The girls volleyball regular season has reached its final week, and eyes are now beginning to be cast toward the postseason.
Teams are honoring their seniors — if they haven’t already done so — while practices are taking on a new feel and urgency.
“We’re definitely trying to do our best in practice to make it feel more like a high-pressure situation,” Bald Eagle Area coach Zach Rote said. “The girls are really focused this year. They have one goal in mind; they are determined and have worked hard all year.”
Centre County teams will have played their final matches by Oct. 19, with brackets for the District 6 tournament to be announced a few days later. First-round contests are set for Oct. 25-26 in classes A and 2A, working toward the championship matches in Altoona on Nov. 4. The four-team brackets for the upper two classes have semifinals Oct. 30 and finals Nov. 1 in Class 3A, and semifinals Oct. 31 and finals Nov. 2 in Class 4A.
Philipsburg-Osceola appears comfortable as the Class 2A top seed, while Penns Valley is solidly in a playoff spot. Hollidaysburg and BEA figure to be 1-2 in Class 3A, with Bellefonte third. State College, owner of the last 12 district titles, is in the unusual position of a likely No. 4 seed in the four-team Class 4A bracket.
Bald Eagle Area
The Lady Eagles (14-2) scored a pair of wins against neighboring rivals, besting Tyrone, 3-1, Oct. 10 and sweeping Bellefonte, 3-0, Oct. 12.
Against the Lady Red Raiders (25-14, 25-11, 25-15), Myia Brooks delivered 10 kills and five blocks, while Leah Bryan and Gabbie Perry had eight kills each. Taylor Habovick gave away 35 assists, Nora Eppley had a pair of aces and Olivia Taylor picked up 14 digs.
During a 19-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21 victory against the Golden Eagles, Leah Bryan knocked in 18 kills, while Taylor Hall added eight, Habovick recorded 39 assists and 12 digs, Peightin Brownson and Olivia Boone fired in three aces apiece, Brooks and Rachel Bryan each had two blocks and Taylor had 23 digs.
BEA played its final match Oct. 17, hosting Central.
Bellefonte
The Lady Red Raiders (6-9) took care of Bishop Guilfoyle 25-10, 25-9, 25-9 Oct. 10 behind eight kills, six aces and 11 digs from Carlee Pepperman, and six kills, three aces and three blocks from Grace Novitsky. Bellefonte’s service game played a major role, with 25 team aces and only nine missed serves. Aubrey Schreppel fired in eight of those aces to go with 18 assists and six digs, while Carley Clarkson and Sadie Ripka had three aces each. Delaney Gray posted six digs.
During the 3-0 loss to BEA on Oct. 12, Grace Novitsky had 10 kills, Schreppel passed out 17 assists, Gray notched nine digs, Pepperman picked up seven digs and Ella Novitsky had six digs.
Hollidaysburg swept Bellefonte 25-15, 25-11, 25-10 on Oct. 16, with four kills for Keira Clarkson, seven assists for Schreppel, two aces for Emma Haagen and six digs for Gray. The match with the Tigers began a run of three matches in three days to close the regular season, hosting Bellwood-Antis on Oct. 17 and traveling to Central Mountain on Oct. 18.
Penns Valley
The Lady Rams had a split week of sweeps, besting Huntingdon on Oct. 10 and falling to Forest Hills two nights later.
Ella Hadley posted 12 kills and eight digs during the 25-15, 25-20, 25-16 victory against the Bearcats. Moriah Hurd followed with 10 kills while Carlee Emery had six kills and two blocks. Ella Aston had 33 assists and three aces, and Maddie Butler notched nine digs.
Hadley and Hurd collected 10 and nine kills, respectively, during a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 loss to the Rangers, with 22 assists for Aston, 17 digs for Butler and six digs each for Hadley, Aston and Kendall Guisewhite.
The Lady Rams close their regular season at P-O on Oct. 17.
Philipsburg-Osceola
The Lady Mounties (16-0), who remain No. 2 in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A rankings, earned 3-0 sweeps of Bellwood-Antis on Oct. 10 and Huntingdon on Oct. 12.
In the 25-20, 25-15, 25-19 victory against the Bearcats, Reese Hazelton had 14 kills, two aces and six digs, while Sophie Granville added 11 kills, two blocks and five digs. Natalie Betz and Maddy Lumadue handed out 17 and 14 assists, respectively; Ava Ropert put up a pair of blocks; and Betz and Annie Johnson had six digs apiece.
Hazelton notched 17 kills, nine digs and two blocks and Granville recorded eight kills and six digs in the 25-17, 25-17, 25-13 victory against the Blue Devils. Betz had 14 assists and six digs, Lumadue delivered 11 assists and Ropert put up three blocks.
P-O visits Clearfield Oct. 19 to complete its schedule.
State College
The Lady Little Lions had not played a match this season decided by a 3-0 sweep, but then had three such matches in four days.
The stretch began Oct. 11 with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 victory against Central Dauphin, with a dozen kills for Sarah Tate and six kills for Olivia Smith, 12 assists and four aces for Jess Campbell, three blocks for Alex Haskins, two stuffs for Miley McLaughlin and eight digs for Emma Lally. Lily D’Altrui posted 14 assists, two aces and seven digs.
State College (4-8) then faced two of the top teams in the state on Oct. 14 as part of a triple-header, losing 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 to Hempfield (Landisville) and 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 to six-time defending PIAA Class 4A champion North Allegheny. The Black Knights also earned a four-set win against the Tigers, leading to the teams swapping the No. 1 and 3 spots in the PVCA Class 4A rankings.
For the two Lady Little Lion matches, Tate collected 23 kills and 22 digs, Smith had nine kills, Campbell gave out 25 assists, D’Altrui distributed 14 assists, Alexis Fisher picked up 15 digs and two blocks each came from Haskins and McLaughlin.
Even if this season has not been like what his team is accustomed to, coach Chad Weight is not viewing the postseason as a fresh start. There is still much to prove.
“(It’s) not a reset,” Weight said. “I would say it’s an opportunity to expand on what we’ve learned going forward.”
The team plays at Chambersburg on Oct. 19 to end the regular season.
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy
The WolfPack (2-16) completed their season with a 3-0 loss to Millersburg on Oct. 10 and a 3-2 setback against Moshannon Valley on Oct. 16.
Saint Joe’s fell to Millersburg despite 15 blocks as a team, including nine from Jordyn Rose and four from Kaige Hutchings. Monika Peters and Katie Pase had four assists and four digs each, with Peters adding four kills. Leah Ridenour and Gianna Folmar recorded five digs each.
