District 11 Girls’ Volleyball: Pine Grove tops Mahanoy Area to win Class AA title
Pine Grove celebrates after defeating Mahanoy Area to win the District 11 Class AA girls' volleyball championship Wednesday night at Martz Hall. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
POTTSVILLE — Every time Pine Grove needed a big point, Lily Flynn delivered.
The junior hitter dominated at the net, leading the Cardinals past Mahanoy Area 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24 in the District 11 Class AA girls’ volleyball championship match Wednesday night at Martz Hall. Flynn smacked 25 kills, made six digs, blocked three shots and hit two aces.
The second-seeded Cardinals (12-10), who lost to No. 1 Mahanoy Area (13-9) in last year’s district championship match, captured district volleyball gold for the first time since 2020.
As district champion, Pine Grove advances to the PIAA Girls’ Volleyball Championships, which will begin Tuesday, Nov. 4. The Cardinals will host the District 12 runner-up at a time to be announced.
“We wanted to try to peak in this week,” Pine Grove coach Erin Frantz said. “We’ve just been trying to have fun, keep it light, but work hard. And they did. They worked hard for the past two weeks, and they were ready for tonight.”
The teams split their Schuylkill League Division I matches this season. Pine Grove won 3-2 on Aug. 26. Mahanoy Area won 3-2 on Sept. 18. Round 3 followed a similar script as the teams traded long rallies over four close sets.
In the opener, better hitting and fewer errors lifted Pine Grove to the early lead. Tied at 19, the Cardinals capped the set with a 6-1 run. A dink into the open court by Kamryn Heming keyed the run and the 25-20 win.
Mahanoy Area hit better and reduced its errors in the second set to level the match with a 25-23 victory. A Naomi Kowalick kill and a Pine Grove error gave the Golden Bears the set.
Pine Grove bounced back in the third set, jumping out to leads of 10-1 and 14-4. Mahanoy Area chipped away and eventually tied the set at 22. A kill out of the back row by Graycie Griffiths clinched the Cardinals’ 25-23 win and a two-sets-to-one lead.
The Cardinals continued to force Mahanoy Area to play a lot of balls, creating openings to attack or getting the Bears to make an error. Pine Grove led 18-10, 20-11 and 23-16 before the Bears made one final push. They tied the set at 24 before an error and Flynn’s final kill of the night ended the match and set off a joyous celebration.
In addition to Flynn, Griffiths posted 22 digs, four kills, one ace and one block for Pine Grove. Molly Drumheller added 20 digs and three aces, while Payton Harris had 24 assists, eight digs and one kill.
