Butler volleyball impressive after loss
BUTLER TWP — Stumbling in its first act of the season, the Butler boys volleyball team responded the way coach Lew Liparulo was hoping it would.
Two days after falling to Mars in straight sets, the Golden Tornado turned in a very solid effort in a 3-0 sweep of visiting Latrobe.
“Mars is a very good team and I’m not taking anything away from them, but we just did not play well,” said Liparulo. “But we practiced hard and I’m happy with the way we came back tonight.”
Butler’s first victory of the season came by scores of 25-16, 26-24 and 25-21. The second set offered the most drama.
The Wildcats had squashed any attempt Butler made of making a run in building a 19-12 lead.
An ace from Butler’s Alec Teff and a block from Mason McCall brought the score to 19-15, but it was moments later when Mason Anderson stepped behind the service line when the Tornado made their biggest move.
Two kills from senior outside hitter Coleton Welter and a pair of hitting errors from Latrobe tied the score at 20. The Wildcats regained the serve thanks to a kill from Luke Fiore, but it was a brief reprieve. Blocks from Welter and Andrew Slaugenhoup helped set up Anderson’s kill to win the set and give Butler a commanding 2-0 lead.
“We dealt with the adversity together,” said Welter, who finished the night with a team-leading 17 kills. “We supported and believed in each other. It was a good team win.”
After encountering limited resistance on its way to a victory in the first set, there was a lot of doubt in the second prior to the Tornado rising up.
“I was very pleased with the way our guys kept their composure,” said Liparulo. “It would have been easy for us to throw in the towel, but we kept playing hard.”
Latrobe (0-2) made a bit of a rally in the third set due in part to strong play at the net from Fiore, but Anderson’s sixth kill of the match capped the win.
The Wildcats, who earned the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs last year before getting swept by North Catholic in the semifinals, have lofty goals this spring.
“We’re a junior-based team with a lot of experience, but we didn’t show it tonight,” said Latrobe coach Drew Vosefski.
Kole Wojnar contributed 27 assists for Butler (1-1). Teff added five aces, four blocks and four kills and Peter Zulick five blocks.
“I’m pretty confident in this team,” Welter said. “We have a lot of younger guys, but I’m excited to see what they can do.”
Butler will compete at the Norwin Tournament on Saturday.
“This team goes very hard in practice and that’s how it has to be,” said Liparulo. “Our section has three teams (Shaler, North Allegheny and Seneca Valley) ranked in the top seven in the state.”
