Settling in Frazier shakes off early nerves to top Spartans, reach fourth volleyball finalSettling in: Frazier shakes off early nerves to top Spartans, reach fourth volleyball final
McMURRAY – Mandy Hartman knew what the problem was but was having a hard time fixing it.
Hartman’s Frazier volleyball team had struggled in its first two sets during Tuesday night’s WPIAL Class A semifinal match at Peters Township High School’s AHN Arena against St. Joseph and found itself in a 1-1 tie after dropping the second set.
A quick visit from a former player finally sparked a turnaround for the top-seeded Lady Commodores who went on to take the last two sets in closing out a 3-1 victory that sent them to Saturday’s championship match against Section 4 rival Greensburg Central Catholic.
The final will also be played at AHN Arena at 11 a.m.
The third-seeded Lady Centurions also shook off a slow start, dropping the first two sets to No. 2 Eden Christian before taking the last three for a 3-2 win on the same floor following Frazier’s victory.
Scores in the Lady Commodores’ win were 25-22, 23-25, 25-9 and 25-20.
“I think there were a lot of nerves in this gym tonight on our part,” Hartman said. “I kind of expected that, it being the first time we’re in such a big arena this season and we’ve got some new bodies out there.”
After Hartman and assistant coach Don Hartman couldn’t seem to get the Lady Commodores on track, a third party entered the huddle.
“I think they knew how poorly they were playing,” Mandy Hartman said. “My oldest daughter Logan, who’s won a state championship in softball, came in here and she talked to them and gave them a great speech about just taking the energy up, playing like a team like they have been all season, things like that. As a college athlete she recognizes those things.”
The talk from Logan Hartman, who went 21-6 pitching for Seton Hill’s softball team this past spring, seemed to turn on the switch for the Lady Commodores, including her sister, senior Gracen Hartman.
Frazier (17-3) crushed the Lady Spartans in the third set, allowing just nine points, then led wire-to-wire in the fourth set to put the match away.
Addison Schultz paced the Lady Commodores with 11 kills and seven blocks and Grace Vaughn contributed eight kills and 13 service points. Gracen Hartman rang up 27 assists and Frazier also got eight kills apiece from Allie Monack and Madelyn Salisbury, 10 service points from Addison Day, 11 digs from Addison Hiles and four blocks from Mia West.
Frazier held a 15-8 lead in the first set when the Lady Spartans used a 6-1 run to get within two at 16-14 before the Lady Commodores won the next three points. St. Joseph (19-4) would slice the gap to two four more times but couldn’t get any closer as Frazier hung on for 1-0 lead.
St. Joseph never trailed in the second set, shooting out to a 5-1 lead and surviving a late 7-2 burst by Frazier to win the second set and even the match.
“You’ve got to give St. Joes a lot of credit,” Mandy Hartman said. “They’re a solid team, a really good defensive team.”
After the pep talk from Logan Hartman, who starred in softball and volleyball at Frazier, the Lady Commodores roared out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and never looked back. Frazier was up 15-9 when it reeled off the final 10 points of the set, sparked by Day’s serving. Schultz finished the set with a block and a kill set up by Gracen Hartman.
“I thought our middles blocked really well in that third set,” Mandy Hartman said. “Addison Schultz and Mia West had some really nice blocks at the net at some key times.
“And Gracen, she does a great job of reading the court and knowing where to go with the ball. Her and Grace Vaughn and Addison Day were true seniors tonight. Addison Day came in and served all those points in that third set. The senior leadership I got was tremendous tonight.”
Frazier never trailed in the fourth set but the Lady Spartans did rally from an 11-5 deficit to pull even at 12-12. The Lady Commodores responded with a six-point run that included two aces by Vaughn.
St. Joseph whittled the gap to 21-19 but could get no closer. Schultz notched points on a tip kill a block and an ace down the stretch and Frazier’s final two points came on kills by Vaughn.
“Grace played a smart game,” Mandy Hartman said. “She recognized where there were openings and she put the ball there and that’s what you expect from a senior leader. She at the end showed a little bit more power than we had seen earlier in the match. We got into this tip game and we were not playing like ourselves. But they adjusted their gameplan.”
Vaughn consistently found an opening in the deep left corner on St. Joseph for kills.
“We did see that on film and we kind of knew that might be a spot we could go to,” Mandy Hartman said. “We kind of worked on that a little bit yesterday.”
Saturday’s match against GCC will be the third meeting between the two teams with Frazier winning both section clashes, 3-2 and 3-1, both in September, relegating the Lady Centurions to second place in the section.
“We’re excited to be playing Saturday,” said Mandy Hartman whose team will be making its fourth finals appearance and second in three years. The Lady Commodores won WPIAL championships in 2009 and 2022 but lost to North Catholic in 2019.