Sep 30, 2004 By Mike Ciarochi 4 min read

It was looking like a replay of last year’s match and Frazier girls volleyball coach Mandy Hartman had played that over and over again in her mind. She certainly didn’t want to see it again, live and in person, when her Lady Commodores met Geibel Catholic in a key Section 2-A match Wednesday night.

“That’s all I could think about,” Hartman said, referring to last season’s gut-wrenching 3-2 setback to the Lady Gators after Frazier had won the first two games of the match.

“Before that fifth game, I looked at them and they looked back at me and said, `Don’t worry, coach,'” Hartman said. “I said, OK, then, let’s go.”

And go, the Lady Commodores did, handing Geibel Catholic a 15-12 fifth-game defeat to earn a 3-2 win after again winning the first two games and losing the second two.

The difference, according to Hartman, was as simple as last year’s juniors becoming this year’s seniors.

“Last year, their seniors came through for them,” Hartman said. “This year, our seniors came through for us.”

“She’s exactly right,” Geibel Catholic coach Rick Watkins said.

“It’s like flipping a coin. We’re here with a young team and they have the senior leadership.”

This match of Class A heavyweights – Frazier (7-0 overall and 6-0 in the section) was ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL and Geibel Catholic (7-1, 6-1) was No. 3 – didn’t disappoint the throng of fans that packed Frazier’s gymnasium.

“This match was very good for volleyball,” Watkins said. “When I started at Geibel Catholic, we had a hard time getting enough girls come out to have a team and to look up and see the place packed really means a lot for the growth of this sport in this area.”

Watkins was a bit surprised when his team played poorly in the first game of the match, a 25-7 Frazier rout, but he was surprised that his Lady Gators fought back as gallantly as they did.

“I knew Frazier was very good and I knew they would come out strong tonight,” Watkins said.

“But we’re a good team, too, and there was no way we were going to get blown out. I knew we could give them a battle.

“I am so pleased and proud of these kids. They don’t quit and maybe that’s a lesson they learned a year ago here. I just feel good about this team. Frazier is such a good team. We knew they were bigger than us coming in, but they are quick, too.”

Hartman, too, knew her girls were not out of the water after winning the first game so convincingly.

“I told the girls, don’t think for a second that this is going to be an easy match,” Hartman said. “This was the first night we were actually challenged, which is good. We wanted to see what happens when our backs were against the wall.”

Frazier earned a much-tougher 25-23 win in the second game and came within a couple of points of sweeping the best-of-five match before dropping the third and fourth games by identical 25-22 scores.

Hartman, noting it was Frazier’s first win over Geibel Catholic since 2000, hopes it is the kind of win that can lift the Lady Commodores over the hump.

“I love Rick Watkins and the job he does at Geibel,” Hartman said.

“He runs a classy program and anytime we find ourselves coming out ahead of his team, it’s a really good thing.”

Section 2-A

Frazier 3, Geibel Catholic 2 (25-7, 25-23, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12)

Frazier-Kills: A.J. Morgan 15, Holly Smith 11; Assists: Mandy Byron 35; Service Points: Byron 15, Ashley Madorma 12, Katey Oldham 11.

Geibel Catholic-Kills: Natalie Hozak 16, Caitlin Conko 13; Assists: Chelsey Kreinbrook 26; Service Points: Kreinbrook 16, Conko 12.

Records: Frazier (7-0, 6-0). Geibel Catholic (7-1, 6-1).