Flexing their muscles
JACKSON TWP — Outside hitter Tatum Poirier and setter Maddie McDonough didn't play for Seneca Valley Wednesday night.
They didn't need to.
The Raiders broke open two close games late before dominating the third en route to a 3-0 WPIAL Class AAAA girls volleyball playoff win over Fox Chapel in the SV gym.
“They both kept asking me if they could go in, but they're nursing injuries and I told them they had to rest and get better,” SV coach Karen Martini said.
“If we controlled the ball and the flow of this game, I knew we had the depth to get through this one.”
Seneca Valley (21-1) won the match 25-16, 25-15, 25-9, but the Foxes (6-7) hung around for a while in the first two games.
The first game was knotted at 15 before the Raiders went on a 10-1 run to put it away. Emily Devlin had five kills during that final stretch.
Fox Chapel had a 14-10 lead in the second game before SV senior Bethany Cowden got the serve. She produced a run of 13 service points — including six aces — as Seneca Valley took command of the match.
“We're finishers,” Cowden said. “We know how to close out a match. We were down 15-5 in a game against Shaler earlier in the year and came back to win it.
“It wasn't my serving. It was our passing, the setting, the hitting. We put ourselves in good positions.”
Martini said Cowden played a determined game.
“She definitely put away that second game,” the coach said. “I got in her face a little bit earlier about a bad play and she responded. Bethany is the type of player that once she has a little fire lit under her, watch out.”
Fox Chapel fell behind 16-4 in the third game and never threatened.
“We're in a rebuilding year, playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Foxes coach Sara Krisch said. “Seneca Valley has a lot of very talented players. They have plenty of options in what to do with the ball.
“She (Cowden) has an aggressive serve and we got caught in a bad rotation. That was a rough combination for us.”
Bella Seman had 22 digs for the Raiders while Maria Alfano had 12 spikes, most of them coming in the first game. Devlin had eight spikes and Cowden seven aces.
Katie Kenney paced Fox Chapel with four kills, three blocks and two aces.
“We were able to play a lot of girls tonight,” Martini said. “We had another starter playing hurt, so we limited her time. Once we got the momentum, we played well.”
Seneca Valley plays the winner of Upper St. Clair-Norwin on Tuesday. The Raiders defeated both during the regular season.
SV has lost only one set since suffering its only loss, a 3-1 decision to WPIAL top-seed North Allegheny Oct. 11.
