Westmoreland high school notes: Area players selected to All-WPIAL volleyball lists

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, November 12, 2023 | 4:05 PM

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The area was well represented on the All-WPIAL lists for girls volleyball.

WPIAL semifinalist Greensburg Central Catholic had two Class A first-team selections: sophomore right-side hitter Ashlyn Black and junior outside hitter Eva Denis, who held her own quite well at 5-foot-4.

Senior setter Ella Dindak and senior outside hitter Elle Visco of Penn-Trafford were second-team picks in Class 4A, and Penn-Trafford senior libero Maci Hohman, and senior outside hitter Ashley Hosni and senior libero Sarah Podkul of Hempfield made the third team.

The Class 3A list includes Latrobe junior middle hitter Ashley Deniker on the second team and Latrobe junior outside hitter Chiara Mongellouzzo on the third team.

In 2A, senior libero Katie Dunlap of Derry and senior middle hitter Amarah McCutcheon of Southmoreland made the second team, and junior middle hitter Taylor Doppelhauer was a third-team pick.

No doubting Thomas

Alex Thomas skated off with six points as Norwin outscored North Hills, 9-5, in a high-scoring PIHL game last week at Palmer Imaging Arena East.

Thomas, a senior forward, had two goals and four assists. Dom Cerilli, a junior forward, added two goals and two assists for the Knights (4-1-0-1).

Aaron Varrati and Parker Toth had two assists each.

Thomas and Dom Cerilli are the top two scorers in PIHL Class 2A. Cerilli had two goals and two assists against North Hills. Thomas, who recently signed a tender with the Colorado Grit of the North American Hockey League, leads PIHL with 23 points.

State of the art

Norwin will continue its PIAA playoff run with a semifinal game Tuesday against Central Bucks South of District 1.

The teams will play at 6 p.m. at Chambersburg High School, the site of Norwin’s 2-1 (4-3 PKs) quarterfinal victory over Abington.

The Knights (17-5-1) are hoping to become the first Westmoreland County team to win a boys state soccer title.

Big 5/6 football

Penn-Trafford had eight players on the first team, Franklin Regional added five and Norwin had four when the Big 5/6 Conferences announced its all-section teams.

Penn-Trafford’s selections were junior center Ethan Septak, senior guard Riley McGraw, senior tight end Mark Jollie, junior running back Tasso Whipple, freshman running back Ben Grabowski, senior defensive end Matt Sarnowski, senior defensive tackle Zach Tomosovich and senior defensive back Carmen Metcalfe.

Franklin Regional’s players were senior wide receiver Ayden Hudock, junior running back Kyle Dupill, junior kicker Joey Bayne, junior defensive tackle Andrew Devola and senior linebacker Owen Sinclair.

For Norwin, it was sophomore quarterback Tristyn Tavares, senior receiver Luke Denny, senior defensive end Aidan Pham, and senior safety Jackson Pons.

Hempfield senior Keiran Lippman made the first team as a defensive back.

Recruiting 

Add another Power 5 scholarship offer for Latrobe’s Alex Tatsch. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior linebacker received an offer this weekend from Stanford.

Last week, Southern California offered Tatsch.

• A pair of Norwin athletes made verbal commitments to college programs.

Baseball player Ty Cupp will continue his playing career at Mercyhurst. Cupp is a senior catcher for the Knights.

Senior basketball player Kendall Williams announced she will play at Wilkes University, a Division III school in Wilkes-Barre.

Williams, who battled an injury last season, is a key guard for the Lady Knights, who are expected to make a push for a WPIAL 6A title this winter.

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

Tags: Derry Area, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford