Lady Mikes stay perfect in non-section play
A Waynesburg Central player digs the ball in game against Carmichaels during Monday's non-section match at Carmichaels.
Carmichaels players Sarah Hathaway (10) and Alex Ferek (8) take a shot against Waynesburg’s Lindsay King as Carmichaels’ Cameron Grimes looks on during Monday’s non-section match at Carmichaels. (Photo by Dave Rafferty)
CARMICHAELS — The Carmichaels volleyball team kept its perfect non-section record intact for the 2011 campaign with a 3-1 victory over visiting Waynesburg Central Monday night.
“It was Senior Night for us and we just battled tonight,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “The leadership from our seniors helped us, and our starters were just able to make enough plays and break through. We kept our mental.”
The Lady Mikes (11-5) are 6-0 against teams from out of Section 5-A, but Carmichaels is more focused on section matches as they control their own destiny for the WPIAL playoffs this year.
Frazier is the section champion, but four teams are vying for postseason spots. Jefferson-Morgan and Geibel Catholic are 7-4 in the section with one match left, while Carmichaels is 5-5 with two games left.
Jefferson-Morgan is officially after defeating West Greene last Thursday, and Geibel will be in with an upset win against Frazier today. Carmichaels needs to win its final two section games, against West Greene today and at Mapletown on Thursday, and hope that Geibel loses its section finale.
Geibel and Carmichaels split the season series, and if both have the identical records, then both will be in.
“The girls know what’s at stake this week,” Shoemaker said. “We can only control what we do on the court. We can’t be worrying about what other teams do in the section this week. We have to play our game and be more consistent. It’s all about mental focus and taking it one set at a time.”
Leading the Lady Mikes in the non-section win were Sarah Hathaway (30 assists), Cameron Grimes (21 service points), Marissa Krall (9 kills), and Alex Ferek (21 service points, 8 kills).
Carmichaels tallied the opening four points in the first set, but Waynesburg Central (1-11) scored the next five. With the score at 10-10, the Lady Mikes rallied for an 11-1 run and went on to win 25-20.
In the second set, the Lady Raiders took early leads of 10-6, 17-12 and 19-15 before finally evening up the sets with a 25-21 win.
“I think the younger kids are keeping the older kids into it,” Waynesburg coach Casey O’Brien said. “Sometimes the older kids get frustrated more with the losing, so the younger kids have definitely stepped up for us and are taking more important roles.”
The Lady Mikes took firm control in the third set and marched out to a 14-8 lead. Carmichaels won the third by a 25-13 margin.
It was another back-and-forth set in the fourth, as Waynesburg held an early 7-3 edge, but Carmichaels battled back and held a 16-11 advantage. The Lady Mikes were finally able to seal off the win with a 25-20 victory.
The Lady Raiders were lead by Lauren Fox (6 kills) and Lindsay King (3 aces), and Shannon Morgan was their main weapon on the night with 15 kills.
“Tonight was probably one of Shannon’s better games this year,” O’Brien said. “She has really developed from the start of the season. We are going to play a lot of club volleyball this off-season and that is where you get better and you start to build your confidence.”
Waynesburg closes out Section 7-AA play today against Brownsville at home.