CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — The Redbank Valley and A-C Valley girls’ volleyball teams and Karns City boys’ and girls’ soccer teams begin their quests for PIAA titles Tuesday night at various locations around Western Pennsylvania.
(Photo of Karns City’s Spenser Myers. Photo by Mike Schnelle. Check out more of Schnelle’s work here)
Redbank Valley, fresh off its first District 9 title since 2009, will take on WPIAL runner-up Beaver at 6 p.m. at DuBois High School in the Class 2A opening round.
Beaver entered the WPIAL tournament, which was a lot more competitive than the 3-team District 9 bracket with 20 teams fighting for the title, as the top seed and reached the title match before falling to Freeport.
Redbank Valley is paced by Heather Traister, Macy King and Josie Rupp with Traister and King giving the Lady Bulldogs a strong net-front presence with their height.
Beaver is also strong in the middle and middle hitter Macy McElhaney had 20 kills in the WPIAL title match loss.
The winner takes on the winner between District 10 champion Corry and WPIAL third-place finisher Avonworth Saturday.
A-C Valley, which lost for the second straight year in the D9 1A title match, will face District 10 champion Maplewood at 6 p.m. at Meadville High School in the Class 1A opening round. Maplewood knocked off perennial power Cochranton, 3-2, to win the District 10 championship.
Maplewood’s Maggie Hunter played a key role in the championship match recording 16 kills to go with four aces. Nicole Brawley added 14 kills and 14 digs with Sophie Vardnell chipping in 12 kills. Hadley Baker runs the offense for the Lady Tigers.
For A-C Valley, a young team, Josie Terwilliger and Olivia Boocks are the top hitters, while Sydney Rankin runs the offense.
The winner takes on the winner of the match between WPIAL champion Greensburg Central Catholic and District 9 third-place finisher Elk County Catholic. The second round will take place Saturday.
Moving over to soccer, in girls’ 2A action Karns City, which went to the 1A PIAA semifinals a year ago, will start its quest for a championship berth by taking on WPIAL runner-up Freeport at 8 p.m. at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these teams. Karns City knocked off Freeport, 3-2, Oct. 8 thanks to a pair of Haley Scherer tallies. Chelsea Dodds also scored in that game for the Lady Gremlins.
Karns City is on its fourth keeper of the season, as injuries have taken their toll on the position. Hannah Knoll stepped in and played her first-ever game in net and got a shutout in a 3-0 win over Clearfield in the D9 title game last week.
Megan McCartney is the unquestioned offensive leader for the Lady Gremlins, and she had a pair of tallies in the championship match, which gave Karns City its 19th D9 in 22 years.
Freeport, coached by former Karns City star Brittni Grenninger, who scored 194 goals in her Karns City career, lost to Freedom, 4-1, in the WPIAL title match. The Yellowjackets top players include Piper Claypool, Cameron Lindsay and Hannah Stokes.
The winner will be back in action Saturday against the winner of the game between District 10 champion Hickory and District 6 runner-up Juniata.
In the boys’ Class 2A opening round, D9 champion Karns City will face District 10 runner-up Harbor Creek.
Karns City had an easy time in the D9 title game beating Punxsutawney 6-0 behind a Spenser Myers hat trick. Myers is the all-time leading scorer for the unbeaten Gremlins.
Harbor Creek dropped a 3-1 decision to Mercyhurst Prep in the D10 title contest. Peyton Ennis had the lone goal for Harbor Creek in that game Jason Angelo, Caleb Mandel, Tilor Fuller and Scott Stanyard are also players to keep an eye on for
Scott Stanyard, Caleb Mandel and Tilor Fuller all scored in the win over Fairview in the semifinals, while Jason Angelo is a top player to watch for the Huskies.
The winner will be back in action Saturday against the winner of the game between WPIAL champion Quaker Valley and District 6 runner-up Bald Eagle Area.
