Tornado tennis team earns playoff victory
Butler dropped its match at No. 1 singles, then roared back to claim a 4-1 victory over sixth-seeded Fox Chapel in the first round of the WPIAL girls tennis playoffs Tuesday at Lakevue Athletic Club.
The victory marked Butler's first girls tennis playoff win this decade.
"We last made the playoffs in 2002 and lost to Thomas Jefferson in the first round,"coach Alisa Green said. "Our girls were so focused and ready to play today. We never had to go to a third set."
Courtney Kerr and Kristen Cypher won at second and third singles for the Golden Tornado (14-4).
Butler continues its playoff run today at third-seeded Upper St. Clair.
Butler 4, Fox Chapel 1Singles: Sarah Deffenbach (FC)def. Carolyn Shetter 6-0, 6-0; Courtney Kerr (B)def. Sara Bartynski 6-4, 6-1; Kristin Cypher (B)def. Taylor Drawbaugh 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Doubles: Maggie McGinnis-Angela Byrnes (B)def. Carolyn Payne- Lidey Hueck 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Katherine Sylvia-Madison Kerr (B)def. Darcy Cotten-Makensie Martin 6-1, 6-1
<B>Butler 4, Shaler 0 — </B>Jake Huey, Andrew Schnur, Ryan Guiste and Ben Horner scored for the Golden Tornado (17-1-1), who wrapped up their first section title since 1994.Troy Mohney, the team's current coach, played on that 1994 squad.Tim Duffy was the winning goalkeeper for Butler, which outscored its opponents 58-13 this season."After our loss to Pine-Richland, we concentrated on our defense and we've given up just one goal since,"Butler coach Troy Mohney said.The WPIALsoccer playoff meeting is tonight."It's up to the committee where they put you, but with the quality of teams we've played, in section and out of section, hopefully we'll get a good draw,"Mohney said.<B>Seneca Valley 1, North Allegheny 0 —</B> Sophomore Chas Elliott's goal with 19 minutes left held up and secured for the Raiders their third WPIAL Class AAA playoff berth in as many seasons.<B>Knoch 5, Neshannock 1 — </B>Buddy Carr scored two goals for the Knights (11-6, 10-4), with C.J. Wise, Travis Tasker and Scotty Herman adding one each.
Brittany Lyons was the top girls runner overall for Slippery Rock (4-2), which defeated Grove City 24-30. Slippery Rock's boys (1-5) suffered a 24-31 loss to the Eagles.Both teams compete in the District 10, Region 2 meet Saturday at Titusville.<B>Boys Top 10:</B>T. Bollinger (GC)17:54, Adam Stillwagon (GC)18:10, Dan Hartzell (SR)18:18, J. Hieh (GC)18:22, Nate King (SR)18:39, Owen Bowser (SR)18:49, Eddie Schrieber (SR)18:53, J. Stewart (GC)18:56, R. Sestak (GC)19:04, Cal Spigler (SR)19:23<B>Girls Top 10:</B>Brittany Lyons (SR)20:13, Helen Phipps (GC)20:21, Andrea Shaffer (SR)20:57, Megan DeGraaf (GC)21:17, Sarah Opp (SR)21:42, Becky Consbruck (GC)22:04, Nikki Fuchs (SR)22:15, Megan Boartz (GC)22:23, Ally Plummer (SR)22:46,N. Wizorek (GC)22:53<B>Karns City 23, Venango Catholic 33; Karns City 17, A-CValley 38; Karns City 15, Keystone 50; A-CValley 20, Union 35; Venango Catholic 15, Union 47 (boys); Venango Catholic 15, Union 50 (girls) — </B>The Gremlins boys (12-0, 9-0) increased their dual meet winning streak to 32 as Travis Hendell was the overall winner.<B>Boys Top 10: </B>Travis Hendell (KC)15:59, Aaron McGarvey (KC)17:07, Chris Harmon (KC)17:19, Mike McNellie (VC)18:11, Chris Delaney (VC)18:17, Eric Kriebel (KC)18:50, Nate Wolbert (KC)19:29, Shane Cross (VC)19:37, Joe Younkin (ACV)19:50, Joe Brooker (VC)20:09<B>Girls Top 10:</B>Megan Lutz (VC)20:38, Sarah McNellie (VC)21:39, Sarah Young (KC)21:50, Nicole Marshall (ACV)22:58, Kirstie Priester (U)23:35, Chelsea Hulings (K)24:40, Cardine Blauser (ACV)24:49, Shenoa Hendell (KC)24:59, Melanie Booth (VC)25:06, Alicia Winsert (K)25:38
Rachel Ennis had eight points, 15 assists and 16 digs to lead a balanced effort for Grove City Highin a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22 victory over region rival Slippery Rock Tuesday night.The win clinches the region championship for the Eagles (11-0).Ashley Patterson added 10 kills, nine assists and 11 digs, and Kari Barnes pitched in 11 points, five blocks and 12 digs for Grove City, which is ranked No. 10 in the state.Slippery Rock fell to 8-3.<B>Butler 3, New Castle 0 — </B>On Senior Night, Amy Achesinski had eight kills, two blocks and one ace, and Yuki Schaper had two kills, six digs and four aces as the Golden Tornado rolled to a 25-4, 25-5, 25-7 victory.Butler (4-5) will travel to Seneca Valley Thursday. A win over the Raiders will qualify Butler for the upcoming WPIAL playoffs.<B>Karns City 3, Rocky Grove 0 — </B>Haley Callihan had 12 service points, including six aces, and five kills to power the Gremlins to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 victory.Stephanie Isacco added 16 service points and three kills, and Laura Isacco had 12 service points for Karns City (4-5), which will host Venango Catholic on Thursday.The Gremlins junior varsity team remained undefeated at 9-0 with a 25-11, 25-13 win.<B>Moniteau 3, A-C Valley 1 —</B> The Warriors downed the Falcons by scores of 27-29, 25-12, 25-16 and 25-23.Amanda Gladd led Moniteau (3-8, 3-10) with 26 assists, Megan Campbell had four kills and four aces, Kenzie Timblin tallied 11 kills and five blocks and Kendra Hall had six kills.The Warriors also claimed the junior varsity match, 2-1.<B>Seneca Valley 3, Hampton 0 — </B>The Raiders dominated the Talbots by scores of 25-12, 25-6 and 25-16.Justine Carrow had nine kills, Jen Boyd contributed eight kills and three aces, Meghan Franz had eight kills and Lauren Balmert tallied 26 assists.M.J. Gillooly added six digs for the Raiders, who clinched a postseason berth with the victory.
