HS Girls’ Volleyball: Panthers, Dawgs advance to Schuylkill League final
Panther Valley celebrates winning a point during Tuesday's Schuylkill League girls' volleyball semifinal against Blue Mountain at Martz Hall. The Panthers won in four sets. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
POTTSVILLE — A fifth set looked inevitable.
Pottsville led Tri-Valley by seven late in the fourth set of their Schuylkill League girls’ volleyball semifinal Tuesday night at Martz Hall. Needing just three more points, the Crimson Tide seemed poised to tie the match and take it the distance.
Those points never came.
Sparked by repeated kills from Liv Lupole, the Bulldogs made a stunning comeback to defeat Pottsville, 25-23, 13-25, 27-25, 26-24. Lupole finished with 21 kills and nine digs, several of them coming when the Dawgs rallied from a 22-15 deficit to close out the Tide in four sets.
In the semifinal opener, Panther Valley’s defense repeatedly thwarted Blue Mountain’s attack as the Panthers went on to outlast the Eagles, 25-23, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20.
In Thursday’s championship match, Division II champion Tri-Valley (19-0) will take on Division I co-champion Panther Valley (17-2). Match time is 7 p.m. at Martz Hall.
Both semifinals were closely contested, but the Panthers and Dawgs held their nerve to pull out tight sets that tipped the balance of their matches their way.
Like in the first set of the opener, when Panther Valley’s Morgan Orsulak guided a shot into the open court on two to give the Panthers a two-point victory. Orsulak finished with 26 kills and 16 assists.
Blue Mountain (16-4) battled back to take the second set and level the match. Star hitter Jaedyn Bartholomew led the way with 17 kills, 24 digs and four blocks on the night. Tess Krasnay added 41 digs; Zoe Leibensperger notched 10 kills, nine digs and three blocks; and Bella Grasso dished out 35 assists, made 29 digs and hit two aces.
“The difference was they made a couple more plays when they need to than we did,” Blue Mountain coach Gregg Gergely said.
Panther Valley’s defense really came to the fore in the third and fourth sets as Caroline Breslin (24 digs), Kathryn Breslin (10 digs) and Madeline Schirer (9 digs) kept the ball alive by handling heavy heat from the Eagles. JaeLynn Browdy also had a big night for Panther Valley with 16 kills and 22 assists, many of them to Orsulak. The Panthers, who had a bye into the semifinals, had more energy and spring in their legs as the match wore on.
“No matter what happened tonight, we wanted to make sure we left everything out on that court,” Browdy said. “And that’s exactly what we did. I’m so excited (to make the final), I can’t even put it into words right now.”
Panther Valley advanced to the Schuylkill League final for the third straight season. The Panthers fell to Pottsville in straight sets last season and defeated the Tide in five sets in 2023.
“They’re hungry. They wanted it,” Panther Valley coach Nancy Filer said. “From Day 1, this was their goal, to get to Schuylkill Leagues. They’re here, and they weren’t leaving without fighting. It’s a hard game. It’s a shame somebody had to lose when they’re playing as well as they did.”
Pottsville (15-5) pushed Tri-Valley, the No. 1-ranked Class A team in the state. After dropping the first set, the Tide stormed back to rout the Dawgs 25-13 in the second, leveling the match at one set apiece. Anna Burke took over in that set, smacking kills and blocking shots as Pottsville built a 20-8 lead and cruised the rest of the way.
Burke finished with 11 kills, seven blocks and two digs for the Tide. Rhyan Brennan posted 13 kills, 13 digs, two blocks and two aces, while Megan Yost had 42 assists, 16 digs, one ace and one kill.
Tied 1-1, the final two sets went to overtime, and Tri-Valley made the plays when it counted.
In the third set, a Faith Melocheck kill set up set point, and Emma Moore handled a ball off a rebound and pushed it into the open court for a 27-25 win and a 2-sets-to-1 lead.
All night, Tri-Valley got contributions up and down its lineup. Callie Melocheck had 46 assists, 18 digs and two aces; Faith Melocheck added 24 kills, 14 digs and one ace; Kirra Klinger notched 37 digs and nine assists; Kylie Clemmer posted 12 digs, one ace and one kill; and Lexi Lesher and Moore chipped in four kills apiece.
A dink and a block by Callie Melocheck set up match point, and the Dawgs ended it 26-24.
“We were behind, and I just said in the huddle that we’ve got to keep pushing, get it back one point at a time, and that’s what we did,” Tri-Valley coach Courtney Scheib said. “We pushed through.
“I think we just came prepared,” Scheib added. “We came ready to fight, and we knew we were the underdog — we never beat Pottsville before — so we just came ready to fight. And we did.”
