Thrice is nice
CRANBERRY TWP — The first set was easy; almost too easy.
Freeport's girls volleyball team dominated Serra Catholic, 25-11, in the opening set of their WPIAL Class AA semifinal playoff at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School Thursday night.
The Yellowjackets encountered a much different Eagles' team the rest of the night, but prevailed 25-23 in the second and third sets to advance to their third consecutive district final.
“They wanted it as bad as we did,” Freeport outside hitter Lauren Lampus said. “They fought back, but we fought a little harder. We just want to keep winning.”
The Yellowjackets (18-1) will meet Beaver in a rematch of last year's WPIAL Class AA final, which was won by Freeport 3-1, at Baldwin High School Saturday at a time to be determined.
Clinging to a 21-20 lead in the second set, Freeport tallied three straight points, including a service ace from Courtney Grubbs, to take a 24-20 edge.
But the Eagles answered with Vanessa Tom's kill and benefitted from two errant kill attempts from the 'Jackets to close the gap to 24-23.
Freeport coach Tom Phillips called a timeout to break Serra's momentum.
“Sometimes you get caught looking at the scoreboard and I think that was the case there,” he said. “We needed to slow things down, get a side-out. The key was staying in our system.”
Freeport's Haley Graham delivered a huge kill moments later, giving Freeport a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.
“We had five service errors in that second set,” said Serra coach Keith Trahan. “If we pull that one out, the rest of the night could have been different. But Freeport is a great team, they are so fundamentally sound.”The third set was very similar to the second. This time, it was Lampus starring at the end. Freeport's last three points of the night came on her kills. She tallied nine kills on the night.“We talked about it in practice this week,” Phillips said. “There are times when you are going to face adversity, but I liked the way we took the bull by the horns tonight. We're going for a third straight title and I couldn't be happier.”Freeport's Sarah Hettich was a thorn in Serra's side much of the night with six kills and five blocks.“She's made much improvement,” Phillips said. “I'm 6-foot-2 and she's eye-to-eye with me. She gets her hands on a lot of balls.”Freeport has swept all three of its playoff opponents, including Laurel and Deer Lakes in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively.Julia Piccolino had nine kills to pace the Eagles (17-2) will compete in the state playoffs for the first time in program history.
