Tri-Valley's volleyball team huddles during a timeout in the first round of the PIAA Class AA tournament. (Photo by Eli Doyle)

HEGINS — Tri-Valley’s girls’ volleyball team secured another milestone win.

Six days after capturing the first District 11 trophy in Dawgs’ program history, Tri-Valley added its first PIAA Tournament win, rolling past Ephrata Mennonite 25-9, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 in a PIAA Class A first-round match Tuesday at Tri-Valley High School.

“I mean, it’s awesome, it’s a dream come true,” Dawgs coach Courtney Scheib said about Tri-Valley’s season success so far. “It’s something we’ve been working toward all season. I glad that we can do it.

“We’ve got to keep working. We’ve got to keep working, we’ve got to keep moving. We’ve just got to keep going on.”

Tri-Valley (19-4) started the match red-hot. Ellie Dunkelberger collected two kills, each assisted by Callie Melocheck, and Kylie Clemmer added three consecutive aces as the Dawgs jumped ahead of the Legends (14-4) and electrified the packed Tri-Valley gymnasium on their way to winning the set 25-9.

(499 tickets were electronically purchased for the game. As the first set commenced, the gymnasium was nearly standing room only.)

“That is always the plan. Come out strong, I mean, you have to be strong, get in their heads and get on top right away,” Scheib said. “We did that well. After that we kind of let off a little bit.”

Tri-Valley’s Faith Melochick notched a kill and Ephrata Mennonite had two errors as the Dawgs led 3-0 in the second set. The Raptors took the lead for a moment midway through the set, but the Dawgs hung on to take the set 25-21.

Liv Lupole had three kills and Kirra Klinger collected three assists for Tri-Valley in the second set. Not to mention both racked up a ton of digs in the back row all match.

The third set was the speed bump for the Dawgs as Ephrata Mennonite led the entire set and eventually won it 25-17.

“When we get blocked, then we get intimidated and we can’t stop swinging,” Scheib said. “We lose all our momentum.”

But in the fourth set, Tri-Valley seemed to regain that momentum.

The Dawgs jumped ahead 5-0 as Faith Melocheck chipped in another kill and Dunkelberger scored on a block, along with three Raptors’ errors.

Back-and-forth each team chipped away as the lead exchanged sides three times and was tied down the stretch at 18, 19 and 21. But tied at 21, Tri-Valley slammed the door as the Dawgs rattled off four consecutive points, highlighted by a kill from Lupole. Tri-Valley took the fourth set 25-21 and secured its first PIAA tournament victory in program history.

Dunkelberger collected six kills, two blocks and an ace; Callie Melocheck chipped in three aces, seven digs and 38 assists; and Lexi Lesher added five kills for the Dawgs.

Tri-Valley advances to the quarterfinal round and will square off with District 1 champion Faith Christian (20-5), which defeated Maritime Academy Charter 26-6, 25-10, 25-9 in the first round. The quarterfinal round will be Saturday, Nov. 9, at a site and time to be announced.

PIAA Class AA Tournament
First Round
Lansdale Catholic 3, Mahanoy Area 0

DOWNINGTOWN — Mahanoy Area’s girls’ volleyball season has come to a close after the Golden Bears fell to Lansdale Catholic 25-20, 25-23, 25-11 in a PIAA first-round match Tuesday at Bishop Shanahan High School.

The Golden Bears (17-7) captured their first district title in program history after sweeping Pine Grove 25-16, 25-20, 25-18 on Oct. 30.

Player statistics from Mahanoy Area’s PIAA first-round match were not available.

District 12 champion Lansdale Catholic (8-6) advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals against District 2 champion Holy Redeemer (21-3), a 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23 winner over District 4 champion Wellsboro. The site and time for the match will be announced by the PIAA.