Frazier turns tables on Fort Cherry to reach fifth WPIAL girls volleyball final
MCMURRAY — The rematch was nothing like the first meeting.
And for that reason, Frazier is back in the WPIAL girls volleyball final.
The third-seeded Lady Commodores avenged a regular-season sweep at the hands of visiting Fort Cherry by rallying for a 3-2 victory over the second-seeded Lady Rangers in the Class 2A semifinals at Peters Township High School’s AHN Arena on Tuesday night.
Set scores were 26-24, 20-25, 18-25, 25-16 and 15-11.
“It’s what we strive for every year, to play in the final, and to make it my senior year is just amazing,” said Lady Commodores senior leader Allie Monack, who played an exceptional match, coming up with clutch plays at key times while totaling 16 kills and 17 assists.
Frazier will meet Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, another team it lost to during the regular season, in the championship match at 11 a.m. Saturday also at AHN Arena.
The top-seeded Lady Chargers steamrolled No. 4 Shenango, 3-0, in the other semifinal that preceded the Frazier-Fort Cherry clash. OLSH won 3-2 at Frazier on Sept. 3.
The Lady Rangers (17-2) had not only defeated Frazier (17-3) in the regular season but also the Lady Chargers (17-2), although they will now be relegated to a third-place consolation match against Shenango at OLSH on Thursday before entering the PIAA tournament.
This will be Frazier’s fifth trip to the WPIAL final and third in the last six years. The Lady Commodores are seeking their third district championship, having claimed titles in 2009 and 2022.
Frazier came up short last season, falling in semifinals, although that team won a PIAA match to reach the state elite eight for the second year in a row. The Lady Commodores fell in the district final in 2024 but reached the PIAA final four that season.
“This year’s team, they’ve come into the gym everyday wanting to get better because they didn’t play in this game on Saturday last year,” said Frazier coach Mandy Hartman, who recorded her 400th career win earlier this season. “They hear the previous teams talk about it and how great it is to be on that stage. We had a couple alumni talk to them about how special this semifinal game is and just to enjoy it and they did that.
“When you lose in the semifinals it’s heartbreaking. I equate it to like Christmas Eve and then all of a sudden someone takes your Christmas Day away from you. That’s what it feels like.”
The Lady Commodores will have their Christmas thanks to a complete turnaround from their early-season loss to Fort Cherry.
“We just improved in everything since that match, our blocking, our serving, our hitting, our setting,” Monack said. “We have gotten so much better.”
“We made a lot of changes since that first one,” Hartman admitted. “Morgan (Fisher) is in a different position and a few other players are in different positions.”
Hartman would make more changes as the match went on that proved effective.
Frazier had Fort Cherry back on its heels in the first set and led most of the way only to have the Lady Rangers surge ahead 24-23 with a 5-1 run.
Hartman called a timeout and after a serving error by Fort Cherry the Lady Commodores got a service ace from Monack and a set-sealing block kill by senior Mia West, who finished with 19 kills and 11 blocks.
The Lady Rangers regrouped and took the next two sets. They never trailed in the second set and used a five-point burst for a 19-12 advantage to seize control of the third set which they won by seven.
Just when it seemed Fort Cherry had taken charge, Frazier answered with a dominating fourth set.
Hartman had a few more alterations with her team down 2-1.
“We changed our lineup after the third set, gave them a little bit of a different look,” Hartman said. “We moved Mia around and she was able to really do a good job with blocking.”
The Lady Commodores built a 14-7 lead before the Lady Rangers went on a five-point run to get within two. Frazier rang up the next three points to go up 17-12, prompting Fort Cherry coach Jenna Welsh to use a timeout.
It didn’t matter.
Frazier senior Addison Hiles delivered a perfect service ace just inside the end line out of the break and West followed with back-to-back block kills during what turned out to be a seven-point run and a commanding 21-12 lead.
The Lady Commodores won the set by nine.
“We kept our poise, even when we were down,” Monack said. “I try to be that leader to keep everyone up and going. I was proud of us that game.”
Hartman sensed her team had its chance to go for the kill.
“You could feel the momentum swinging early on in that fourth set,” Hartman said. “I thought that was a big advantage for us going into the fifth set.
“I told the girls right before that, now we are carrying the momentum. If we come out in this fifth set and get ahead, I think we can pull this out. And they did.”
Fort Cherry held an early 5-4 advantage but Frazier responded with a four-point run, capped by freshman Anna Essington’s block kill, to go up 8-5.
Once it grasped the lead, the Lady Commodores never let go.
Monack stepped up with three key kills to make it 10-6, 11-7 and 12-9 and keep her team in control.
The Lady Rangers whittled the lead to two when a well-placed touch kill by Hiles got Frazier within match point at 14-11.
Fisher then deliver a kill to end it and the Lady Commodores gleefully celebrated.
Hartman lauded all her players.
“Everybody did their job, everybody stepped up, everybody executed,” Hartman said.
Fisher, a junior, totaled 12 kills and 17 assists for the Lady Commodores, who also got 20 digs and 10 service points from Hiles and eight blocks from sophomore Emma Essington.
“This senior class is so special and you add Morgan and some of our other younger players contributing.” Hartman said.
“It’s a great group and they really deserve to be here.”