North Catholic wins, earns a rematch

The North Catholic girls will get the rematch it had hoped for after a 3-1 upset Saturday of defending PIAA champion Bald Eagle Area in a Class 2A quarterfinal match held at Forest Hills High School.

The victory earns North Catholic (21-1) its first PIAA semifinal berth. The Trojans will face Freeport Tuesday in a rematch of the WPIAL final.

“Losing in the WPIAL title match gave us a tougher road in the opening rounds of the state tournament,” North Catholic coach Amanda Fetter said. “The girls put their nose to the grindstone and came up with two big wins.

“Now we get a rematch with Freeport. We’re excited to have another chance to play them.”

Bald Eagle (20-1), the District 6 champion, had been ranked No. 1 in the state for the entire season.

North Catholic jumped to a 2-0 lead with wins of 25-23 and 25-18. Bald Eagle won the third set, 25-15, but North Catholic claimed the fourth set, 25-20, to close out its victory.

“Our defense was the difference today,” Fetter said. “We played great defense, especially Anna Schoeppner.”

North Catholic was led by Dominique Felix (9 kills), Schoeppner (5 aces) and Sophia Elias (5 aces).

More Class 2A

Freeport 3, Beaver 0: The Yellow Jackets (20-0) advance to the PIAA semifinals for the third consecutive year with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-19 sweep of Beaver (17-3), the fourth-place finisher from the WPIAL. Freeport was led by Isabella Russo (11 kills) and Madeline Clark (52 assists).

Class 3A

Knoch 3, Franklin Regional 0: The Knights (231), the WPIAL champion, earned a third consecutive trip to the semifinals with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-15 sweep of the Panthers (18-3), the third-place finisher from the WPIAL. Knoch was led by Skylar Burkett with 11 kills. The Knights will face Palmyra in the semifinals.

Palmyra 3, Thomas Jefferson 0: The Jaguars (19-3), the WPIAL runner-up, saw their season come to an end after a 25-17, 26-24, 25-22 loss to Palmyra (23-0), the District 3 champion.

Class 4A

North Allegheny 3, State College 0: The Tigers (21-1), the WPIAL runner-up, earned its third consecutive semifinal berth with a 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of District 6 champion State College (191). The Tigers will face District 3 champion Landisville Hempfield in the semifinals.