Trojanettes Going For Gold
WEXFORD — Ava Whitesel threw her arms in the air and screamed after the final point in a dominating match for the North Catholic volleyball team.
Her teammates stormed the court. Jumping and yelling in full throat.
A celebration two years in the making.
It was vindication of sorts. An exorcism. A release.
Up until a snowy Tuesday night at North Allegheny, Freeport had been the thorn in North Catholic's side the past two seasons.
The Trojanettes lost to the Yellowjackets last year in the PIAA 2A quarterfinals 3-2 and again this season in the WPIAL final 3-2 after leading 2-0.
Not this time. This time North Catholic seized the match and didn't let it go in a 25-19, 25-12, 25-16 sweep that sent the Trojanettes to their first state championship match.
North Catholic will play North Penn-Liberty at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School.
“We were fueled,” said senior outside hitter Dominique Felix. “We had one goal: to knock them off. Our only losses the last two years were to Freeport. If we lost again, the seniors would have graduated never beating them.”
Felix was going to make sure that didn't happen.
The Carnegie native had 15 kills.
Whitesel, a senior middle hitter and a Cranberry Township native, added 11 kills as North Catholic (23-1) dominated at the net, on defense and, well, everywhere else.
“We felt like we had something to show everybody,” said North Catholic coach Amanda Fetter. “We were really focused the last couple of days on staying organized on defense. When we can pass, we can get our big guns hitting and it's a beautiful thing.”
There was little pretty about the way Freeport (20-1) played, said Yellowjackets' coach Tom Phillips.
“All year we hung our hat on defense. It just wasn't there today,” Phillips said. “We did a lot of uncharacteristic things, had a lot of mistakes we don't usually make. We didn't play like the team that got us here. They seemed to want it more.”Lauren Lampus was a bright spot for the Yellowjackets. The senior had eight kills.North Catholic gathered a day after the WPIAL loss to Freeport and did some soul searching.“We said, 'We're not sad. We're mad,' Fetter said. “For me it's more about them. I want them to have a chance to ring the bell. This team is so good they deserve a banner in the gym.”Whitesel said the loss made the team bond and galvanized them.It's shown.North Catholic has knocked off Corry, defending state champion Bald Eagle and Freeport in the last eight days.“This meant so much to us,” Whitesel said. “We were so upset after we lost the WPIAL. We didn't play as a team. We played as six individuals.”Now North Catholic, which is 43-2 over the last two seasons, gets a shot at its first state title.“This is amazing,” Whitesel said. “If you told me this four years ago, I wouldn't have believed it. I'm at a loss for words.”
