Baldwin volleyball rallies past Pine-Richland in WPIAL semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | 11:18 PM

After losing the first two games to Pine-Richland, Baldwin girls volleyball rallied in Games 3 and 4 to tie the score at 2-all.

Baldwin won a tense and exciting Game 5, 15-11, snapping an 11-11 stalemate with four consecutive points at the end to earn a 3-2 victory in the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals.

With junior OH/RS Riley Lenard serving, Baldwin junior OH/MH Allison Murray punched out three kills among the Highlanders final four points to provide an exclamation point on the victory.

Murray, Lenard and junior MH Ally Schenk were dominant at the net area in the fifth game, registering nine kills and one block between them. Junior OH Anna Baloh also contributed one kill to the Highlanders’ cause, while junior setter Mia Hampsay and senior libero set up many of their team’s winning points.

There were seven ties in Game 5, at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11.

After Pine-Richland secured an 8-5 advantage, and a Baldwin timeout, the Highlanders rallied to win four consecutive points behind the serving of senior DS Kerri Herron.

Lenard and Schenk provided the firepower at the net during that stretch.

Baldwin advances to Saturday’s WPIAL championship match, where it will play North Allegheny at 6 p.m. at Fox Chapel.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Baldwin, Pine-Richland