Tri-Valley's Faith Melocheck (3) skies for a kill during Saturday's victory over Faith Christian in the PIAA Class A girls' volleyball quarterfinals at Exeter Township High School. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

REIFFTON — Tri-Valley threw a block party Saturday evening.

The Bulldogs stuffed Faith Christian early and often at the net, surging to big early leads and taming the District 1 champion Lions 25-13, 25-15, 25-17 in a PIAA Class A girls’ volleyball quarterfinal at Exeter Township High School’s Stephen Ruth Gymnasium.

With the win, District 11 champion Tri-Valley (23-1) will go where no Tri-Valley volleyball team has gone before — the state semifinals. The Dawgs will take on District 3 champion Linville Hill (22-0) on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. Linville Hill reached the semifinals with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 victory over District 4 champion Sayre on Saturday afternoon.

Tri-Valley’s season ended last fall when Faith Christian took a four-set victory in the PIAA quarterfinals.

The Dawgs came out determined not to let that happen again.

They raced to leads of 6-1, 10-3, 16-5 and 22-9 before a Faith Melocheck dink into the open court capped a 25-13 romp in the opening set.

“We came out and we were on fire,” Tri-Valley coach Courtney Scheib said. “Every ball that we touched, it was right where it needed to be. We hit all the holes, and we just kept swinging. It was amazing.”

The key to the set was Tri-Valley’s blocking. Emma Moore and Liv Lupole combined on a double block on the first point of the match to set the tone. Lexi Lesher got active out of the gate, stuffing a free ball to the floor, then teaming with Faith Melocheck and Callie Melocheck for double blocks in that 6-1 run that prompted a Faith Christian timeout.

“It’s something that we’ve been working on, and it’s paying off,” Scheib said. “You can see we continually get better at it, and tonight it really showed.”

As the match went on, Tri-Valley displayed its vast array of talents. The Dawgs blocked and defended relentlessly, either drawing an error or creating a free ball they could attack. Those attacks varied from powerful swings to deft guiding of the ball into open spaces. And the blocks and stuffs kept coming, especially from Lesher and Moore. Faith Melocheck played aggressively and actively at the net, and setter Callie Melocheck ran the offense brilliantly.

Tri-Valley opened the second set with an 8-0 run as Lupole served all eight points, including an ace. Faith Melocheck had three kills, and Lesher earned a point with a block. The Set 2 lead grew to 13-1 before Faith Christian (18-7) made a run, cutting the deficit to 17-10. The Dawgs regained their footing, getting a stuff from Lesher to stop the run and earn a side out. Two kills by Faith Melocheck and one from Kylie Clemmer helped put the set in the bank 25-15.

Faith Christian started the third set better, leading 4-1 before Tri-Valley worked its way back into the set. The Dawgs’ consistency and their ability to make the Lions return free balls led to a 75-45 advantage in total points. Lupole found her hitting swing in the third set, blasting six kills in the set. She rained down two blasts to make it 13-9 Dawgs, then smacked back-to-back kills to increase Tri-Valley’s lead to 23-15.

Faith Melocheck led the Tri-Valley offense by belting 17 kills and making four digs. She had plenty of help: Kirra Klinger had 14 digs and five assists; Lupole compiled nine kills, five digs, one ace and one block; Callie Melocheck posted 28 assists, five digs, three kills and one ace; Kylie Clemmer notched two kills and two digs; Moore chipped in two kills and two digs; and Lesher had four kills and one dig.

“It’s awesome,” Scheib said. “The crowd that was here tonight, and the fans that we have supporting us, it just shows how great of a community that we have. We just keep pushing through, and they’re there to support us. It’s amazing.”

PIAA Class AA Quarterfinal

Delone Catholic 3, Pine Grove 0

REIFFTON — Senior Molly Drumheller threw herself all over the floor, digging and diving to keep the ball in play. So did her Pine Grove teammates in Saturday’s PIAA Class AA quarterfinal against Delone Catholic at Exeter Township’s Stephen Ruth Gymnasium.

Unfortunately for the District 11 champion Cardinals, District 3 winner Delone Catholic had too many hitters and super setter Kayden Bello. They led the Squires to a 25-15, 25-10, 25-16 victory, sending Delone to Tuesday’s state semifinals and ending Pine Grove’s season.

“I’m 110 percent proud, if that’s even a thing,” Pine Grove coach Erin Frantz said. “Back in August, I would not have predicted us to make it this far. We were just hoping for a solid season, maybe make the district playoffs and compete. They have surpassed every expectation I’ve had for them this season. They’ve made me so proud. They’re a great group to work with.”

Pine Grove (13-11) earned a brief 7-5 lead in the first set, but steadily the Squires settled into their offense. That meant Bello setting for Reece Meckley and Lily Kane, who overpowered Pine Grove at the net.

Sets two and three featured more of the same from Delone Catholic (20-4). Pine Grove stayed close for much of the third set but couldn’t come all the way back.

Frantz praised her team’s effort to become one of the last eight teams standing in Class AA.

“They’re in the weight room, in the gym every day working the hardest they can because we knew we were going to have really tough competition,” Frantz said. “We were trying to get them hitting harder and being more aggressive up front. We did that to get here. They were a little more aggressive on their side today than we were.”

Drumheller led Pine Grove with 20 digs and one ace. Graycie Griffiths added six digs, one kill and one assist; Lily Flynn had two blocks, three kills and two digs; and Payton Harris contributed five digs and six assists.

Pine Grove has just three seniors on its 18-girl roster. Next season, six juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen can return.

“They’re some of my best friends,” Drumheller said. We just had fun. It was amazing, from winning the district final to going to the first round of states and winning. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

“I just feel really grateful to be able to do that with this group of girls,” Drumheller added. “This is by far the most fun I’ve had in high school volleyball.”