Westmoreland notebook: Volleyball teams hold serve in rankings

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, September 14, 2019 | 7:13 PM

Franklin Regional (Class AAA) and Greensburg Central Catholic (A) are holding serve in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches Poll.

Both are ranked No. 5 in their respective classes. Hempfield is No. 10 in Class AAAA, and Derry is No. 7 in Class AA.

The association also chooses players of the week, and two local players — Franklin Regional junior Alexa Feorene and Belle Vernon senior libero — claimed honors in Class AAA.

Vilchek injured

Yough junior soccer player Natalie Vilchek is doing better after a scare last week.

Vilchek was taken by ambulance to an area hospital after she collided with Mt. Pleasant’s goalkeeper during a penalty kick in a game at Mt. Pleasant.

Yough coach Dann Appolonia said X-rays were negative for a fracture of her right leg, but Vilchek had a bad bruise.

Appolonia said she was cleared to return but is not ready to play full-time. A forward, Vilchek had 17 goals last season and was an all-section selection.

Postseason on the links

The WPIAL individual postseason begins Monday with section tournaments. There will be eight Class AAA boys qualifiers, including the Section 1 tournament at Hannastown Golf Club. The Section 4-AAA tournament will be Tuesday at Meadowink.

In Class AA, nine sites include The Madison Club for Section 2.

Class AAA players move on to the semifinal round. The top Class AA finishers advance to the WPIAL championship Sept. 26 at Allegheny Country Club.

Class AAA semifinal tournaments will be Sept. 23 at Hannastown and Willowbrook Country Club. Those feed into the WPIAL championship Oct. 1 at Fox Chapel Golf Club.

Players must shoot the designated target score — within 10 shots of the course rating — to advance.

For the girls, there are four Class AAA sites and two in Class AA. Players must finish within 20 shots of the course rating to move on. The WPIAL finals are Oct. 7 at Diamond Run Golf Club.

Soccer to watch

The Franklin Regional girls soccer team moved into the No. 4 spot in the Tribune-Review Class 3A rankings, and the Panthers will get a chance to go against the best Monday. No. 1 Mars will visit.

Other top girls games Monday include Greensburg Salem at No. 3 Belle Vernon in Section 2-3A and Waynesburg at Mt. Pleasant in Section 3-2A.

On Wednesday, Latrobe visits No. 5 Penn-Trafford in Section 3-4A, and Mt. Pleasant plays at No. 1 South Park in Section 3-2A.

Local boys games to watch include: No. 2 Norwin at Connellsville in Section 3-4A; Greensburg Salem at Belle Vernon (3-3A); and Greensburg Central Catholic at Winchester Thurston (2-A) on Tuesday; Penn-Trafford at Norwin (3-4A) on Wednesday; and top-ranked Franklin Regional at Gateway (4-3A) and Serra at GCC (2-A) on Saturday.

Persin to SHU

Hempfield senior softball player Olivia Persin gave a verbal commitment to play at Seton Hill. Persin, a shortstop, batted .320 with 12 RBIs and 10 runs last season for the Spartans, who won their fifth straight WPIAL championship and reached the PIAA semifinals after winning three consecutive state titles.

Rivals raising money

Penn-Trafford and Norwin are longtime soccer rivals — boys and girls alike — and the teams have four matchups scheduled this season.

While the soccer can be intense, the teams are raising money for a good cause. Proceeds from T-shirt sales ($10 each) will go to three charitable causes: Andrew’s Avengers, Reflections of Grace and Rocco’s Warriors.

The girls matchups are set for Sept. 23 at Norwin and Oct. 14 at Penn-Trafford. Boys games are Thursday at Norwin and Oct. 10 at Penn-Trafford.

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Pink out

Hempfield volleyball will host a “Dig Pink” breast cancer awareness fundraiser Oct. 8 against Latrobe.

Proceeds from a basket raffle, cookie sale and concessions will go to the family of a player with breast cancer.

Donations can be made by contacting Heidi Ross at 724-263-9483.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford