Girls’ Volleyball: Pottsville and Panther Valley set for championship clash
The Panther Valley volleyball team awaiting a serve (Photo by Eli Doyle).
POTTSVILLE — The Crimson Tide and Panthers are set to run it back for the Schuylkill League girls’ volleyball championship.
Panther Valley swept Marian 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 and Pottsville rolled past Tri-Valley 25-14, 21-25, 25-6, 25-14 in a Schuylkill League semifinal doubleheader Tuesday at Martz Hall.
The Crimson Tide (16-3) and the Panthers (18-2) are set for a rematch of the league championship from a season ago that saw Panther Valley edge Pottsville 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-9 to claim its first league title since 2018.
Pottsville and Panther Valley will square off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Martz Hall for the championship.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Morgan Orsulak paced the Panthers with 16 kills, 14 assists, a block and an ace. Caroline Breslin chipped in 22 digs and three aces, while Abigale Benack added 17 assists and 17 digs.
“I think it’s really hard sometimes while you’re up by so much to keep powering through,” Panthers coach Emilie Hannis said. “Marian got a lot better, and they really showed up tonight and they really wanted to win. I think the girls saw that and thought we’re up by so many we shouldn’t be lollygagging through.”
Marian controlled the tempo of the first set and jumped ahead 3-0 after Kali Grochowski scored a kill and Alena Lombardo added two kills. But Panther Valley wouldn’t waver long.
Trailing 13-7, the Panthers outscored Marian 7-1 to tie the set at 14. And they weren’t done there as Panther Valley built momentum following a barrage of kills from Natalie Vermillion, JaeLynn Browdy, Emma Dacey, Jessica Hackash and Orsulak that helped the Panthers take the first set 25-18.
The second set was back-and-forth as Panther Valley led the majority of the set, but the Fillies were answering back. Marian took two brief leads in the set, but couldn’t ultimately muster the defense to silence the Panthers swings. Orsulak notched two kills and Marian had two errors to cap the set 25-20.
“You got to make the plays, you can’t react to them,” Marian coach Maria Currie said. “You have to anticipate, and we were just waiting and reacting instead of anticipating. (Panther Valley) has very smart, seasoned hitters.”
As the third set began, the Panthers were firing on all fronts and jumped ahead 7-0 as Hackash added two kills, Vermillion added one, and the Fillies committed four return errors. Panther Valley was rolling, but Marian began chipping away.
The Fillies scratched and clawed their way back into the game as Isabella Horvat led the way with two aces and two kills, while Eris Hayes added two aces to bring Marian within two points, trailing 20-18.
But it was all for not as Orsulak slammed the door on the third and final set with a kill followed by her only ace of the match that gave the Panthers the set win 25-22.
“It’s going to come down to whoever we play, whoever makes the most mistakes and who’s the most consistent,” Hannis said. “I think we need to realize that we’re in a championship game and there is no time to just rest and take it easy.”
In the second match of the doubleheader, Lainey Dusel led the Crimson Tide with 15 digs, eight kills and four aces. Anna Burke collected nine kills, eight blocks and three aces, while Megan Yost chipped in 33 assists, nine digs, four kills and two aces for Pottsville.
Leading 6-4 in the first set, Pottsville ripped off seven consecutive points capped by a kill from Maggie Brennan to jump ahead 13-4. And the Tide showed no signs of slowing down, racing to a 25-14 set win to start the match.
But in the second set, the Dawgs started barking.
Tri-Valley countered Pottsville for back-and-forth set before a kill from Lexi Lesher, a block by Emma Moore and two Pottsville return errors gave the Dawgs the lead 22-17.
Kirra Klinger capped the set with an ace for Tri-Valley, who won the second set 25-21.
The third set was all Crimson Tide, plain and simple. Pottsville marched to a 25-6 set victory as Dusel collected three of her four aces in the set.
And the fourth and final set was reminiscent of the first, as Tri-Valley led early before the Tide flipped the momentum and ran with it. Dusel added two kills, Brennan and Burke each chipped in one, and the Dawgs committed a return error to push Pottsville ahead 13-7.
The Crimson Tide later ripped off six straight points to cap the set 25-14.
“(Pottsville) has been working toward this all year,” Tide coach Maria Sherakas said. “They had a goal in sight and I’m glad they have been able to get to that goal game Thursday.
