|
|
P-O downs Penn Cambria, advances to D-6 final
Friday, November 06, 2009
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
PHILIPSBURG - Philipsburg-Osceola volleyball coach Mick Dininno wasn't too pleased with his squad's effort through the first two sets of its District 6 Class AA semifinal match with visiting Penn Cambria on Thursday.
The Lady Mounties had several unforced hitting errors and missed eight serves, as they saw the Lady Panthers even things up at one set apiece.
As it turns out, Dininno was the only one worried, as P-O bounced back in emphatic fashion to earn its second straight trip to the title game with a four-set win.
The Lady Mounties rebounded to win 25-18, 26-28, 25-14 and 25-17.
"I wasn't happy in Games 1 and 2 because we had a lot of unforced errors," said Dininno, "(but) this team doesn't get down too much. I think they were like, ‘yeah, coach, go ahead and get red in the face and pop a blood vessel, because we're going to do what we always do - we'll win it.'
"And I think that's our attitude. They don't get down on themselves, and they don't get negative thoughts. They're a pretty positive team. I was more concerned than they were."
A big reason the Lady Mounties didn't panic was the play of senior Taylor Harpster. Harpster had a monster game at the net with a game-high 25 kills and three blocks to accompany nine service points.
A service run from Kelsey Gonder helped P-O get the third started on the right foot, and Harpster helped pick up the slack with five kills in the set, as the Lady Mounties outhit Penn Cambria, 9-4, in the third.
"I think we had a good attack on who we wanted to serve (at) and how we wanted to attack them," Dininno said. "We hit a lot of balls down the line because when their one setter is up she doesn't block, and the other opposite isn't that big of a girl.
"We felt we could attack the line and at least get a lot of blocks out of bounds. That proved to be true.
"I think Penn Cambria played us well. They served us tough and played good defense by digging a lot of balls up and keeping them in play."
The fourth set proved to be a neck-and-neck battle before a three-point run from Megan Yonushonis gave the Lady Mounties the lead for good.
Yonushonis' run gave P-O a four-point cushion, and the Lady Panthers were unable to respond from there.
Gonder, who had a team-high 14 service points, put the Lady Mounties on the brink of the win with two more service points before a serve hit the net, but Harpster was there to make it a moot point.
Harpster recorded her final kill on the ensuing serve on an assist from Gonder, who had 42 in the match, to clinch the win.
Hunter Schnarrs also provided a spark for the Lady Mounties, as she had six kills in limited action off the bench, while Aleksa Pollick also had a strong night with eight kills and seven digs.
"Hunter Schnarrs came in off the bench in Game 3 and got a big kill right off the bat," said Dininno. "Even in Game 4 she had a couple of big kills. Six kills coming off the bench on the outside, I thought that was big. She's a good, solid volleyball player.
"She fights really hard for her playing time, and she deserves it.
"The nice thing for us is she can play weakside or outside, and I'm really impressed with her coming off the bench."
Harpster set the tone in the early going with seven kills in the first, but the Lady Panthers adjusted and limited the P-O middle hitter to just three in the second.
Penn Cambria also faltered in the early going, though, with three missed serves in each of the first two sets, but showed some resiliency by rallying from a 23-18 deficit to claim the second set.
Unfortunately for the Lady Panthers, the momentum gained with the win didn't follow them back on the court after the intermission as P-O handled Penn Cambria in the final two sets.
"They get tight and tense against the team they're playing," Lady Panther coach Leah Montgomery said, "and I tell them, ‘it shouldn't matter what team you're playing. You've still got to play your game.' We can't do all those unforced errors and missed serves. You can't give them that many points ... you just can't do it.
"(The third set we) just came back tight and tense again. How to get rid of that, I don't know."
After the second set, Penn Cambria middle hitter Stephanie Basile was slowed down considerably, as she had just six of her team-high 16 kills in the final two games.
The win upped P-O's record to 20-0, while the Lady Panthers ended the season at 18-2.
The Lady Mounties' championship tilt with Somerset is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
P-O claimed last season's title with an exciting five-set win.
"It was a war, and I'm expecting the same thing," said Dininno. "We'll sit down and look at our notes, and the nice thing about this year, with the new format, is we can sit back a day and have a practice to prep for the game. It would not surprise me to see a five-game set down to the wire again.
"That's what you're in this game for. It makes it more exciting than serving someone off the court, and I think our kids will play. We'll see where it comes out because they have a nice team."
|  |
|
|
|
