Volleyball
Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Brentwood Spartans – 10/15/2015
October 15, 2015
Both Brentwood and Carlynton were on the outside looking in as far as playoff spots from Class A Section 2 were concerned coming into their match Wednesday night. But that didn't stop both teams from putting on a thriller at Brentwood High School as the host Spartans prevailed 3-2 over the Cougars. The Spartans got off to a fast start in Game 1 with a 5-0 run thanks to the service game of junior Molly Huffman. Brentwood continued to dominate the first game, leading by as many as 11 points. Even near the end of that first game, however, the momentum started to shift toward Carlynton. Despite being outscored, 9-3, the Spartans still won Game 1, 25-20.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Central Valley Warriors – 10/14/2015
October 14, 2015
The Central Valley Lady Warriors are playoff bound! Coach Josh Springer's squad clinched a playoff berth with a Section 2-AA victory over Ambridge in straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-21. Central Valley jumped to early leads in each of the first two sets, never trailing in either of the opening sets. The Lady Warriors capitalized on early miscues from the Lady Bridgers. Balen Brown was the main beneficiary, tallying five of her match-high 11 kills in the first set.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Bishop Canevin Crusaders – 10/23/2015
October 13, 2015
What began as a seemingly meaningless non-class matchup between two of the top programs in class AA and A in girls volleyball turned into a fight to the finish between #3 Montour and #7 Bishop Canevin. Bishop Canevin returned to its winning ways 3-2 with a decisive final set victory 15-6 after Montour had won the third and fourth sets. Bishop Canevin carried a perfect record through the month of September, but as the calendar turned, the Crusaders dropped two of their first three section matches to Serra Catholic and Vincentian Academy. BC appeared ready, focused, and into the game as if it were a section contest and was able to jump out and take the first set relatively handily 25-16.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Girls Volleyball – 10/08/2015
October 8, 2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL girls volleyball rankings for the week of October 5th...including a NEW #1 team in Class A. You can check out the new rankings every Thursday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs sponsored by Carlow University in October ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. Section record in parenthesis. WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AAA: 1) BALDWIN HIGHLANDERS (7-0) (Last Week #1)PIAA Approves 6 Classes for Football, Hoops, Baseball & Softball
Are you ready for six classifications in Pennsylvania high school football? And boys basketball? And girls basketball? And baseball? And softball? Six classifications in all of those sports will be a reality in the 2016-17 school year. That was the gigantic news that came out of a PIAA board of directors meeting Wednes day in Mechanicsburg. Heading into the meeting, the main topic on the agenda was supposed to be a final vote on the expansion of classifications in football from four to six. The PIAA had already passed that in two other votes, and needed only to pass one more vote before going into effect for the 2016-17 season. That proposal easily passed by a 26-4 vote. But there was more big news to come.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Bishop Canevin Crusaders – 10/07/2015
October 7, 2015
In a highly anticipated and dramatic contest, Serra Catholic and Bishop Canevin once again faced each other atop the hard court. To recent memory over the past few seasons, it had been the home Crusaders who have dominated play over the Eagles, but Monday was a different story. Serra Catholic won this matchup on BC’s home floor in just four games. Both teams came in at 6-1 overall in the section. Serra’s only loss prior to this had been Bishop Canevin early on this season. Canevin on the other hand had seen itself lose the game prior to this one at Vincentian and could not find a way to rebound from that tonight.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Freeport Yellowjackets – 10/06/2015
October 6, 2015
Freeport Coach Tom Phillips was able to rally his Yellowjackets Monday night to a 3-0 non section victory over the visiting Derry Trojans.
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Natalie Cignetti
October 5, 2015
The WPIAL Alum Q&A puts the spotlight on former Indiana High School and current IUP volleyball star Natalie Cignetti in this installment. Cignetti, an outside hitter, earned all-state honors during her time with the Little Indians. As a senior in 2013, she helped lead Indiana to the top seed in the Class AA playoffs. In that postseason, the Little Indians finished as runners-up, and won a state playoff match, as well. Following her high school career, Cignetti joined the Crimson Hawks at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where her father, Curt, serves as the head football coach.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/04/2015
October 4, 2015
The first full week of October is a busy one with a full plate of fall sports along with a side dish of winter high school sports action this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Six of the high school football season with 30 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers – 10/01/2015
October 1, 2015
After beating Fort Cherry earlier in the week 3-2 in a battle for first place in Section 6-A, the Buccaneers held off a spirited challenge at home against 3rd place Beth-Center, defeating the Bulldogs 3-2 in a match in which 4 of the 5 games went to extra points. Chartiers-Houston won the match by games scores of (28-26, 27-29, 25-21, 26-24, 16-14) overcoming some sloppy play and unforced errors to remain perfect in section play at (7-0). With all five games back-and-forth affairs, it’s no surprise that the night featured 40 tie scores between these two squads. Game 4, with the Buccaneers winning by four points, featured just 2 ties with Chartiers-Houston breaking a 2-2 deadlock with a 4-point run that led to a win in which they never trailed after the early tie.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – West Allegheny Indians – 10/01/2015
In a pivotal clash in Class AAA Section 5, the Moon Tigers outlasted the West Allegheny Indians 3-1. Moon captured the match by the score of 24-26, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-17. With the triumph, Moon improves to 5-2 in the section, while West Allegheny falls to 3-4, and now faces an uphill climb to qualify for the postseason. Playing in front of a raucous crowd during pink-out night to raise awareness of breast cancer, the host Indians got off to a hot start, as they surged to a 7-2 lead in the opening set. The Tigers trimmed their deficit several times, including pulling within one, at 16-15, and deadlocking the contest at 24-24. Moon could never gain the lead in the opening stanza, though, as West Allegheny notched consecutive points to take the first set.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Girls Volleyball – 10/01/2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL girls volleyball rankings for the week of September 28th. You can check out the new rankings every Thursday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs sponsored by Carlow University in October ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. Section record in parenthesis. WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AAA: 1) BALDWIN HIGHLANDERS (6-0) (Last Week #1) 2) NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (6-0) (Last Week #2)Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Central Valley Warriors – 09/30/2015
September 30, 2015
On a very rainy Monday evening, the Freedom Bulldogs and Central Valley Warriors girls volleyball teams faced off in a pivotal section matchup and decided to turn the heat up in Section 2-AA. Central Valley entered this mid-season match in 2nd place in the section with a section record of 4-1 (6-1 overall). Freedom entered this match with a record of 3-2 (4-3 overall) good for the middle of the 2-AAA pack. On this night, it was all Central Valley as they defeated Freedom in straight sets 25-9, 25-10, and 25-21.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – South Side Rams – 09/29/2015
September 29, 2015
It may have been a non-section, cross-classification match when Class-AA Quaker Valley traveled to Hookstown take on Class-A South Side on Monday night, but it sure had the feel and the outcome of a playoff clash between two top-notch programs. The back-and-forth match went the full distance with the visiting Quakers winning 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-10).This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/27/2015
September 27, 2015
We have plenty of fall high school sports as the calendar changes from September to October this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Five of the high school football season with 28 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Girls Volleyball – 09/24/2015
September 24, 2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL girls volleyball rankings for the week of September 21st...including a NEW #1 team in Class AA. You can check out the new rankings every Thursday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs sponsored by Carlow University in October ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. Section record in parenthesis. WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AAA: 1) BALDWIN HIGHLANDERS (4-0) (Last Week #1)Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – Avonworth Antelopes – 09/23/2015
September 23, 2015
A rarity occurred Tuesday night as two of MSA Sports' Hometown Volleyball Programs squared off at Avonworth High School. The Avonworth Antelopes cruised to a straight-game victory over the Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 3-0 in a Class A non-section battle of Top Ten teams. The first game started out being a seesaw battle with both teams exchanging the lead at least twice before the Lopes pulled away en route to a 25-17 win. The Bucs grabbed a very early lead in the second game, but Avonworth continued with each other on the court, finding wide open spaces on the Char-Houston, side and mixing kills and soft drop shots along with many mental mistakes committed by the Buccaneers. The Lopes held off a late rally to take Game 2, 25-21.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – South Side Rams – 09/22/2015
September 22, 2015
The South Side girls volleyball team hosted Beaver County Christian in a Class-A non-conference match on Monday night. The Lady Rams used a strong start and the powerful arm of their senior leader to win the match 3-1 by scores of 25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23. South Side (2-2, 3-2) never trailed in either of the opening two sets of the match. The Lady Rams controlled the game, forcing the Lady Eagles into the hitting miscues. Every time BCCS would close the gap, South Side would respond with two or three quick points to widen the gap. The balanced attack was led by senior Toni Yacoviello, who provided five kills in each of the first two sets.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/21/2015
September 21, 2015
Believe it or not, we have out first district championship coming up as we creep closer to the mid-way point of the fall high school sports regular season this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Four of the high school football season with 30 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.Scholastic Notebook – 09/18/2015
September 18, 2015
To the PIAA, more is better. At least in football. The landscape of Pennsylvania football – and the WPIAL – might be changing real soon. The change will be significant. On Wednesday, the PIAA strategic planning committee and the PIAA football committee voted to recommend to the PIAA board of directors that football in Pennsylvania go to six classifications, starting next year. It was a noteworthy vote because the PIAA board of directors usually – but not always – does what the strategic planning committee recommends. The PIAA board has already passed this 6A idea twice and needs to pass it only one more time Oct. 19 for it to go into effect for the 2016-17 school year.
