Volleyball
Laurel Highlands came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Connellsville, 3-2, in an exhibition girls volleyball match featuring two ranked teams Monday night at LH. The Fillies (6-0) are ranked sixth in Class AA and the Lady Falcons (7-2) are ranked 10th in Class AAA, so this figured going in to be a competitive match. Neither team disappointed.
“Give Connellsville a lot of credit,” Laurel Highlands coach Lora Maddas said. “They played us pretty tight the whole match. Our girls played like champions, though. All of them.”
These teams, too, know each other well. They play Junior Olympic volleyball together throughout the spring and summer and seem to love competing against one another as well as serving as teammates with each other.
“I kept telling our girls that it’s non-section,” Connellsville coach Sara Pockstaller said. “But they are as good a team as any team we’ll face in our section. We play a lot of teams from Pittsburgh and Laurel Highlands is as good as any of them.”
Even in defeat, Pockstaller sees the merit in playing this exhibition match. “That’s why we’re playing them again, next Tuesday at our place,” she said.
As for this match, the Lady Falcons seemed to make all of the plays in rolling to wins in the first two games, 25-21 and 25-18.
“In the first two games, we had a lot of attacks, but in the last three games, for whatever reason, we kept giving them free balls,” Pockstaller said.
“We had very little passing early in the match,” Maddas said. “We were struggling on serve return, but we made a few adjustments. In game three, we gained some momentum and took it from there.”
The third game was close throughout, but LH never trailed after taking a 3-2 lead en route to a 25-21 win. The Fillies won the fourth game, 25-18.
The fifth game was a microcosm of the match, as Connellsville jumped out to leads of 7-2 and 8-3 before LH fought back to take a 13-10 lead. Connellsville forged ties at 14 and 15 before the Fillies won the match on consecutive points, 17-15.
“Before the match, I told our girls that I didn’t care if we in three or five (games),” Maddas said.
Demi Phillipy had 23 kills and nine blocks, Jessica Zavatchen had 27 assists and eight blocks to pace LH, while Victoria Kearns had 17 service points and five aces and Janelle Cooper added nine blocks.
Leah Ambrosini led Connellsville with 18 kills and five blocks, while Anika Keno added 11 kills and five blocks. Caitlin McCormick had 28 assists and Cassie Show had six kills and six aces among 12 service points.