A close shave
JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley girls volleyball team made it through the first half of the section schedule unscathed.
But the Raiders received their closest call Tuesday.
Seneca Valley escaped its home meeting against Butler with a 3-2 victory by scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21 and 15-9.
Trailing two games to one, the Raiders (8-1, 6-0) rebounded from a 16-13 deficit to take the fourth game and jumped out to a 9-4 lead before winning the fifth and deciding game.
A kill by SV junior middle hitter Meghan Franz ended the Golden Tornado's hopes for an upset.
"I think late in the match tonight, that's when our girls knew that it was on the line," said SV coach Karen Martini. "I'd love to tell you that we thought we could win tonight 3-0, but Butler's got a tremendous team."
"We let Seneca Valley get on top in that fifth game," said Butler coach Meghan Lucas. "And in a quick game to 15, the little things make a big difference."
The Tornado (4-3, 3-3) proved it would be a tight match right from the start.
Butler held leads of 9-6, 14-10 and 20-14 before prevailing in the first game, led by Abbie Druschel's five kills.
Druschel ended the night with 10 kills, Ashley Grenet had nine kills and Amanda Huey led Butler with 12 kills.
The Raiders evened the match with a win in the second game, powered down the stretch by kills from Justine Carrow, Jillian Galloway and Lauren Balmert.
The third game saw Seneca Valley turn a 13-10 deficit into a 25-24 lead before Butler came back and won it on a kill by senior setter Katie Willison.
"We went at their weaknesses," Lucas said. "And I thought we played good defense, especially in the two games we won."
Martini admits this was the biggest test her team has encountered in Section 3 play.
It was the first time in section action this season that an opponent forced the Raiders to a fifth game.
"The match with North Allegheny was tough (a 3-1 win), but we could put balls away against them," she said. "We couldn't do that against Butler tonight. They place the ball well, they've got a good setter and they play tremendous defense."
Balmert led the Raiders with 32 assists. Franz totaled 12 kills and Carrow, Jen Boyd and Galloway each chipped in with nine kills.
