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WPIAL vollebyall semifinals: Mars girls sweep away Ambridge
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Mt. Lebanon's Megan Riemer spikes the ball against Oakland Catholic's Lauren Slater Thursday night. -
Fox Chapel's Megan Hollingsworth goes for a kill against North Allegheny Thursday night.
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The Mars High School girls volleyball team made it three for three with a victory in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals Thursday night at North Allegheny High School.
"We are the third team from Mars to make it to the WPIAL finals," Planets coach Dan Mountain said. "The boys and girls soccer teams won in the semifinals [Wednesday], and now we win tonight [Thursday]. It's great that all three championship matches are at Chartiers Valley."
Mars, the No. 3 seed, earned its first WPIAL title berth with a 25-10, 25-15, 25-17 sweep against No. 7 Ambridge. The Planets were led by Abby Matusik's 16 kills and Melanie Dinderman's 25 digs.
Mountain's squad will face top seed and defending champion Hopewell in the title match at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at Chartiers Valley. The Planets girls soccer team will face Moon in the WPIAL final at 4:30 p.m., while the boys team faces Quaker Valley at 6:45 p.m.
• Hopewell earned its eighth title berth in the past 11 years with a 3-1 win against Indiana, despite losing the first game, 25-21. The Vikings also trailed in the second set, but scored seven of the last 10 points for a 25-23 victory. Hopewell survived, however, with 26-24 and 27-25 wins.
• Mt. Lebanon, the No. 4 seed in Class AAA, earned its third title berth in the past six years with a 3-0 sweep against top-seed Oakland Catholic, in a semifinal at Chartiers Valley. Caroline Grattan led the Blue Devils with 22 kills.
"Five members of this team were on last year's team that lost in the semifinals," Blue Devils coach Jeff Schilling said. "The experience they gained in that match played a big part in our victory."
Oakland Catholic held leads of 14-6 and 24-20 in the first set, but Mt. Lebanon scored eight of the next10 points in a 28-26 win. The Blue Devils won the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-17.
• Fox Chapel, the No. 3 seed in Class AAA, earned its first title berth with a 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 24-26, 29-27, 15-13) win against No. 2 North Allegheny.
• Greensburg Central Catholic, the top seed in Class A, swept No. 4 West Shamokin, 25-17, 25-18, 25-16, to earn its third title berth. The Centurions also reached the final in '07 and '09, but had to settle for a silver medal both times. Greensburg Central Catholic was led by Shannon Hurley (14 kills) and Alexa Kacin (18 digs).
• Bishop Canevin, the No. 3 seed in Class A, advanced to the title game for the second time in the past three years with a 27-25, 28-26, 25-17 semifinal win against No. 2 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Katie Oliverio had 20 digs and 16 assists for the Crusaders.
First Published November 2, 2012 12:00 am
