Cream of the crop: Frazier, Southmoreland, Ringgold head up H-S All-Area Volleyball Team
Frazier having an excellent girls volleyball season is no surprise as the Lady Commodores have one of the WPIAL’s best programs under coach Mandy Hartman.
There were a couple eye-opening seasons by other area teams, however.
Southmoreland rose from a 12-4 second-place finish in 2022 to an undefeated regular season while claiming the Section 3-AA title in 2023. Ringgold, which finished at 7-7 in section play and in third place last season, put together a 17-4 record this past season and tied for second in Section 3-AAA.
The Lady Commodores won their 16th section championship by rolling through Section 2-A play unscathed.
Those three teams lead the way in the 2023 Herald-Standard All-Area Volleyball Team.
Frazier junior setter/outside hitter Gracen Hartman and West Greene outside hitter Kasie Meek were both named to the all-state team and share the H-S Class A Player-of-the-Year honor.
Hartman is the Class A Coach of the Year.
Southmoreland senior middle hitter Amarah McCutcheon, who was named to the district Class AA second team, is the Class AA Player of the Year, and Lady Scotties coach Tom Kurtz is the Coach of the Year.
Lady Rams senior outside hitter Aubrey Siwula and Laurel Highlands junior outside hitter Alexandra Mattey are the Class AAA Co-Players of the Year and Ringgold coach Adam Thomas is the Coach of the Year.
Hartman, Meek, McCutcheon, Mattey and Siwula are all members of the H-S All-Area First Team along with Southmoreland junior middle hitter Taylor Doppelheuer, Frazier senior libero Molly Yauch, junior outside hitter Grace Vaughn and sophomore outside hitter Maddie Salisbury, Carmichaels sophomore middle hitter Ani Cree, Mapletown junior setter Bailey Rafferty and California senior setter Azzy Colditz.
Members of the second team are Laurel Highlands’ Sara Reed, Ringgold’s Megan Kopp, Belle Vernon’s Lily Shahan, Southmoreland’s Kaylee Doppelheuer, Charleroi’s Sophia Celaschi and Kyra Short, Waynesburg Central’s Karlee Hogue, Keelan Sproat and Gina Tedrow, Yough’s Jillian Korpar and Addison Seanor, California’s Rakiyah Porter and Raegan Gillen, and West Greene’s Allexis Berdine.
Honorable Mention are Albert Gallatin’s Leah Myers, Mia Myers and Jocelyn Ellsworth, Connellsville’s Ella Detwiler, Larianna Thompson and Faith Brandner, Uniontown’s Maggie Campbell, Aida Evans and Miah DeShields, Laurel Highlands’ Jayna Fabery and Ayrianna Sumpter, Brownsville’s Caylee Balabon, Skyler Gates and Mackenzie Wade, Frazier’s Addison Shultz and Allie Monack, and Geibel Catholic’s Sarah Konieczny and Halee Hart.
There were 11 local teams that qualified for the playoffs.
Frazier went 19-3 overall, losing only to Southmoreland in the regular season, Bishop Canevin in the WPIAL semifinals and Maplewood in the PIAA tournament.
Second-place West Greene, third-place California and fourth-place Mapletown also qualified for the postseason out of Section 2-A with both the Lady Pioneers and the Lady Trojans reaching the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Southmoreland won a five-set battle over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart before falling to Avonworth in the district quarterfinals. The Lady Scotties’ overall record was 19-1.
Second-place Waynesburg Central, and Yough and Charleroi, who tied for third place, also qualified for the WPIAL postseason out of Section 3-AA. All three were placed in the preliminary round with only Charleroi advancing before falling to top-seeded Freeport.
Ringgold, third-place Laurel Highlands and fourth-place Belle Vernon each made the WPIAL playoffs preliminary round out of Section 3-AAA. Both the Mustangs and Lady Rams advanced to the first round before falling.