North Catholic captures PIAA Class 2A girls volleyball crown

By: Jeffrey Kauffman
Saturday, November 20, 2021 | 6:43 PM

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — North Catholic fell behind two games to zero in its last match against Phillipsburg-Osceola and rallied to win, but many coaches don’t recommend teams do that on a regular basis.

The Trojanettes didn’t waste any time Saturday as they blitzed defending state champion Trinity, 3-0, to win the PIAA Class 2A girls volleyball championship at Cumberland Valley High School. The game scores were 25-20, 25-19, and 25-23.

North Catholic has been to the final four of the PIAA Class 2A volleyball tournament the past three years, winning it all two years ago. It fell short last year losing to Phillipsburg-Osceola in the semis and reached the finals again this year against Trinity.

North Catholic (21-1) swept Corry and Bedford to reach the semis against P-O. In the opening game Saturday, it took the Trojanettes a few minutes to get used to the stage in the back-and-forth match. The game was tied 11 times, before the Trojanettes got up 23-18 after a five-point service run by Amanda Esser. The match ended fittingly on a kill by Ally Feczko, who tallied 25 kills in the three-game match. It came on a set by Howard commit Sidnei Jones. She tallied 37 assists in the match.

“Ally and I are partners in crime on the court; we are electric together, and I wouldn’t want to be on the court with anybody else,” Jones said. “Without (Trinity’s Lauren) Trumpy in the lineup, I kind of knew where the ball was going to go. With everybody coming back, hopefully we will be back here next year. With winning two years ago and finishing in final four last year, we have the legacy for our junior class.”

Feczko was huge in Game 2 as the WPIAL champions jumped out to an 8-3 lead and extended it to 20-13. Trinity, playing without hitter Lauren Trumpy, just didn’t have the answer for Feczko. Game 2 ended as Feczko had a block on a Trinity attempt.

“I am so excited to get back here and win two state championships; looking forward to next year,” Feczko said. “The first time we played them, it was a bad trip. We were looking forward to playing them again. They are a very good team.”

Trinity led the majority of Game 3 and held its final lead at 18-14. Trinity played a more inspired game and kept balls alive. Rhyanne Whiteman, in particular, spent most of the game digging Feczko’s hits and keeping them alive for her teammates.

Esser stepped to the line again and led her team’s rally to take a 19-18 lead. North Catholic turned to Feczko, and Jones found her three times in the final points for the 25-23 win.

“Ally and Sidnei are so in tune with each other and know where they each are,” North Catholic coach Amanda Fetter said. “We are so big on one game at a time, and we just need to fix each thing. Their serving was one of the best we have seen, and we needed to weather the service-receive and get the ball up. The blocking was very good today.”

Trinity coach John Barrick added: “North Catholic just played out of their minds today. We didn’t play our Trinity game today, but give credit to them. This is a state final, and if you don’t bring your best game, you are probably going to get beat.”

Tags: North Catholic