Net result: 1-1
JEFFERSON TWP — Though the Mars volleyball team did not win Game 3 of its first-round WPIAL playoff match against Blackhawk Wednesday, it did serve as a turning point.
The Planets dropped the third game despite a spirited comeback, but then captured the fourth and fifth games to defeat the Cougars 3-2 at Knoch High School.
The victory came by scores of 25-16, 15-25, 21-25, 25-15 and 15-8.
The meeting was the first of a doubleheader, with Knoch dropping a 3-2 decision to Montour in the second matchup.
The Planets (17-2) were tied with Blackhawk at one game apiece, but fell behind in the third game 17-9 before making it close.
"We showed what we could do against them in that third game, even though we lost," said Mars coach Dan Mountain. "That's when I knew we could do what it takes to beat them."
Led by senior Kelsey Rovnan, who tallied 16 kills, the Planets turned a 9-all tie in the fourth game into an 18-9 advantage with Casey Klukaszewski behind the service line.
Then, in the decisive fifth game, Mars jumped out to a 7-1 lead and cruised to victory, with Rovnan's final kill ending the match.
"She's a go-to player," Mountain said of Rovnan. "When we need a kill, we go to her, and she showed she's one of the better servers around, too."
Camblin Leonard added seven kills and Brit Morgan six kills for Mars, which will face the survivor of the Derry-Elizabeth Forward match in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals at a date, time and site to be determined.
After watching Mars take the first game, Blackhawk (12-5) stormed back with two straight victories.
Led by Kelly McCauley's 10 kills in the two games, including seven in Game 3, the Cougars took the upper hand."In the two games we won, we just worked on getting the ball to the outside and down the lines to keep it away from their big hitters," said Blackhawk coach Rick Ford.Montour 3, Knoch 2The Knights were just four points away from pulling off a dramatic comeback.That's when Montour shut the door on Knoch's 2007 season.After losing the first two games by scores of 25-22 and 25-13, the Knights (16-2) grabbed the next two games with wins of 26-24 and 25-20.They led Montour 11-10 in the fifth game before a Mary Kacsur kill tied the game and gave the ball back to the Spartans, who reeled off four straight points for the victory."We play in a tough section, with top-seed West Allegheny and fourth-seed South Fayette, so we're battle tested, and our girls came through tonight," said Montour coach Brendon Aleski."Our comeback was just awesome," said Knights coach Diane Geist. "We did the same thing at Mars (a 3-2 victory Oct. 18), only that ended up in a win."We put so much into that game, I was just hoping we'd have something left for tonight," she added.The Knights did have something left, but it took three games to become a factor.Knoch lost the second game by 12 points and was on the ropes, but the team's determination led to two straight victories, including a wild third game that Ashlee Antoszyk ended with a block.Elizabeth Hill led the Knights with eight kills, while Kirsten Brant and Zoe Hughes each added seven.The loss ends the high school volleyball careers of 12 Knoch seniors: Ashlee Antoszyk, Kirsten Brant, Elizabeth Hill, Zoe Hughes, Danae Karenbauer, Keisha Michel, Ashley Neurohr, Liz Ogershok, Jasmine Ortiz, Michelle Steinmiller, Melissa Walter and Chelsea Yurisic.
