WPIAL volleyball pairings: Lady Mikes seeded second; Frazier, Geibel both No. 4s, LH 6th
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Geibel Catholic’s Shannon Watkins (right) tries to knock the ball past Carmichaels’ Taylor Christopher (3) during last Tuesday night’s volleyball match at Geibel Catholic. The Lady Mikes won to clinch the Section 2-A title and are seeded second in Class A, according to the WPIAL pairings released on Monday. The Lady Gators drew a No. 4 seed.
Laurel Highlands' Cassidy Podlogar spikes the ball against Thomas Jefferson during last Tuesday's Section 3-AAA match at Harold "Horse" Taylor Memorial Gymnasium. The Fillies, who defeated the Lady Jaguars to earn a share of the section title, were seeded sixth in the Class AAA playoffs, according to the WPIAL pairings released on Monday.
Carmichaels followed up its first ever section championship with its highest ever seed in the WPIAL Class A volleyball playoffs.
The Lady Mikes were seeded second according to the WPIAL pairings released on Monday.
The team Carmichaels edged out twice in five-set matches, Geibel Catholic, drew a No. 4 seed in Class A, while Frazier, up one level to Class AA this season, was also seeded fourth.
Laurel Highlands, the Section 3-AAA co-champion with Thomas Jefferson, was seeded sixth in Class AAA while the Lady Jaguars were put at No. 3.
Other area teams in the volleyball postseason who found out their destinations were Connellsville, Albert Gallatin, Elizabeth Forward, Jefferson-Morgan, Southmoreland, Waynesburg Central and Beth-Center.
Carmichaels will play a doubleheader at home with Geibel Catholic on Wednesday. The Lady Gators take on No. 13 Trinity Christian at 6 p.m. with the Lady Mikes meeting No. 15 Burgettstown at 7:30 p.m.
“I was surprised to get the No. 2 seed,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “I thought we’d be up there but didn’t think we’d get that high. But lots of hard work has gone into it.
“Overall, I felt the bracket looks fair.”
Shoemaker didn’t want to put too much emphasis on her team’s high seed, however.
“It’s a great honor to have that, but then at the same time you have to make sure you refocus for the playoffs now,” she said, “because that really means nothing once you get into the game. You still have to go out there and play hard and play your game if you want to come out on top at the end.”
Lady Gators coach Rick Watkins thought his team might get as high as a No. 3 seed, which is where Greensburg Central Catholic wound up at.
“I felt we could’ve been a three, but we played ourselves into that,” Watkins said. “I still feel Carmichaels and our team are very close. To put somebody in between us, that’s really splitting hairs. If GCC’s a three and somebody thinks that Carmichaels and Geibel weren’t that close then two, three and four must be very, very close.”
The fourth seed puts Geibel on the same side of the bracket as prohibitive favorite and No. 1 seed Bishop Canevin. If Geibel wins its first two matches, it would have a potential clash with the Lady Crusaders in the semifinals.
Watkins didn’t want to look that far ahead, though.
“If you don’t win your first-round game, none of that makes any difference,” he said.
Jefferson-Morgan was seeded at No. 14, according to the brackets, and will play GCC at Hempfield 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Frazier is one of four local teams in the Class AA bracket and will host a first-round doubleheader on Thursday with No. 9 Southmoreland. The Lady Scotties play No. 8 Seton LaSalle at 6 p.m. with the Lady Commodores taking on the winner between tonight’s Hopewell-Keystone Oaks match at 7:30 p.m.
“We love playing at home,” Frazier coach Mandy Hartman said. “We’re very excited to be playing at home for our first match. The girls are ecstatic. It’s good for their energy and it’s great for the school and the community.”
Hartman was satisfied with her seeding.
“I was happy with a four seed,” she said. “I’ve seen most of the teams and I think that’s a good seed for us.
“There’s a tremendous amount of talent in double-A and there’s a lot of great teams, a lot of teams that could beat anybody on any given night. So you have to bring your best volleyball when you’re playing at this level.”
Beth-Center and Waynesburg Central both play a Class AA preliminary-round doubleheader at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart tonight.
The Lady Bulldogs meet Ellwood City at 6:30 p.m. to decide which will earn the 14th seed and a 7:30 p.m. Thursday date at third-seeded Serra Catholic. The Lady Raiders and Laurel play at 8 p.m. with the winner getting the No. 16 seed and a 7:30 p.m. Thursday date at top-seeded Freeport.
Coach Emily Konter’s Fillies will take on No. 11 Franklin Regional in a 6 p.m. match Thursday at Serra Catholic.
LH upended TJ late in the season to split their season series and then swept Ringgold in its final section match to grab a share of the section title. The two could meet a third time in the quarterfinals if both win their first-round matches. The Lady Jaguars host No. 14 Greensburg Salem on Thursday.
Also in Class AAA, Elizabeth Forward was seeded 10th and will play No. 7 South Fayette 6 p.m. Thursday at TJ, and Albert Gallatin plays Ambridge in a preliminary-round match tonight at Montour with the winner drawing a meeting at top-seeded Knoch 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Connellsville was given the 12th and last seed in Class AAAA and will play at No. 5 Bethel Park 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.