Seneca Valley volleyball, ranked #2 in state, eyes big season
JACKSON TWP — As Seneca Valley senior boys volleyball player Dawson Ward put it: “This season is our last chance to go big.”
Ward was referring to a Raiders team that is loaded with senior leadership — 12 of the squad’s 15 varsity players are in their final year.
They were part of last year’s team that made runs to the WPIAL championship match and state semifinals.
“I’ve played with most of these guys since the seventh grade and we’ve been together for Steel City’s club team for several years,” said Ward. “We’ve been building up for a long time and have been looking at this season for a while. We’ve prepared for it.”
Whether or not the Raiders meet their own expectations remains to be seen, but through seven matches, no team has been able to hang with Seneca Valley.
Butler is the latest team to take a shot and the Raiders swept the Golden Tornado out of William Paul Gymnasium Tuesday night by scores of 25-6, 25-15 and 25-13.
In the latest poll released by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association, the Raiders (7-0, 5-0) are ranked No. 2 in the state behind Central Dauphin.
“We’ve dropped just one set all season (to Shaler) and have placed first in our own tournament and one at Peters Township,” said SV coach Brett Poirier. “But we still need to take it one game at a time.”
Ward led SV with 10 kills, but he’s just one of a number of players wreaking havoc on opposing teams with powerful swings. Nate DeGraaf, Nick Semrau and Matthew DeGraaf also helped the Raiders take control early against Butler.
“We have so many opportunities for our hitters,” said Ward. “We have a really deep bench, can put a ton of players on the court and they all do well.”
Sparking the players at the net have been the team’s senior setters — Aidan Uher and Xavier Reese.
Uher tallied 23 assists Tuesday while Austin Tatusko contributed 16 digs.
Kaleb Proudfoot and Anthony Panichelle both had five kills for Butler (3-3, 2-3), which is scrambling to find the right lineup to stay in the mix for a WPIAL Class 3A playoff berth.
“One of our concerns is setter. Tonight, we had to move Cam Ray from there to libero to help us on defense,” said Butler coach Lew Liparulo. “We have some tall kids, but as a team, we’re not big and that has caused some blocking issues.
“But Seneca is such a strong team. They have no weaknesses, have very few hitting errors and spread the ball around. They make it very tough on you.”
After hosting Fox Chapel Thursday, the Raiders will travel Friday to meet their arch nemesis, North Allegheny. The Tigers, currently ranked third in the state, have won the WPIAL title four straight years and claimed the last three state championships.
“Last year, all four of our losses were to them,” said Poirier. “It should be fun.”
Butler plays at Pine-Richland Thursday.
