Carmichaels swept by GCC
Darnell Graham
Carmichaels Jadyn Barnish bumps the ball over the net into Greensburg Central Catholic’s side of the court during Tuesday’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinal match at Norwin High School.
Carmichaels' Meighan Spishock prepares to pass the ball up during Tuesday's WPIAL Class A quarterfinal match against Greensburg Central Catholic on Tuesday at Norwin High School.
Carmichaels' Aubree Ferek sends ball over the net and back to Greensburg Central Catholic territory during their WPIAL Class A playoff quarterfinal match on Tuesday at Nowrin High School.
NORTH HUNTINGDON — Greensburg Central Catholic looked dominant in a 3-0 win over Carmichaels in the WPIAL Class A volleyball playoffs Tuesday night at Norwin High School.
The Centurions opened with an impressive 25-7 first set win and never looked back in this quarterfinal matchup. GCC, which won the last two sets, 25-10 and 25-15, let no doubt from the beginning of the first set as to which of these two teams was more powerful.
GCC breezed to a 10-0 lead before the Mikes drew to within 11-4. Next thing you knew, GCC put together an 11-point run to extend its lead to 22-4.
The last two sets weren’t nearly as lopsided, but the Centurions set the tone for the match at the beginning and never let the Mikes back into the match.
“They are a very good team,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “But we certainly didn’t play our best game.”
“We played about as well as we are capable of playing, especially in the first set,” Centurions coach Kate McCauley said.
To put that in perspective, the Centurions’ only loss in 21 matches came against Class AAAA Hempfield, so when a top-seeded team is playing this well, it’s going to be difficult for any opponent to score much, let alone win.
“Our section is a little more competitive,” McCauley said. “But all we can do is play. Some of our section matches are a little more competitive than this was, but not that much different, really.”
But McCauley cut off the praise right there.
“I would never overlook anyone in Single A,” she said when asked if anyone in her classification could beat her team. “It’s like any sport. When you get to the playoffs, anything can happen. I’m sure Carmichaels has played better than this and we didn’t look past them at all.”
No, not at all. Instead, the Centurions look forward to a Thursday semifinal match-up against Fort Cherry, a 3-2 winner over OLSH last night.
Of course, it’s much easier to be dominant when you have a 6-2 senior you can put at the net, like McCauley has in Mikayla Bisignani. And dominate she did, as Bisignani led the Centurions with 15 kills, including many dumps to one side or the other and at least a few of the straight down variety that only tall players can produce.
As both coaches said, Carmichaels did not play its best volleyball, but many of the Mikes’ unforced errors almost seemed caused by GCC’s dominant offensive assault.
And Carmichaels comes out of this match having completed a very good season. They reached the playoffs for the third year in a row and won a match with a young team that loses only three seniors to graduation.
Granted, Elaine Kerr, Laura Walker and Morgan Faddis will be tough to replace, but the future of Carmichaels volleyball is quite bright.
Leading the Mikes (13-5) against GCC (20-1) were Aubree Ferek with five service points, Meighen Spishock with three kills and two service points, Kristina Aeschbacher with three kills and two blocks, Jadyn Barnish with seven assists and Walker with nine digs.
Bisignani’s 15 kills were tops for Central, while Christina Cochenour added seven digs and Taylor Obusek led with 20 service points.