Derry volleyball sweeps Montour to earn spot in WPIAL title match against Ambridge

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | 9:40 PM

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Derry is headed back to the WPIAL Class AA boys volleyball title match.

The top-seeded Trojans earned the championship berth with a 3-0 win over Montour in Tuesday night's semifinal at North Allegheny. They won by scores of 25-19, 25-12, 26-34.

“Winning this is great,” Derry junior John Kerr said. “It's so much fun playing with these guys.”

Derry, which reached the semifinals for the sixth time in the last seven years, hopes to win its first title since 2014 when the Trojans meet Ambridge, a 3-0 winner over Deer Lakes, on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Baldwin

“It's great because, for my three previous years on the team, we've never won this round,” Derry senior Jeff Perratone said. “It's outstanding. I thought we played together as brothers.”

The top-seeded Trojans (14-3), who previously defeated the Spartans, 3-0, during the final week of the regular season, had no trouble in the first two sets.

“Whenever we start slow, it's hard to get back from that,” Kerr said. “It's always good to start off strong.”

Derry opened a quick 10-3 lead to start the night and built it to 16-9. The Spartans came back to trim the deficit to 21-18, but the Trojans posted the six-point win.

Montour grabbed a 5-2 advantage in the second set, but Derry stormed back for the next five points. The Spartans came within 14-9, but the Trojans closed with an 11-3 run for the win.

Derry had a 14-7 lead in the third set, but Montour charged back and forged an 18-18 tie. The Spartans took their first lead at 20-19 and went up 23-22, but the Trojans rallied for the sweep.

“I feel like we're playing our game. We just have to find a way to finish out that third set earlier,” Perratone said. “Montour is a great team. I know some of their guys, and they are great competitors and they don't like to lose.”

Added Derry coach Shawn Spencer: “I felt like we came out more comfortable with who we are and really built off that the entire match. At the end, I think we just started to look ahead and thought the outcome was just going to happen.

“In the end, we found a way to win it like we have all year. I am real proud of the kids.”

The Trojans' focus turns to WPIAL power Ambridge, which is looking for its eighth WPIAL title in the past 12 seasons. Derry posted a 3-1 road win over the Bridgers two weeks ago.

“They are a great team, and we know we're going to have to come out there strong and come out knowing we can beat them and not get our heads down,” Kerr said.

Derry, which secured a PIAA tournament berth as well, hopes to win gold Thursday.

“The kids know they can have success against anybody they play. They just have to play. That's the thing with this group: If they play to their potential, I like our chances against anybody,” Spencer said. “When we try to do something that's not us, that's when I get concerned. We don't need to do anything other than what we're capable of in order to have good success.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Derry Area, Montour