Penn Hills soccer, volleyball players garner all-section honors

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 8, 2018 | 7:42 PM

The historic season for the Penn Hills football program continues. However, the soccer and girls volleyball seasons came to a close, and individual honors have been announced.

Six members of the boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball teams received all-section honors from the PA Big 56 this season.

Senior goalkeeper Autumn Blair headlined with a first-team Section 3-AAAA pick. Blair was the steady voice guiding the backline for the Indians (3-14, 2-10), who missed the playoffs after qualifying the last two seasons.

“It really means a lot. With the progress our team has gone through and me as a person, (I) have grown so much. We’ve learned so much from the game,” Blair said.

“Sometimes you don’t get the outcome you want in the game, but you know having that accolade at the end of the season just shows it means so much for how much hard work I put in.”

In her junior year, Blair was an honorable mention. Blair, who also plays club soccer for Century United, is deciding between Waynesburg and Bryn Mawr.

Coach Ashley DeVito will turn to freshman Faith Petronio to take over for Blair.

Blair made sure she left an imprint on the program by providing advice and displaying leadership to the underclassmen.

“I try to look at it as I’m going to be leaving soon. I got to teach the girls under me what to do and what the ropes are. I think it’s really nice to have your teammates see you as somebody that they can look up to and rely on,” Blair said.

Sophomore defender TaMaya Wolford received honorable-mention honors for the second season. The versatile Wolford was second on the team with five goals, just behind the six goals scored by junior midfielder Sierra Hankey.

The boys soccer team had three players named all-section, led by junior forward Iain Krieger and senior defender Matt Lloyd, who were second-team selections in Section 3-AAAA.

Krieger, who missed time because of a concussion, led the Indians (2-16, 1-13) with six goals. He was an honorable mention during his sophomore season.

Lloyd provided the senior leadership on the backline.

Sophomore midfielder Jonah Silverman, who is also on the cross country team, was an honorable mention.

Sophomore middle hitter Faith Crawford received second-team all-section honors in Section 3-AAAA.

The Indians (7-10, 2-10) volleyball team was led by its three captains — senior middle hitter Kelsey Lydic, senior Deshaya Chavis and junior outside hitter Yasmine Logan — along with Crawford. The Indians received contributions from junior setter Colleen Hoolahan.

“Faith is undersized in the section but jumps as well as anybody and is faster than most of them. She is very vital to what we do because it opens up the rest of the offense on the outside,” coach Jay Mitlo said.

“She also has incredibly good timing in blocking. She is essential not only for setting up the offense for herself but to enable the other attackers on our team to have one-on-one blocks.”

Penn Hills beat Gateway, Woodland Hills, Carrick, Allderdice and Trinity Christian and swept the series with Plum.

Crawford is healthy heading into the offseason after dealing with injuries before her sophomore season. Mitlo looks for her to be a focal point of the Indians offense during her junior season.

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

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