Bishop Canevin sweeps Carmichaels to earn another WPIAL girls volleyball championship

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 3, 2018 | 1:18 PM

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After receiving a scare in the semifinals, Bishop Canevin made sure there wasn’t any drama in the championship match

The top-seeded Crusaders swept No. 2 Carmichaels, 3-0, in 45 minutes to win their second consecutive WPIAL Class A girls volleyball title and fourth in six years Saturday at Fox Chapel.

Bishop Canevin needed to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win against Fort Cherry in the semifinals on Thursday, but left little doubt on Saturday, winning 25-11, 25-11, 25-9.

“They came in to and played Canevin volleyball,” Bishop Canevin coach Kevin Walters said. “This is one of the best performances I’ve seen. This is the way they’ve played for the last three weeks, except the other night.”

Alexa Malloy, a junior, had nine kills and three aces for Bishop Canevin, and senior Kylie Airesman had eight kills and three blocks. Junior middle blocker Taylor Christopher had seven kills to lead Carmichaels.

After cruising to wins in the first two sets, Bishop Canevin capped the match by starting the third on a 15-0 run.

Malloy had two kills, Ally Correa had two blocks, Maddie Maziarz had two aces and Airesman had two kills during the 15-point outburst.

Maziarz closed the match out with back to back aces.

The Crusaders (16-0) were playing in their seventh consecutive WPIAL title game, while Carmichaels (17-1) was in the title game for the first time.

“To get to this point is a huge accomplishment for our program and the girls,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “I’m happy they got to experience this. We weren’t used to the stage, and we got into our routine late in the sets. It’s hard to come back from that huge deficit.”

Airesman had a big second set for the Crusaders with six kills, a block and an ace. Carmichaels, which was vying for its first title, had a dozen errors in the second, 10 hitting and two net violations. Malloy closed out the second with a thundering kill.

“This is my fourth time playing at the WPIAL championship, and I’m super blessed to have these opportunities,” Airesman said. “The experience is something that we could take advantage of. I wasn’t nervous today. I knew I could come out and play my game. For them being beginners, they were probably nervous. It was nerve-wracking the first time I played.”

Bishop Canevin used a 6-0 run backed by a kill and a block by Malloy to take an 12-5 lead and took advantage of some hitting errors by the Mighty Mikes and had an ace by Gabby Matakovich to move the lead to 20-8. A service error by Carmichaels closed out the set.

The Crusaders face the District 6 runner-up in the first round of the PIAA playoffs on Tuesday. The Mighty Mikes play the District 6 champion. Bishop Carroll and Northern Cambria play Saturday afternoon in the District 6 title game.

Fort Cherry also advanced to the PIAA tournament with a 3-0 win over Greensburg Central Catholic in the consolation match.