PT makes net gains, beats Lower Dauphin
McMURRAY – The Peters Township girls volleyball team is a coach’s dream. It doesn’t matter what alignment the Indians utilize, or which personnel group is on the court, the players who end up at the net all have the same characteristics – they are tall, athletic, play with impeccable precision and hit volleyballs with the kind of velocity Nolan Ryan used to put on his fastballs.
And opponents who try to hit the ball over the Indians, well, it would be easier to fly a paper airplane over a skyscraper.
Peters Township, the WPIAL champion, used its superior size and depth on the front line and play at the net to wear down Lower Dauphin on Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs at AHN Arena.
The Indians won 3-0. Game scores were 25-15, 25-16 and 25-16.
The win sends PT (22-1) into the state quarterfinals Saturday against West Chester Rustin (20-3) at a site and time to be determined. Rustin, the third-place team from District 1, beat District 12 champion Academy at Palumbo, 3-0.
“The play at the net was a big difference,” PT coach Chris Kelly said. “We’re always trying to improve. The last three playoff matches, we’ve been blocking very well.”
The Indians stymied the attack of Lower Dauphin (16-4), the District 3 runner-up, for much of the night. Lower Dauphin coach Kasey Gentry said many of the Falcons’ problems were the result of a young and inexperienced team in the state playoffs for the first time.
“It was nerves,” he said. “It was their first time in states while (Peters Township) was here last year. They have a reputation and they won their district. We didn’t. We only have three seniors. Then throw a four-hour bus ride in there, too.”
Lower Dauphin got off the bus and stormed out to 5-0 lead. It looked like a smooth ride was ahead for the Falcons.
However, the road became rocky quickly.
“I think we played a little tense at the beginning. We had never seen this team, so we didn’t know what to expect,” said PT junior outside hitter Maddie Carroll. “We had never seen them play before. We played a little bit tense, but we were able to come together and talk and ultimately we played good volleyball after that.”
PT regrouped and tied the first game at 9-9 on a kill by Rala Lamping. Alex Knox stuffed a Lower Dauphin shot at the net to give PT the lead and the Indians led the rest of the way. Carroll and Lily O’Connor each had four kills in the first game.
PT trailed 13-11 in the second game, but that was when Knox stepped to the service line and the Pitt commit reeled off 11 consecutive points for the Indians. Knox had five aces during the run and six in the game. Carroll had five of her team-high 14 kills in the second game.
“The middle of the second game, that’s when I knew we had this one,” Carroll said. “The second game sets the tone of the whole match.”
PT led 6-1 in the third game and Lower Dauphin could get no closer than two points the rest of the way. The Indians were able to hold Lower Dauphin’s Brynlee Holland, an Arkansas-Little Rock recruit, without a kill in the third game. She had seven through two games.
“We knew they were going to set her, no matter if she was in the front or in the back,” Kelly said. “We talked about how we had to know where she was at all times.”