Local roundup
Villanueva carries Falcons in invitational Joe Villanueva earned a top 20 medal Saturday, placing 18th out of 271 runners at the Red, White & Blue Invitational at the Schenley Oval to carry the Connellsville boys cross country team to an 18th place finish out of 34 teams.
Villanueva finished the course in 16:55.
Arlo Helms finished 58th (17:42) with Brad Showman 80th in 18:00. Other finishers for the Falcons included Alan Nedley (143rd, 18:54), Dennis Curry (157th, 19:18), Nick Mongell (163rd, 19:25) and Nathan Richter (166th, 19:29).
Laurel Highlands finished 32nd with Ryan Thorn leading the way in 106th with a time of 18:23.
Also running for the Mustangs were Donnie Means (132nd, 18:45), Matt Rosso (213th, 21:20), Anthony Howard (226th, 22:42) and Mike Walters (232nd, 25:21).
Connellsville hosts Ringgold and West Mifflin in the Section 2-AAA opener Tuesday with Laurel Highlands also at home against Elizabeth-Forward.
The Lady Falcons finished 20th out of 30 teams. Julie Burns was the first Connellsville girl to cross the finish line in a time of 21:08. Mary Beth Giles finished 64th in 21:27, followed by April Shultz (103rd, 22:15), Michelle Rugg (136th, 23:04), Heidi Halfhill (137th, 23:04), Amber Hyatt (147th, 23:28) and Monica Faris (157th, 24:02).
The Fillies also participated, finishing 26th as a team. Hannah Yauger led the Laurel Highlands contingent in 93rd place with a time of 22:04. Cassie Wallace (116th, 22:34), Denise Martin (166th, 24:39), Casey Conn (186th, 26:42), Ashley Haragos (187th, 26:42), Lauren Molchan (195th, 27:49) and Kaitlin Schuessler (197th, 28:16) rounded out the scoring for the Fillies.
Girls soccer
Elizabeth-Forward 3, Connellsville 1 – The Lady Warriors built a 3-0 lead in the first half, and the Elizabeth-Forward defense made the lead stand for a Section 6-AAA road victory.
Amanda House scored in the second half to help the Lady Falcons avoid a shutout. Connellsville’s Katrina Kelly made nine saves.
Connellsville is back in action Monday against Belle Vernon.
Women’s tennis
Goucher 6, Waynesburg 3 – The visitors swept the doubles and split the six singles matches for a non-conference victory. Waynesburg slips to 1-2 overall while Goucher evens its mark at 1-1.
Mount Pleasant’s Mindy Hall won her No. 1 singles match, 6-3, 6-0.
Connellsville graduate Beth Conlon beat Goucher’s Heather Keslin at No. 2 singles by the same score. Laura Garcia won the Yellow Jackets third match with a victory at No. 4 singles.
Women’s volleyball
Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus 3, Penn State-Beaver 0 – The Lady Roaring Lions opened PS-AC action Saturday with a road victory by the scores of 30-17, 30-17 and 30-19.
Abby Holbrook had a strong performance for Penn State Fayette (1-0, 3-0) with 19 digs and eight kills. Amanda Hardison and Kelli Kite both had seven kills with Dana Slavic directing the offense with 23 assists.
The Lady Roaring Lions host Point Park Monday at 7 p.m.
California (Pa.) 3, Saint Vincent 0 – Junior hitters Shanna Yourchik (Jefferson-Morgan) and Amanda Evans combined for 28 kills Friday to lead the undefeated California women’s volleyball team to a 3-0 non-league triumph over Saint Vincent College.
Yourchik had 12 kills on 17 attempts for a .647 hitting percentage while Evans topped both teams with 16 kills and five services aces as the Vulcans posted game victories of 30-14, 30-24 and 30-19.
California improves to 9-0 overall this season heading into its first PSAC West match of the season Tuesday at Edinboro. It’s the best start for the Vulcans in four seasons under head coach Melissa Myers.
Seniors Jessica Brown and Susie Williams combined to lead the Cal defense with 12 digs each.
Other contributors for the Vulcans included junior Allison Liptak with eight kills and seven digs while freshman Mallory DeMarco added a career-high 25 assists along with seven digs and two kills.
Men’s soccer
California 1, Kutztown 0 – Junior Camilo Hinestroza scored the match’s only goal at the 25-minute mark to lead the Vulcans to their first conference win.
Assists on the winning goal went to Evan Picard and John Pazehoski.
California (1-4, 2-4) out shot Kutztown, 10-5, and had seven corner kicks. Eric Greaves made four saves for the Vulcans while Kutztown’s Jason Sherman turned aside seven shots. California goes back on the road when the Vulcans travel to Millersville on Saturday.
Women’s soccer
Grand Valley State 7, California (Pa.) 0 – Grand Valley State peppered 24 shots on Vulcans’ goalkeeper Hannah Speigle while California could only muster five on Kristina Nasturzio in a non-conference loss. Latu Tafler and Megan McCarthy both scored two goals in the win.
California (1-4-1) host Indiana (Pa.) in a PSAC-West match Tuesday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CUTV.
Men’s golf
Ohio Valley Tournament – The Vulcans finished 11th out of 20 teams in the two-day tournament in the program’s first tournament action in 25 years.
California had a two-day total of 604, 25 strokes behind the winning team, University of Charleston.
Ryan Stefanski had the best round for the Vulcans when he shot 72 on Saturday. Uniontown’s Zach Rockwell had a two-round total of 155 while Brownsville’s Josh Seelye carded a 158.
California gets right back into action today in the two-day Glenville State Tournament.
Men’s cross country
Thiel College Invitational – Clarion won the team title with 18 points, followed by Pitt-Greensburg (66) and Waynesburg (106).
Women’s cross country
Thiel College Invitational – The Clarion women made a sweep of team titles with a 1-2-3 finish for 19 points. Waynesburg finished a distant second with 54 points with Saint Vincent College placing third with 70.