Rough night
BUTLER TWP — The atmosphere was set for the Butler boys volleyball team to pick up a historic win Tuesday night.
The Golden Tornado were playing in front of a raucous home crowd, benefitting from a large student turnout. Also, Butler was brimming with confidence after pushing top-ranked North Allegheny, a team Butler's never beaten, to five games earlier this season.
How the Tigers started the match sucked the energy out of the gym. North Allegheny took Butler out of its comfort zone and earned a 25-11, 25-16, 25-17 sweep in a Section 2-AAA match.
Senior defensive specialist Josh Kaufman didn't feel the Golden Tornado put too much pressure on itself.
“I think we like the pressure. I just think we didn't come to play like we usually do,” Kaufman said. “We're a better team than this. We've proven it before, we'll do it again.”
In the first set, Butler (10-3, 8-3) couldn't get past the North Allegheny block. The Tigers raced out to an 8-2 lead and benefited from eight attack errors by the Golden Tornado.
“I think they came well prepared for us. Like I said to the players, we played poorly against a very good team,” Butler coach Lew Liparulo said. “That can't happen. We became very predictable and they sat and waited for us.”
North Allegheny (11-0, 9-0) only allowed Butler to record two kills in the first game, both by Matt Huey. Huey, who is the Golden Tornado's top hitter, finished with a team-high 11 kills.
“We think they have a number of good options and tried to pick up on their tendencies from the first time around,” Tigers coach Dan Schall said. “We know Matt Huey is one of the top guys around. It's like playing a guy who averages 30 points a game in basketball, he's going to score his points, but we want to make him work to get his kills.”
Chris Fiorina led Butler with eight digs, while Andrew Paterno handed out 20 assists.
Brendan Brown and Mitch Higgins didn't let it come down to attack errors in Game 2. Brown (five) and Higgins (six) combined for 11 kills to help the Tigers come from a 5-1 deficit to win.
Brown finished with nine kills and eight blocks. David Haus led the Tigers with 13 kills and Higgins had 12.
“They put the balls in the setter's hands and ran quick balls every time,” Kaufman said. “The pounded them down.”
Butler also opened with a 5-1 lead in the second set, but couldn't maintain the momentum.
“They served aggressively, but we didn't receive well,” Liparulo said. “It took us out of our offense completely. That was the story of the night.”
Butler has already clinched a playoff spot and has two section games left against Fox Chapel and Seneca Valley. The Golden Tornado plan on rebounding quickly.
“Motivates us to play better,” Kaufman said. “We'll do better.”
