NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. (D9Sports) — A willingness to do something different at the start of the fifth set helped Clarion, the District 9 third-place team, upset WPIAL champion Bishop Canevin, 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-6), in the opening round of the PIAA Class 1A volleyball playoffs Tuesday night at Norwin High School.
(Photo of Clarion celebrating. Photo by Bri Nellis. Check out more of Nellis’ work here)
The Lady Cats, who had to win an early morning consolation match Saturday over Coudersport just to qualify for the PIAA playoffs, usually like to start with Maya Thornton in the front row to take advantage of the seniors heavy arm.
But heading into the fifth set Tuesday — Clarion won sets one and three and Bishop Canevin two and four — Lady Cats head coach Shari Campbell believed the best plan of attack was to have middle Hailey Sintobin in the front row to block Crusaders sophomore right-side hitter Alexa Malloy, who had 12 of her 13 kills through the first four sets.
With Sintobin starting up front, Thornton became the server to start the set for Clarion, and she helped set the tone to a 5-0 start in the set for the Lady Cats.
“We really wanted to put Sintobin blocking on Malloy,” Campbell said. “That put Maya in the back row first, so we didn’t have her swing, which is something we normally do. But, we are willing to find the rotation matchup. That really put Maya in the driver’s seat serving. She was really in their heads. That was a great scenario for us in game five.”
It didn’t hurt Clarion that senior Sydney Kiser was playing so well with 12 kills through four sets, and Kiser continues that strong play by picking up three more kills in the first five points to set the tone.
“I just really wanted to win,” Kiser said. “My coach kept telling me to find spots on the court to hit, and that is the most important thing.”
Watch Kiser’s full interview.
Kiser’s play was part of perhaps Clarion’s most balanced attack of the season. In addition to her team-leading 15 kills, Sintobin added 11 kills and two blocks, Thornton also had 11 kills and four aces and Maddie Schill chipped in seven kills and three blocks.
“(The balance) is huge,” Campbell said. “We are really young, and we also have some kids who haven’t played for years and years and years, so you are starting to see them develop and step up. With each win, with each practice they learn more and get bolder. You just see them step up to the plate. I think you saw that on Saturday and then again tonight. As we go through the playoffs you need that. I’m really pleased to see that at this point.”
Down 5-0, Bishop Canevin didn’t go away without a fight scoring four of the next five points including a kill from Kylie Airesman, an ace from Maddie Maziarz and a block from Tamara Blue, the lone senior on the team, to cut the Clarion lead to 6-4.
But a service error followed by a blocking error pushed Clarion’s lead back to four, 8-4, and another kill from Airesman that made it 8-5 was as close as the Crusaders got.
Two more hitting errors and an ace by Kaitlyn Constantino put the Lady Cats up 11-5 and forced Bishop Canevin to take a second time out, and although Malloy answered with a kill to make it 11-6, a Thornton kill followed by an Alexis Constantino ace made it 13-6, and then an error on Bishop Canevin put Clarion on the cusp of victory.
Alexis Constantino then served again, and when Crusaders’ Libero Hanna DeLisio shanked the receive towards her bench and Malloy and Maddie Masiarz ran into each other trying to save it, the ball was pushed out of bounds setting off a Clarion celebration.
Watch the final point.
“I really felt if we played our game and everybody stepped up to the plate, we would be able to overpower them,” Campbell said. “We scrimmaged them in August, and our serving was a factor then. I really think you saw that here tonight.”
Clarion had 13 aces and numerous other situations where the serve kept Bishop Canevin out of system.
“We have had a lot of confidence in practice,” Kiser said. “We have been on a roll lately and ready to roll.”
Clarion started strong using a 6-0 run that featured three aces and a kill from Thornton and a kill by Kiser to erase a 12-10 set one deficit and take a 16-12 lead it ever relinquished.
Up 21-18, Kiser, who had six kills in the set, got another kill followed by an Alexis Constantino ace and a kill by Sintobin before another ace put the set away in the Lady Cats favor.
Bishop Canevin responded in the second set behind Malloy, who had five kills in the set, to tie the match at one.
After the set was tied at six, the Crusaders went on an 8-2 run that was fueled by some Clarion mistakes to take control.
But Clarion kept fighting and got within one, 24-23, after some controversy.
Following a Clarion timeout with Bishop Canevin up 24-22, the Crusaders were called for serving out of rotation with the official book and the Clarion book saying that DeLisio was supposed to be serving giving Clarion a point to make it 24-23. But the Crusaders argued correctly that DeLisio had served into the net to make it 23-21, and after a lengthy discussion the call was changed and the score reverted back to 24-22.
Campbell was ok with the call, but for some reason the Bishop Canevin coaches were irate and one of the assistant coaches was assessed a yellow warning card. At that point, head coach Kevin Walters threw his clipboard to the ground and was assessed a red card meaning two things — Clarion was awarded a point and Walters had to sit on the bench the rest of the match.
While Bishop Canevin recovered to win the set, 25-23, on a Malloy kill, Campbell believed the red card had a negative effect on the Lady Crusaders.
“It (a red card) has a big effect on a match,” Campbell said. “It really affects the kids, and it puts the refs on the defensive. It also puts him in his seat, and he isn’t able to be up and coaching as actively. I think as a coach that is something you have to be really cognizant of.”
Clarion answered in the third set breaking a 13-all tie with three straight points, all on kills from Sintobin, two of them tips, to take a 16-13 lead.
But Bishop Canevin fought back and tied things at 17 on a kill from Maziarz at 17, but Thornton answered with a kill and then an error from the Crusaders made it 19-17.
Up one, 19-18, Clarion rolled off the final six points with Thornton, Schill, Kaitlyn Constantino and Kiser each recording kills for the 25-18 win.
The Crusaders didn’t go away without a fighting rolling to a 10-3 lead in the fourth set behind two kills and an ace by Malloy.
Clarion got within one, 11-10, thanks to a 7-1 run that featured two kills each from Thornton and Sintobin, but three quick Bishop Canevin points stopped the run, and Clarion never got closer than 19-17 the rest of the way.
Freshman Brenna Campbell ran the show with 35 set assists, while Alexis Constantino had 27 digs, Thornton 16 digs, Kiser 13 digs and Lexi Lauer 12 digs.
Malloy’s 13 kills paced Bishop Canevin with Blue adding six kills and two blocks and Airesman six kills, two aces and a block.
Clarion is back in action Saturday when it takes on District 6 champion Northern Cambria, a 3-2 winner over A-C Valley. That match will be at a site and time to be determined.
NORTHERN CAMBRIA 3, A-C VALLEY 2
COMMODORE, Pa. — Despite strong matches from Olivia Boocks and Josey Terwilliger and a valiant comeback attempt from a two-zero hole, District 9 runner-up A-C Valley dropped a 3-2 (25-21, 29-27, 19-25, 20-25, 15-10) decision to District 6 champion Northern Cambria in the PIAA Class 1A first round at Purchase Line High School.
“I am so proud of my team,” A-C Valley head coach Doug Knox said. “They aren’t called the comeback kids for no reason. I couldn’t ask for a better team than this.
The difference in the match might have some late in the second set with the Lady Falcons down 1-0 but holding a 26-25 lead. But the set point wasn’t able to be found, and Northern Cambria rolled off three straight points for the victory.
Then, in the fifth set, A-C Valley got behind quickly thanks in part to four service errors.
“It’s hard to overcome four service errors in the fifth set,” Knox said.
Boocks led the way with 20 kills and a block, while Terwilliger added 19 kills, four aces and two blocks. Syd Rankin (26 set assists) and Emily Wetzel (17 set assists) ran the offense, Cassie Schwalm chipped in eight kills and two blocks and Kylee Eaton had six kills and two blocks.
