Sep 25, 2002 By Kevin Harrison For The 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – The Geibel Catholic-Frazier rivalry took to the volleyball court Tuesday night. Initially, it appeared the fans would be treated to a closely played game. The Lady Gators, coming off a fourth-place finish in a Florida tournament, entered the game 8-4 overall, but in Section 5-A, they were 3-0.

Frazier is off to a tremendous start to the season. The Lady Commodores entered the Swamp with an 8-1 mark overall (3-1 section).

By the end of the first game, it was evident Geibel was the stronger of the two clubs as it went on to sweep Frazier, 15-3, 15-2, 15-4.

Molly McGrath powered the Lady Gators with 12 kills and 19 service points. Ashley Kreinbrook added seven kills, while Ashley Speeney had nine service points.

Kristin Hozak was key for the Lady Gators with 28 assists.

“My girls were ready tonight because of Frazier,” Geibel’s Rick Watkins said. “When we played Jefferson-Morgan, the Frazier girls came as a group and cheered against us. My girls never forgot that.”

In the first game, Geibel jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Lady Commodores came back to score two, cutting the lead to one. The Lady Gators then pulled away, outscoring Frazier 12-1 to take the first game.

“They were bigger, stronger and faster than we were tonight,” Frazier head coach Mandy Hartman said. “I knew we needed a total team effort and the kids would have to play their best game of the year, but it didn’t happen.”

Geibel showed its patience in the second game. The Lady Gators inched to a 3-0 lead. After both teams alternated with three scoreless service possessions, Geibel added another point, before Frazier broke through with two straight points to make the score 4-2. From that point, the Lady Gators ran off 11 straight points to take a 2-0 lead.

“We focus on being ready to play every night,” Watkins said. “We saw what happened to Beth-Center when they had an off night and lost. If we would have started slow, I was going to take a time-out. These girls have goals. I’m not going to let them fall short.”

The third game was a little more of a grind-it-out affair for Geibel. Frazier put up a little better fight, but could not come up with points early in the game. Meanwhile the Lady Gators methodically settled for one and two points at a time, while holding the Lady Commodores scoreless, building up a 7-0 lead before Frazier scored.

“I have some young girls on my team with the physical ability to be very good players,” Hartman said.” Our youth showed a little bit tonight, because we were not mentally tough enough for a big game. Hopefully we can work through that during the season. Right now I need someone to step up and take more of a leadership role on this team.”

Geibel continued to pull away in the third, opening up an 11-3 lead before going on a 4-1 run to end the match.

“I wasn’t surprised at the outcome, but I would have been surprised if we didn’t play well,” Watkins said. “Some of these girls have been together since the sixth and seventh grade. These kids work together and support each other unlike any I’ve ever seen in my 11 years at Geibel. I think that plays a big part in their success.”

The win improves the Lady Gators to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in Section 5-A. Frazier falls to 8-2 overall and 3-2 in the section.

The Lady Gators look to stay unbeaten in the section Thursday night with a big showdown in the Swamp against Beth-Center.