Volleyball is a unique sport, whereas it is about the next point, we have to worry about the next point, because the momentum can shift on you so fast it’s like an avalanche either way so you have to be so careful about that.” Well right now no one would argue that Chartiers-Houston is anavalanche rolling downhill and picking up steam as they head into the second half of section play.

9/18/12:  Northgate Flames 3 – SOUTH SIDE BEAVER RAMS 2
By Mike Azadian
At South Side high school in Hookstown PA in Hometown Volleyball  the Northgate Flames tied for first place in section 4 single A came in to the Rams home court and won in 5 sets 3-2. South Side falls to 2-4 Overall and 1-3 in the section. The surprising Flames now 4-0 in the section an 5-0 overall are tied with OLSH for first place. For South Side this marks three straight losses but considering the lost to section heavyweights, Avonworth, OLSH, and section 3  first place Shenango in a non section match all is not lost. Even though the Rams played better than last weeks Hometown Volleyball match against Avonworth they were prone to mistakes, lack of communication, and many unforced errors. In the first game the Rams jumped out to a 5-1 lead but the Flames quickly erased that to tie it at 5-5. The teams were even at 10-10 when Northgate took off scoring 6 of 7 points to lead 16-11. With  strong play by Cheyenne Seik, and Cheyenne Winkle the Rams cut the lead to 20-19. However the Flames would score the final 5 points to win game 1 by a 25-19 score and go up 1-0. Northgate served well and South Side had defensive confusion on many of the Flame serves. The Rams had far too many unforced errors as slams went either into the net or long. In game 2 Sarah Androlia started the Rams off serving and they took a quick lead. Seik provided the offense with a big spike to go up 3-1. Northgate only using only 6 girls and using no substitutes played well and briefly would go ahead at 10-9 and get up to 15-10. The Rams looking at losing two straight sent Junior Winkle back to serve. Her long arcing knuckle serve was effective and got the Rams rolling. They would tie the score at 16-16 and go on to score 9 of the final 13 points to win game 2, 25-20 at tie the match at 1-1. The Rams were better in service receive, and again Seik made a huge defensive block up 1 at 21-20, then was effective on her serve to end the game. Only a Sophomore its clear why the South side coaches entrust so much in her. Game 3  was competitive and there were  6 ties the final one at 12-12. The Rams made mistakes and fell behind 17-13. Northgate's serving and defense was just too strong and they took advantage of the Rams and scores 8 of the final 13 points to win 25-18 and go up 2-1 in the match. Northgate was able to find holes in the South Side defense and  consistently used that to score points. With their back against the wall and coach Jason Benkowski standing behind the bench the Rams fought hard in game 4. It was another back and forth game, both teams playing well. Haley Reese a Junior was inserted for defense and serving and helped South Side. Winkle at the back line led the team again with her tremendous serve, at one time serving 5 straight where the Rams would get points. South Side would win 25-20 playing their best game and tying the match at 2-2. Game 5 was a disaster for the Rams. After playing so well in game 4 and going up 2-0 in the 5th game it looked like momentum was on their side. But the Flames again used great serving and would score 10 straight point off the serves of Senior Ericka Hill. The Rams were confused, at times looking at each other on defense as Flame shots would fall. Despite being down 10-2 they Rams would fight back as Seik would serve down 14-4. They would get 5 more points before the Flames ended it and won game 5, 15-9 and the match 3-2. For the Flames the 6 girls for coach Abby Bayer who played the whole game were: Tiara Scott a Junior who had a great serve and was a terrific defensive and offensive player.  Rachel Dombroski a Senior who was in the back court and would dig out services, and pitch in on offense. Erika Hill a Senior who was the setter and a great server. Kira Neszpaul a Junior who is a solid defender and seemingly was all over the court. Shatasha Murphy a Freshman and a fabulous offensive player who's power kills make her a player to watch in the section for the next 3 1/2 years. Nicole Lough a Junior and front court player who's defense at the net and strong offense led the Flames. After the game Senior Kara Jones sat down for an interview. "We get down on ourselves when we make errors, and have a tough time getting back on track" Sophomore Seik also answered questions and the three sport athlete was asked her favorite sport." I like them all equally, I just love playing with all my friends" Coach Benkowski was again frustrated after the loss but was realistic about what his team needs to do. "You should see us in practice, we work hard, and the girls have fun, but for some reason we are not carrying that over into games". "I really thought we would do well tonight versus Northgate, but give them credit, those 6 girls played a great match and deserve to be 5-0." Now the Rams have gone thru the top 3 teams in the section having played OLSH, Avonworth, and Northgate. In order to get in position for the playoffs the need to handle the teams that are struggling and at the bottom of the section. Rochester, Eden Christian and Cornell are all on the schedule 2 more times. If they can do well in those games then the match ups with the top three again next month will determine their playoff fate. All is not lost as coach Benkowski alluded to after the game. "We have a lot of girls who are struggling right now, I'm using different lineups and trying to find the right combination on the court so we can be successful". "We are all frustrated right now, but with so many young players learning, and with so much time to go in the season I feel our best games are yet to come."

9/18/12:  CHARTIERS-HOUSTON BUCCANEERS 3- Bentworth Bearcats 1
By Sam Hall
The Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers won a hard fought girls volleyball match last night at home against the Bentworth Bearcats by a margin of 3-1. But it was much closer than that score would indicate. Bentworth took the opening game 25-23 with no team able to manage a run greater than four during the entire game. The Bucs though would rebound with a hard fought 25-22 win in game two, then needing to go extra time to win the third game 27-25 before closing out the Bearcats with a 25-21 win in the fourth game. Chartiers-Houston got a triple double from senior Lacey Levers, the 6’1’’ Duquesne recruit notched 30 kills, 30 serves received, and 15 digs in the win. Those incredible numbers were added to by senior co-captain Piper McLaughlin who pitched in with three service aces and 19 assists on the night for the Bucs who improve to 4-1 in single A section 6 keeping pace with unbeaten section leader Bishop Canevin. Freshman Kylee Levers also had a big night for the Bucs augmenting the work of her older sister. Bentworth suffered just their second section loss of the year falling to 3-2 in section play.

9/17/12:  Butler Golden Tornado 3 – AVONWORTH ANTELOPES 2
By Mike Azadian
At Avonworth high school in Hometown Volleyball action the Avonworth Antelopes took on the Butler Golden Tornado in a non section match. It was a hard fought 5 set affair that the home standing Antelopes lost by a score of 3-2. The Antelopes coming off a tough section loss last week to Our Lady Of Sacred Heart came in to the match in full health and  early in the first game went up by 3-1. Early serving by Rachel Turnbull got them started off. After Butler ties it at 3-3, Abbey Turnbull made a few defensive gem digs enabling the Lopes to get the offense going.They would score 12 of the next 13 points and go up 15-4. Moriah Eck the senior outside hitter was serving during a 7 point streak. It seemed the Lopes could do no wrong but at 18-8 and victory seeming eminent Butler came back strong scoring 9 of 13 to cut the lead to 5 at 22-17. Avonworth had some struggles during this stretch. Unforced errors, receive serve problems and stretched of defensive errors. However. Eck who is so solid in shot placement was able to get a few key point late, and the Antelopes would win game one 25-18 and go up 1-0. Avonworth would go up again in game 2 as well but this game would be a lot closer early on. The teams were tied 7 times and at 12-12 it looked like it was anyone's game. All of a sudden the back and forth close game went all Butlers way. Senior Heather Straynik would serve during a 7 point stretch and the Tornado found a hole in the Lopes defense, getting point after point in the middle of the court. The Antelopes usually a strong serving squad had service errors that led to easy Tornado points.Even though coach Vandervort would use his time outs, it was to no avail as Butler would survive a late run and win game 2 25-17 at tie the match at 1-1. Game 3  was a copy of game 2 as it was very close early on., The teams tied 5 times and at 7-7 the Antelopes would take over. A huge ace serve by Eck, and a big lefty spike by Rachel Turnbull, and the serving of Ericka Thomas led the way. The Lopes looked unstoppable as Olivia London's strong net play and defense helped as well. At 19-10 it looked to be an easy win but  the Tornado wouldn't go away quietly. They would score 12 of the next 16 and make it a 1 point game at 23-22. Even with a great soft shot by Eck and inspired defense by Lauren Brace and Katie Pendrack the Lopes could not put Butler away until the very end getting the last 2 points to win 25-22 and go up 2-1 in the match. In game 4 again it would be close until at 8-8 the Tornado would change the match.They would rattle off 17 of the next 21 points and win easily by a 25-12 score to tie the match at 2-2. Butlers defense was tremendous and would not allow the Lopes anything at all. For Avonworth some younger players would get a chance to play. Olivia McKay, Caitlyn Miller, Abby Oberdick, and Taylor Jenkins would spell the starters for a few points at a time."In non section games I try to get playing time for the kids who may not get as much during section games. They work hard and deserve to get in there" said coach Doug Vandervort after the game. On to the deciding 5th game and the Tornado's got up early and never looked back. Up 7-1 they had score 20 of the last 25 points counting game 4 and looked strong. Avonworth would have serve receive and service problems all game and even though they cut the score to 10-6 Butler would win 15-8 scoring 5 of the last 7 to win, The Tornado would end up getting 28 of the last 40 points from mid game 4 to the end of the 5th game and win game 5 15-8 and the match 3-2. For the Antelopes it wasn't their best defensive game as the weren't getting in front of the ball on defense like they normally do, their serving wasn't as strong as it usually is, and they had a lot of problems in receiving serve."We just had problems closing them out in game three and bad habits led to what happened in game 4 and 5" said coach Vandervort. "This all started last week against OLSH and we just have to get thru it, we have another game tomorrow." So far the Antelopes remain at 3-1 in the section only 1 game back of first place OLSH in section 4 single A. They still have 4 talented seniors in Eck, Turnbull, Brace, and Rezabeck to lead them. With help from the strong Junior class this is a team that still looks playoff bound. Taking on a tough AAAA school in non section win or lose only helps them. "I want tough non section games so the girls are ready for our tough section games and so they get playoff ready" said Vandervort. Being that this team was 1 game away from winning the WPIAL championship in 2011 I would say these games will only help in the long run.

9/13/12:  BLACKHAWK COUGARS 3 – Ellwood City Wolverines 0
By Mike Azadian
In the debut appearance for the Hometown Volleyball program the Blackhawk Cougars hosted the Ellwood City Wolverines in Chippewa PA.  They came away with an impressive 3-0 match win to improve to 2-0 in the section. Blackhawk came in at 1-0 in section 1 AA coming off a win over Mohawk 3-0 on September 11th. They had also played in a preseason tournament to get warmed up for the season. The Ellwood City Wolverines were 2-0 overall but this would be their first section match. Head coach Robin Ostach emphasized that their team lost 4 seniors from last years WPIAL semi final team, 3 of which went on to play volleyball in college. However this years team has only 3 seniors, all team leaders, all girls that work well with all of the younger players on the team. They are Brittany Davids the teams setter and defensive specialist, Leah Hornfeck the teams libero, and Kristen Ostach one of the teams outside hitters. Ostach the daughter of the coach is injured and hoping to play some time this year. She is like a second coach on the bench helping her team any way she can until she gets back in the lineup. The Cougars have a young team with lots of young talent. They have 9 Juniors, and 9 Sophomores on the team with 6 Freshman. Coach Ostach used 12 players in the game tonight and this team is still learning and growing. In game one the Cougars led early as Davids started the serving and rattled off four strong serves and it was 4-0 Blackhawk. The teams traded points and it was close at 9-7 in the early going. The Cougars took hold and  scored 9 of the next ten points to go up 18-8. Sophomore Brook Tomasco was part of the uprising as she served while the Cougars ran off 5 points during one point in the stretch. But the Wolverines were scrappy coming back, making it a game and getting to with 5 at 21-16. But Makenna Malinowski went back to serve. She quickly ended the game with 4 great serves and Blackhawk wins game one 25-16 to go up 1-0 in the match. Game two saw the Wolverines lead early and they got up to a 6-2 advantage. They had inspired play but the Cougars made mistakes. Unforced errors, service receiving errors and scattered play plagued them thru the early portions of set 2. But they would come back to tie at 6-6. Again it was Malinowski serving as the Cougars would score 7 straight and lead 9-6. Another Sophomore Tiye Boyd was inserted into the game and came on to serve and the Cougars would score 6 straight behind her line drive serves and Blackhawk went up 16-7. With another big lead and the opportunity to close out Ellwood City, the Cougars again would slip a bit letting the Wolverines come back to get close as they would only score 4 of the next 12 points but still lead 22-18. Despite the late heroics by Ellwood the Cougars would hold on and win 25-21 and lead 2-0 in the match. In game 3 the Wolverines would lead again at 3-2 but Blackhawk would tie at 3-3 and never trail again. Once again Malinowski, and Boyd's serving led the way and the Cougars were up 9-5.  Nikki Beatty another of the strong Sophomores for the Cougars would make a stunning defensive play at the net for a big point during a Wolverine rally to help spur her team. But for the 3rd straight game Ellwood would come back, this time they got within 4 at 20-16 before a huge defensive mistake cost them. They had problems in the back court and it led to an easy point for the Cougars. Blackhawk would respond with 4 straight points to end the game, two on slams by Haley Schramm and they would win game 3 by a score of 25-16 and the match at 3-0. After the game during interviews three of the key Cougars would come on the air for interviews. Davids one of the seniors would say in response to a question about her excellent serving "I serve to spots and look for weaknesses, if we find anyone who has trouble receiving serve I try to serve that way. Hornfeck another of the seniors who loves Lacrosse as well,was asked about being a leader and which sport she prefers. "I feel I work well with the younger girls, they really look up to us.As for my favorite sport, I really love Lacrosse, but Volleyball is in my heart" Finally one of the key Juniors Schramm was asked about her reaction near the end of the game as she looked to the crowd after a key spike. "My fans are always yelling for us and I wanted to let them know how I felt." Coach Ostach was very happy with her teams effort. When asked about the serving she responded " We work on that 70% of the time in practice when we first start out, its so important to the game" Her response to her teams keeping the other team around and not having the killer instinct."That's one thing we need to work on, so much of this game is mental."  On using so many players where most teams rotate 7 or 8. "We have a lot of young talent, a lot of girls earned playing time, working 12 girls in is hard but we make it work" Finally on the prospects of her daughter Kristen coming back to play this year. "Were hopeful, we see the orthopedic surgeon next week and we will know more then. If she cant come back we will deal with it by the way we are now, using all the girls." For a team coming off a semi final loss in the WPIAL playoffs and losing 4 key Seniors, the Cougars have the look of a playoff team. They have improved under Ostach's watch and are a contender year in and year out. The key to their success lies in not only the strong seniors, but getting the big contributions from key Juniors and Sophomores like they did tonight. If they can get a late season return from Kristen Ostach the Cougars could make another long playoff run.

9/11/12:  AVONWORTH ANTELOPES 3 – SOUTH SIDE BEAVER RAMS 0
By Mike Azadian
In the first Hometown Volleyball match of the year the Avonworth Antelopes came into Hookstown PA to take on the South Side Rams in a section 4 single A match up. The first place Antelopes put a licking on the Rams with a 3-0 match victory. It wasn't pretty for the Rams who came in with high hopes. Despite losing 6 starters to graduation Ram's head coach Jason Benkowski was confident in his squad. "I really think we are a better team this year. My younger Players have experience and I'm  confident in our chance to do well this year". On the other hand the Antelopes head coach Doug Vandervort wasn't ready to fully evaluate his team despite coming in 2-0 in the section and 3-0 overall and not losing a set. " We will see how good we are after this week, its early yet" Avonworth lost 4 starters to graduation but brings back a lot of talented players again this year. In the first game the Rams got off to a good start leading 2-1 but the Antelopes Rachel Turnbull went back to serve. The Sophomore ran off 5 good serves and her teammates responded and it was 7-3 Lopes. The teams traded points and the play in general was spirited and both teams played well. The Rams cut the lead to 3 at 13-10 when Turnbull went back to serve again. This time Avonworth rattled off 11 straight points to go up 24-10 on the way to an easy victory. Moriah Eck the senior outside hitter and one of the top players in the WPIAL had two big kills early in the run. Mackenxie Mayernik and Katie Pendrak also provided offensive help at the net as they overwhelmed the Rams. For the Rams Sarah Androlia a Junior seemed to be all over the court on defense, and was a key on offense, Alexis Dhayer a Sophomore played a big role on offense in the first game for South Side as well. The final in the first game was 25-13 Avonworth. On to the second game and South Side got the lead again to start. Both teams again traded points and it was tied at 6-6. Then the Antelopes would score 11 of the next 14 points to go up 17-10, and again run away with it for a 25-16 game two win to go up 2-0 in the match. This game started what would become a trend in the game. The Antelopes served great, played solid defense, and found the holes in the Ram defense consistently. The Rams looked confused at times defensively, made numerous errors on receiving serve and on offense couldn't get a rhythm and failed to put points on the board. Lauren Brace and  and Abby Turnbull both provided strong defense and contributed on offense for Avonworth. The Rams Cheyenne Siek a Sophomore made some key offensive plays at the net, and helped keep the Rams close as she provided strong defense as well. Into the third game and things just got worse for the Rams as Olivia London a Junior for the Lopes started the game serving. Eleven points later it was 1-0 Avonworth. South Side could do nothing right struggling with confidence and having a bad overall game mentally as well. Avonworth could do nothing wrong as everything went right for them. Again Eck led the way on offense with booming spikes on offense as the Antelopes cruised to an easy 25-5 game three win and a 3-0 match win. Avonworth is now 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the section. South Side falls to 1-2, and 0-2 in the section. Coach Vandervort after the game took the victory in stride saying "I think we played our best game tonite, our serving was strong and it was a total team effort". His Antelopes look strong and may be as good or better than last years squad which went to the WPIAL single A championship game and lost a tough battle to Elderton 3-1. If they can get this effort every night, and inspired play from senior leaders Turnbull, Brace, and Eck as well as the total team effort they will be tough to beat. After a long conversation with his team coach Benkowski was straightforward after the loss."We simply did not play well in any facet of the game. I take nothing away from Avonworth they are a good team, but we just didn't have it tonight"  Sarah Androlia who is a star basketball, softball and volleyball player for the Rams girls teams was honest in her evaluation in the team. "It wasn't our best game, things didn't go our way. "We just have to come out and practice hard tomorrow and forget  how we played tonight". Junior Samantha Gibson who is also on the track team for the Rams was also honest about the team and talked about being a leader." We just have to keep working hard, things just snowballed for us out there tonight. I'm proud to be a leader on this team and  that I got picked to be a captain by my teammates."  The South Side Rams definitely can play better than this. They have numerous athletes and experience. Tonight they did not show how good they can be. Coach Benkowski vowed to work to get better. "I take it upon myself as a coach to find ways to motivate and teach the girls and find a way to get them through these tough stretches. You didn't see the best of the Rams tonight."

Tags: Avonworth, Blackhawk, Chartiers-Houston