Seneca Valley earns 3-1 victory over Butler
JACKSON TWP — In the WPIAL Section 1-4A girls volleyball standings, the margin for error is minuscule.
“In our section, there’s going to be one very good team that doesn’t make the playoffs,” Butler coach Meghan Lucas said. “We have five teams in our section that are ranked. ... That’s why every single section match is a battle.
“It’s kind of life or death every night.”
Going forward, for the Golden Tornado, every point will count after a hard-fought 3-1 loss at Seneca Valley Tuesday night.
“Butler’s a really good team,” Raiders coach Brett Poirer said. “They’re definitely a top-five team. Our section is just so good. ... There’s no easy nights.”
Butler (7-4, 1-4) overcame a 17-9 deficit to take the initial game, 25-22, before dropping the following three by scores of 25-15, 25-21, and 25-22.
“It was very similar to the last time that we played,” Lucas said. “We try to exploit their weaknesses, they try to exploit our weaknesses — and they were able to do that more times than not to us.”
A 12-1 surge in the first set was highlighted by Golden Tornado senior Hannah Fertig and helped the guests out of an eight-point hole.
“Passing, we broke down,” Poirer said of the hiccup in the first set. “And that one server they had tonight (Fertig) was tough. Every time she went back and served, she ran up points.”
After being tied with Butler at eight apiece, Seneca Valley (10-1, 4-1) made sure not to let their opponent back in the second set, finishing by taking 11 of the final 13 points. The Raiders also took over after being knotted at the same score in the final game.
Senior Katie Craig had a dozen kills for Seneca Valley, while Freshman Cameron Mueller added nine and junior Kennedy Peffer eight.
The Raiders have suffered only one loss this go-round — to rival North Allegheny, which hasn’t yet relinquished the No. 1 state ranking decided on by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Raiders are slated at fifth in that same order.
“We’re battle-tested all year, so hopefully we can stay like that going into the playoffs and we’ll have an edge,” Poirer said.
Meanwhile, Lucas doesn’t have her eye on the playoffs just yet.
“We’re playing good volleyball,” she said. “Like I told the kids, I said, ‘We celebrate what we do well and we learn from the things that we didn’t do well tonight. We go to practice and we work on that and get ready for the next one on Thursday.”
The Golden Tornado received seven aces, 13 digs, and a kill from Fertig. Senior Sarah Szebalskie had 11 kills and junior Channing Popovich added nine kills and four blocks.
Butler has three section games remaining, starting with Pine-Richland on Thursday. Seneca Valley gets the Rams next Tuesday and has a matchup with North Hills before meeting North Allegheny again on Oct. 17.
