WEXFORD— The start was sluggish. The end was inevitable.

The Seneca Valley girls volleyball team began WPIALClass AAAplayoff action Wednesday night with a 3-0 victory over Franklin Regional.

The Raiders (16-2), champions of Section 3, had only a 15-14 lead in the first game before senior middle hitter Justine Carrow went to work.

After a service error gave Seneca Valley a two-point lead, Carrow blocked a shot for a point, then produced kills on the next two volleys to extend the margin to 19-14.

The Raiders rolled on to a 25-18, 25-13, 25-10 triumph.

"We didn't start very well tonight at all,"SV coach Karen Martini said. "We need to start games the way we ended this one."

Carrow agreed.

"Start strong, finish strong. That's what the coaches always tell us,"she said. "It took us a little while to take control of this game."

When they did, the Raiders dominated up front.

Carrow had 12 kills and three blocks, Jennifer Boyd had 10 kills and three blocks, and Meghan Franz had eight kills and three blocks.

"A lot of teams can't match our size up front,"Martini admitted. "Our girls are very good at blocking and controlling the net."

Franklin Regional (12-8) qualified for the playoffs for the first time in the program's 11-year history. The Panthers finished third in Section 1-AAAwith a 5-5 record.

Coach Rick Riley admitted his team was no match for the Raiders up front.

"We're a bunch of midgets," he said. "We have tough kids, but they're small kids. Once (Seneca Valley) took control of the game by the net, that was it."

Seneca Valley returns to action Tuesday, facing the Connellsville-Franklin Regional winner at a site and time to be determined.

After putting away the first game, the Raiders found themselves tied at six early in the second game. Senior tri-captain Lauren Balmert gave them the lead for good by scoring the next point.

Seneca Valley reeled off six consecutive points and 10 of the next 11. Franz and Carrow had two kills each during the flurry.

The third game wasn't much of one. Two service aces by Kellie Karasac and blocks by Franz and Sarah Beals helped build a 10-3 lead, Boyd had two kills and Karasac two more aces as the Raiders scored the game's final five points.

"We were overmatched,"Riley admitted. "They wore us out."

Balmert had 33 assists and three service aces for the Raiders. Franklin Regional scored as many as three successive points only once all night.

"Our passing has a lot to do with how well we play up front,"Carrow said. "Our setters are excellent."

Carrow and fellow seniors Balmert, Emily Hannon and Boyd played as freshmen when the Raiders won the WPIALchampionship in 2004.

"We played a little bit then, but the big thing for us was being able to see how it was done, the level you have to play at to succeed in the playoffs," Carrow said.

"Our goal is to win the whole thing, the state championship and the WPIALchampionship."

Martini is on the same page as her players with that thought.

"That's why our younger players were suited up here tonight," the coach said. "I want them to learn like these seniors learned. We have to play better, but this is a nice start."