Geibel Catholic girls shut out Jefferson-Morgan
CALIFORNIA – Neither team played its best, but Geibel Catholic got more from its “B” game and beat Jefferson-Morgan, 3-0, Tuesday night at California High School to advance to the WPIAL Class A girls volleyball semifinals. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Geibel Catholic coach Rick Watkins said. “You don’t go the the WPIAL quarterfinals and get easy games.”
Yet, he was less than satisfied with his team’s 25-16, 25-13, 25-19 win over the Section 5 rival Lady Rockets.
“The key was don’t make too many mistakes,” Watkins said. “We did anyway, but we still won. We expect more out of ourselves than what we showed tonight.”
The first game was back-and-forth until Jessica Zamiska got the serve with a 13-11 lead. By the time she was done serving, the Lady Gators were ahead, 20-11, and on their way to a win. The second game was almost a carbon copy, with Zamiska serving with a 12-10 lead that became 17-10. Kristin Hozak served the last four points for GC’s second win.The last game went right down to the wire before Geibel Catholic pulled away from an 18-18 tie for the win.
“It was a rough night,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Ron Headlee said. “We didn’t have our ‘A’ game. Our second line wasn’t there and we couldn’t match-up, height-wise. We’re usually a great passing team, but tonight we just didn’t have it.”
The loss ends Jefferson-Morgan’s season at 11-6, while the undefeated Lady Gators (13-0) advance to a semifinal match-up against top-seeded Farrell Thursday night.
“I think if we could have pulled out that third game, it might have changed the whole match,” Headlee said. “But Geibel Catholic is a good team. We knew we needed to play our best to stay in the match and we didn’t.”
It will be Geibel Catholic’s second straight trip to the semifinals and they know what’s ahead of them.
“Surviving now means beating Farrell,” Watkins said even before the top seed had beaten Avonworth, 3-0. “We have to get ready. We made it to the semifinals last year and we want to go further this time around.”
Zamiska led the Lady Gators with 14 service points, with Hozak following with 10. Junior Caitlin Conko and freshman Natalie Hozak finished with seven kills each, while Ashley Kreinbrook added six. Kristin Hozak (15) and Julie Debo (7) had the most assists.