Seneca Valley girls volleyball cruises in WPIAL tournament opener. Pine-Richland provides real test next
JACKSON TWP — Cam Mueller was excited to have the opportunity to test out a variety of different attacks. The battles for the Seneca Valley girls volleyball team will only get steeper as the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs progress.
The fourth-seeded Raiders took the first step forward by taking apart No. 13 Armstrong 3-0 (set scores: 25-9, 25-16, 25-17) Wednesday night at William Paul Gymnasium.
“You don’t come across games like this often in our section,” Mueller said. “We were able to try out a lot of different shots and have a lot of fun.”
Seneca Valley (11-6) will take on section rival Pine-Richland in the quarterfinals Saturday. The Rams advanced by sweeping Latrobe.
Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland split their two meetings in the regular season.
“It stinks. I almost hope when it comes to this time of year that we are all in four different corners and we play in the semis,” Raiders coach Brett Poirier said. “We are playing before that. It’s rough. I hope we are on our game.”
Against the River Hawks, SV put the hammer down early in the first set. The Raiders had four of their first seven points come on service aces.
Seneca Valley setter Sheridian Gallagher opened the match with two aces. The Raiders quickly built an 8-3 lead and didn’t look back.
Armstrong (6-10) showed plenty of fight in the second set. The River Hawks took control early with strong hitting from Mary Duncan and Delaney Pore, who delivered a kill that gave Armstrong its largest lead, 6-3, and again at 7-4.
“I’m proud of the performance my girls put on after the first set,” Armstrong coach Kenzie Lasher said. “I thought it showed resilience from them.”
Mueller helped make sure Seneca Valley didn’t give away a set. She had a kill to cut the deficit to 7-5.
“I think it has a lot to do with our confidence,” Mueller said. “We went out there overconfident and overeager. Just because we know we’ve beat this team before.”
That kicked off a 5-1 run for the Raiders. A block from Mueller put Seneca Valley ahead 9-8, and she followed that with a kill.
“Cami night after night is one of my best hitters,” Poirier said. “She plays six rotations and she can’t come off the floor. She passes as good as she hits. When she passes, she’s tough.”
Armstrong didn’t fade easily in the third set, the River Hawks were able to creep within three or four points late in the set. However, Seneca Valley buckled down and closed the match on a kill by Gabbi Hatok.
Poirier wanted the Raiders to show they could close out teams early.
“Winning in three was huge,” Poirier said. “You don’t want to give away a set and give hope. In the third set, they started playing better and started digging. We had to put them away.”
The Raiders did. Now, they will have another tussle with the Rams.
“I’m excited for lots of heated competition,” Mueller said. “I have a lot of friends on that team. I like having a chance to get across the net from there and show them what we are made of.”
