Knoch's Hannah Rowe (30) celebrates a point against Kiski in the WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball quarterfinals at North Allegheny. The Knights advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 win.

WEXFORD — The Knoch volleyball team unveiled a new rotation against Kiski in the WPIAL 3A quarterfinals Tuesday at North Allegheny High School that had setter Kerrie Fitzpatrick at the net for a spell.

It’s an unusual spot for Fitzpatrick, a senior on the Knoch volleyball team. A setter by trade, it’s a role she’s relishing with a beaming smile and surprising hops.

She made the most of it with three kills to go with her 29 assists as the Knights kept marching toward another WPIAL championship appearance with a 25-14, 25-11, 25-21 win.

The Knights dominated the first two sets and overcame a snag in that new rotation that cost them a point because of an illegal substitution to pull away from Kiski in the third set to move to the the semifinals against either Central Valley or Hampton Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Knoch has now won 44 consecutive matches. The Knights last loss came 717 days ago.

And, as strange as it sounds for an undefeated, defending state championship team to have a chip on its shoulder, Knoch does.

“They saw the six seniors we lost and automatically thought we’re done,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve said this multiple times this year — me, Hannah and Kennedy are returning starters and Kenzie Kerkan and Skylar Burkett would have been starters on any other varsity team last year.”

This is an excerpt — read the full story in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle.