(Photo by Skook News)

Local Roundup: Schuylkill League volleyball playoffs taking shape:

Marian, Tri-Valley, Mahanoy clinch berths

The Schuylkill League girls’ volleyball playoff bracket rounded into form Tuesday night.

Entering play Tuesday, Pottsville and Panther Valley had already locked up berths in the six-team field, with the Tide clinching the Division I title and the Panthers earning the No. 2 spot from Division I.

Tuesday, Marian captured the Division II championship with a victory over Minersville, while Tri-Valley earned the No. 2 spot from Division II with a sweep of Schuylkill Haven. Mahanoy Area wrapped up the third berth from Division I when the Bears defeated Lourdes and Pine Grove upended Blue Mountain.

The only spot remaining is the third berth from Division II. Nativity (9-4 league) can clinch that spot with a win Thursday over Williams Valley. Schuylkill Haven (8-5) is one game back of the Green Wave and needs a win Thursday over Shenandoah Valley and a loss by Nativity to force a one-game tiebreaker.

The Schuylkill League volleyball playoffs begin Monday, Oct. 14, with two quarterfinal matches at Minersville. Panther Valley will face the Division II No. 3 team in one match, while Tri-Valley will take on Mahanoy Area in the other.

Monday’s winners advance to Tuesday’s semifinals at Martz Hall, with the Panther Valley/TBA winner facing Marian and the Tri-Valley/Mahanoy Area victor facing Pottsville. The league championship match is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at Martz Hall.

Here’s a look at Tuesday’s action:

Pine Grove 3, Blue Mountain 2 — Domani Collazo compiled 13 kills, eight digs, six blocks and four aces to lift the Cardinals to a 25-22, 16-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-9 victory over the Eagles in a Schuylkill League Division I thriller in Orwigsburg.

Lily Flynn added nine kills and 12 digs for Pine Grove (7-6 D-I), while Mary Fertig dished out 37 assists.

Jaedyn Bartholomew had 16 kills, 15 digs and two blocks for Blue Mountain (7-6 D-I), while Alexa Marshall collected eight kills, 11 digs and two blocks and Casey Reed tallied 36 assists and nine digs.

Pine Grove won JV 2-0.

Pottsville 3, North Schuylkill 0 — Lainey Dusel recorded 15 kills, seven digs and two aces to lead the Tide to a 25-7, 25-10, 25-14 win over the Spartans in a Division I match at Martz Hall.

Anna Burke added six kills and five aces for Pottsville (13-0 D-I), while Rhyan Brennan collected four kills, two blocks, seven digs and two aces. Kyla Carado had four kills and Brigid Flynn tallied two kills and two digs for North Schuylkill (2-11 D-I).

Pottsville won JV 2-0.

Mahanoy Area 3, Lourdes 0 — In Coal Township, the Golden Bears downed the Red Raiders 25-12, 25-12, 27-25 in a Division I match to clinch a league playoff berth.

Anna Keer had eight kills, five blocks and 10 digs for Lourdes (3-10 D-I), while Corinne Feese had 14 digs and Anna Krebs collected 17 assists, six digs and two kills. No statistics were provided for Mahanoy Area (8-5 D-I).

Panther Valley 3, Tamaqua 0 — At Tamaqua, Natalie Vermillion notched 11 kills and had four digs as the Panthers cruised past the Blue Raiders 25-6, 25-6, 25-3 in a Division I contest.

Emma Dacey added eight aces, four kills and two digs for Panther Valley (11-2 D-I), while Jessica Hackash had six kills. Panther Valley won JV 2-0.

Leah Black had two kills and two digs, and Nicole Mushock and Isidora Neifert each had three digs for Tamaqua (0-13 D-I).

Marian 3, Minersville 0 — At Minersville, Lara Cancio paced a balanced attack with eight kills, three aces and three digs as the Fillies downed the Miners 25-7, 25-12, 25-15 to win the Division II championship

Alena Lombardo and Kali Grochowski each had six kills for Marian (12-1 D-II) and combined for eight digs. Ayla Castle had 12 assists for Minersville (6-7 D-II), while Hailey Bowers had three kills and Lydia Harris tallied two aces, two kills and six digs.

Marian won JV 2-0.

Tri-Valley 3, Schuylkill Haven 0 — Faith Melocheck collected eight kills and two aces and Liv Lupole had seven kills and an ace as the Dawgs swept the Hurricanes 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 in a Division II matchup at the CACL Center.

Callie Melocheck ran the Tri-Valley (11-2 D-II) offense, dishing out 25 assists. Teagan Wehr had a whopping 42 digs for Schuylkill Haven (8-5 D-II), while Karlee Feger had seven kills and 11 digs and Jolynn Ross compiled 20 assists, five digs, three aces and two blocks.

Tri-Valley won JV 2-1.

Nativity 3, Weatherly 0 — Sara Spolski racked up 10 kills, 17 digs and three aces to lead the Green Wave to a 25-14, 25-17, 25-23 win over Weatherly in a Division II contest.

Julianna Carlson added 11 kills, four aces and five digs for Nativity (9-4 D-II), while Addisan Ricard had 26 assists, 10 digs and three kills.

Rachel Rosenlund compiled eight service points, three aces and nine assists for the Wreckers (2-11 D-II), while Abby Teodorescu had two kills and six digs and Kaiya Kunkle recorded four service points, two aces and five digs.

Williams Valley 3, Shenandoah Valley 1 — In Tower City, Hayley Ferguson had five kills and six blocks as the Vikings outlasted the Blue Devils 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17.

Emma Reinoehl added four kills and five blocks for Williams Valley (3-10 D-II). Naomi Carl compiled three kills, five assists, eight aces and 11 digs and Emily Miller had four aces and 31 digs.

Kaye Lynn Sheehan had six kills, four digs and four service points for Shenandoah Valley (1-12 D-II), while Brianna Gulden had 18 digs and Brittany Tufts compiled 18 assists, eight digs and five service points.

Williams Valley won JV 2-0.

Boys’ Soccer

North Schuylkill 5, Marian 1 — Brady Welker tallied a goal and two assists to pace a balanced attack as the Spartans downed the Colts in a Schuylkill League Division I match at Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium.

Evan Damiter, Fabrizio Manganiello, Austin Corrigan and Austin Brayford also scored for North Schuylkill (8-4 D-I), while Brayford and Noah James had assists.

Spartans keeper Kaden Onuschak came within a minute of a shutout before Mergim Nezili scored in the 79^th minute off an assist by Nuedin Gjoca. Nezili (7) and Jake Tom (6) combined for 13 saves for Marian (1-10 D-I).

Shenandoah Valley 9, Nativity 0 — Ayden Zamudio scored five times and Joan Menjivar had two goals and three assists as the Blue Devils (11-0 D-II) used a big second half to topple the Green Wave (1-10 D-II) in a Division II contest atop Lawton’s Hill.

Zamudio’s first goal, off assists by Antonio Ruiz and Johnny Burke, was the only tally of the first half. Shenandoah Valley then erupted for eight second-half goals to pull away. Burke and Jostin Lajara also scored for the Devils, while Sam Mentusky, Dillon Teter and Brayan Chagolla added assists.

Nativity keeper Nick Clarke made 10 saves, while Shenandoah Valley keeper Caleb Campos did not face a shot on goal.

In other Schuylkill League boys’ soccer action Tuesday, Pottsville edged Tamaqua 1-0, Pine Grove and Lourdes battled to a 0-0 tie, Schuylkill Haven edged Weatherly 3-2 and Tri-Valley nipped Minersville 3-2.

Girls’ Soccer

Schuylkill Haven 7, Tamaqua 0 — Taylor Haag scored five goals as Schuylkill Haven blanked Tamaqua in a non-league match Tuesday at Rotary Field.

Haag scored the game’s first three goals, then added back-to-back goals to open the second half. Peyton Butz and Kylie Siket also scored for Schuylkill Haven, while Audrey Hutchinson, Cadence Artz, Faith Goehring and Siket tallied assists.

Ally Becker stopped all three Tamaqua shots for the shutout, while Veronica Scott made nine saves for the Blue Raiders.

North Schuylkill 7, Williams Valley 2 — Freshman Lilah Helwig had another big night, scoring four goals and collecting three assists as the Spartans downed the Vikings in a non-league contest at Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium.

Addie Urban, Marlie White and Jillian Murray also scored for North Schuylkill, while Taylor Shadle had an assist.

Jasmine Hechler and Quin Smeltz scored for Williams Valley, while Vikings keeper Sage Smeltz made 13 saves.

Schuylkill Haven 4, Tri-Valley 3, OT — Audrey Hutchinson’s goal in the first overtime off a feed from Kylie Siket lifted the Hurricanes to a Division II victory over the Dawgs on Monday night in Hegins.

Siket scored two goals and Taylor Haag had a goal and two assists for Schuylkill Haven, which trailed 2-1 at halftime. Makenna Runkle added an assist.

Cassie Snyder and Kendra Stiely had goals for Tri-Valley, which also scored on an own goal. Snyder’s goal off an assist from Joyce Burian forced overtime.

Ally Becker had five saves for Haven, while Madyson Schwalm stopped seven shots for Tri-Valley.

Girls’ Tennis

District 11 Class AA Team Tournament

Moravian Academy 5, Blue Mountain 0

At Bethlehem

Singles: Laura Li (Mor) def. Leah Walasavage, 6-2, 6-0; Emily Reynolds (Mor) def. Natalie Brown, 6-4, 6-2; Kimi Kinchi (Mor) def. Mary Solga, 6-3, 6-4

Doubles: Anika Mehta and Penelope Bloomfield (Mor) def. Lizzy Gockel and Hannah Miller, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3; Emma Cassady and Sophie Wandall (Mor) def. Sophia Woll and Marianna Ramirez, 6-2, 6-3

Notes: Top-seeded Moravian Academy advances to Thursday’s District 11 Class AA championship match against Allentown Central Catholic, which beat Saucon Valley 5-0 in the other semifinal. … Blue Mountain’s season ends at 10-6.