JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley girls volleyball team was hoping to accomplish three things Thursday in its regular-season finale against Butler.

A 3-1 victory by scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-16 and 25-18 did just that.

• The Raiders clinched the Section 3-AAA title, their second in a row.

• SV (17-2) improved its chances for a top seed in the upcoming WPIAL playoffs.

• The Raiders avenged a 3-0 loss to the Golden Tornado earlier this season.

"Our servers did well and the defense was on," said SV coach Karen Martini. "We just played as a team."

After Butler took the second game to even the match at 1, the Raiders turned a slim 6-5 edge in Game 3 into a 14-5 lead with senior Maggie Gillooly behind the service line to take a 2-1 advantage.

Seven different players tallied at least one kill for the Raiders in the third game.

"Our two middle hitters, Meghan Franz and Catie Seman, played extremely well tonight," said Martini.

Franz led Seneca Valley with 14 kills, Jillian Galloway had seven kills and Seman, Dana Hughes and Alex Karika each added five.

The Raiders led the fourth game 19-14 before Butler cut it to a five-point game. That's when Franz came up with a huge kill, giving possession back to the hosts.

With SV up 22-18, sophomore Alyssa DiMaria's kill again took possession away from the Tornado.

Two serves later, Hughes ended the match with a kill of her own.

"It was awesome," said Gillooly, SV's libero. "We came in here tonight, we wanted the section and we went out and got it."

For Butler coach Meghan Lucas, the second game offered a glimpse of her team's potential.

"We didn't serve receive well tonight and weren't able to control the ball on defense," Lucas said of the two things her team excelled at in the 3-0 win over the Raiders Sept. 23. "In the one game we won tonight, we did those things well."

Two key service games in the second game came when Chelsea Pallone and Stephanie Mock were behind the line for the Tornado.

In the first, which came early in the game, Butler tallied three points to take a 12-7 lead.

With Mock serving late in the game, Butler's edge increased to 21-14 after four straight points.

But in the end, Butler was unable to build on the momentum from Game 2.

Butler (10-4, 8-4), which had clinched a playoff spot before Thursday's match, received eight kills from Amanda Huey and seven from Becky Smith.

The Raiders beat out North Allegheny for the section crown. Both of NA's losses this season came to Seneca Valley.

The WPIAL pairings meeting is Monday.