Uniontown remains in contention for playoff spot
Red Raiders still alive for postseason in Class 5A
Second-year Uniontown girls volleyball coach Paulina Nottingham knew her team had the ability to play with some of the top teams in Class 4A after a strong debut last season, but the move up to Class 5A was going to be a daunting task.
The Red Raiders have lost some tough matches, including a 3-2 setback to Connellsville on Sept. 17, but Nottingham’s squad has also turned in some inspiring performances, and Uniontown’s second 3-2 triumph over Indiana on Oct. 15 was a highlight for all those involved in the program.
The Red Raiders won the first two sets by scores of 27-25 and 25-23 before the Little Indians sent the match into the fifth set with victories of 25-21 and 25-22.
Uniontown edged Indiana, 15-13, in the final set for a huge triumph in front of a home crowd at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Uniontown Area High School.
The Red Raiders improved to 5-7 in Section 2-5A play and 9-7 overall. The Little Indians are also 5-7 in league action and 5-10 across all competitions.
Uniontown has a tougher road to clinch the fifth and final WPIAL playoff spot out of Section 2-5A with remaining contests against undefeated Penn-Trafford (12-0, 14-0) on Oct. 20 and second-place Latrobe (9-3, 9-5) two days later to finish section play.
“Whether we make the playoffs or not, I couldn’t be more proud of the girls this season,” Nottingham said. “It’s been such a great group of girls who genuinely love, support and cheer each other on.
We knew moving up to a bigger section was going to be difficult — a little more competition and much more travel, but this group has trusted the process. They’ve grown as a team, as individual players and as people, and as a coach, that’s the best wins you can have.”
The Red Raiders have wins of 3-0 and 3-2 over Albert Gallatin, and defeated Indiana twice by scores of 3-2. Uniontown dropped its first match to Connellsville, 3-2, on Sept. 17, but swept the Falcons a week later.
The Little Indians play Connellsville (1-11, 4-12) and Kiski Area (8-4, 10-7) to close out their regular season.
Indiana swept the season series with the Colonials, won its first match with Connellsville, and holds victories over Latrobe and Kiski Area. The Little Indians can sweep the Cavaliers to close out the regular season on Oct. 22.
“Indiana is a solid team, they’ve got strong and smart hitters — especially in the middle on Thursday,” said Nottingham. Our girls listened and made quick adjustments when Indiana found our holes. Both teams knew this was an important game, we were battling until the end. We are not tied with Indiana for fifth place in the section, and this week will determine where we can clinch a spot in the playoffs for our first time in Class 5A.”
Nottingham was pleased with her team’s overall performance against the Little Indians, but serve receive was a point that has been emphasized in practice, and the Red Raiders demonstrated that the hard work is paying off in last Thursday’s match.
“We have been really focusing on serve receive in practices this year and how important the first pass is to set the tone,” Nottingham said. “Our passers really stepped up against Indiana, passing the highest serve receive rating as a team all year. Due to our passers focusing on their serve-receive passing and quick defensive transitions, they put Hallie (Campbell) in a position to spread the offense and use all of her hitters.
“Our hitters then implemented what we’ve been practicing with mixing up their shots and finding open holes on the court. Our blockers adjusted very well to their hitters, which helped set our defense up for better positioning. Overall, they were playing and communicating together at a high level, which helped keep them calm and consistent, even in tough sets.
“I’m extremely proud of the way the girls played against Indiana in five very close sets. Every set was a battle to the end and was determined by 2-4 points. As a team, the girls earned every point they played and never gave up.”
Uniontown passed a 1.72 as a team with serve receive in its match against Indiana. The Red Raiders had 81 digs, 41 kills, 40 assists, 9 aces and 7 blocks.
Campbell had 37 assists, 14 digs and 2 aces from the service line.
Maria Capan, Ava Livingood and Kathleena Orendorff had nine kills apiece. Livingood and Orendorff each had two aces, and Livingood had two blocks.
Orendorff and Tessa Livingood had four blocks apiece.
Qua’Mari Scott led Uniontown in digs with 20. Orendorff chipped in with 16.