Lady Commodores fall in 5-set battle with Avonworth
NORTH HUNTINGDON — The timing just wasn’t there for Frazier’s girls volleyball team on Tuesday night.
In fact, it was about a month or so off, according to Lady Commodores coach Mandy Hartman, who watched her veteran, third-seeded squad fall to Avonworth in a five-set battle in their WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal match at Norwin High School.
Seeming out of sync most of the match, Frazier’s season came to an end at the hands of the sixth-seeded Antelopes by scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-10.
“They are playing like a seasoned October team,” Hartman said of Avonworth. “We’re playing like a team in early September.”
Injuries, especially to Skye Eicher and Kathryn Barch, prevented the Lady Commodores from fielding their optimal starting lineup until recently.
“That has plagued us this season,” Hartman said. “This is only the second time these girls have played next to each other. It shows. I think the chemistry was lacking at times. We weren’t quick enough, we weren’t reading things well, just all those little things.”
Avonworth, led by senior star Makenna Gavin, made a statement in the first set when it took leads of 8-3 and 12-5 on its way to the seven-point win.
The Antelopes (11-3) looked like they might be on their way to a sweep when they raced out to a 15-9 lead in the second set.
Frazier took the next five points, four on Gabrielle Alekson’s serve, to get within two. Avonworth charged back out to a 20-15 advantage and was up 21-17 when the Lady Commodores put together a furious eight-point rally to close out the set with a four-point win. Logan Hartman had two kills sandwiched around one by Eicher to put Frazier ahead and two out-of-bounds hits by Avonworth evened the match at 1-1.
With seemingly all the momentum heading into the third set, Frazier fell flat and found itself behind 8-0 and 13-1. The Lady Commodores tried to claw their way back but could never get closer than seven points and went down in the match, 2-1.
In a roller-coaster fourth set, Frazier was up 22-19 when Avonworth took five of the next six points, the last despite a desperate diving attempt to save the ball by Barch, to set up a match point at 24-23.
With their backs against the wall the Lady Commodores battled back. Sierra Twigg delivered a kill to tie it, and, with Hartman serving, Avonworth hit the ball out of bounds and Twigg then came through again with the set-ending kill that evened the match at 2-2.
The fifth set went back and forth early on but a 4-1 burst by Avonworth gave it a 10-6 lead and the Antelopes were happy to trade points at that point and took the final two to close out the match.
“We just simply couldn’t recover from the huge deficits,” coach Hartman said. “It was almost like every set we dug ourselves a huge hole and just, basic fundamentals. We’ve got to serve the ball inbounds and you’ve got to pass the ball to the setter. It just goes back to fundamentals.
“This is a game where you really have to get used to playing with the people next to you. It’s unlike any other sport like that. And you could see that’s just basic stuff that usually happens early on in a season, certainly not in late October. We just couldn’t put it together.”
Eicher led Frazier with 22 kills and 23 digs, despite coach Hartman confirming that she still was not at 100 percent.
“Seventy-five percent of Skye is still pretty good,” she said. “Twenty-five percent Skye is better than most volleyball players. She gave us all that she had.”
Logan Hartman totaled 21 assists, seven kills and 11 digs, and Barch registered 27 digs. The Lady Commodores also got 17 assists from Alexis Lovis and four blocks from Kaelyn Shaporka.
It was the last match for seniors Eicher, Hartman, Twigg, Alekson, Barch, Mackenzie Kelly, Riley Scott, Grace Pasquale and Juliann Johnson, many of whom were in the starting lineup as freshmen.
“I don’t fault them for the adversity they faced this season,” coach Hartman said. “I love them more than anything. I’ve known these kids since they were babies. It’s hard watching them walk off the court for a final time.
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