South Fayette finding knack at finishing marathons on top

The South Fayette girls volleyball team and coach Scott Sundgren are quite familiar with five-set matches.

South Fayette had a pair of five-set marathons in last year’s WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. The Lions pulled out a 3-2 victory in the first round against Hampton, then lost a 3-2 heartbreaker against Franklin Regional in the quarterfinals. Franklin Regional went on to win the WPIAL title with a five-set win against Montour.

“It was heartbreaking to see the girls lose, 16-14, in the fifth set against Franklin Regional,” Sundgren said. “Three of the four quarterfinal matches in Class 3A last year went to five sets. That’s how close the top eight teams were.”

Sundgren has five starters back from last year’s squad and the Lions had a pair of five-set matches in the first half of play in Section 2.

On Sept. 14, South Fayette faced top-ranked Montour, last year’s WPIAL runner-up, and pulled out a 3-2 victory. Two days later, the Lions went to five sets with Ringgold and survived with a 3-2 victory.

“In the match with Montour, we were down, 11-9 and 13-11, in the fifth set,” Sundgren said. “It could have gone either way. We were fortunate to pull out the victory.”

South Fayette also had a four-set match with Trinity, but were able to come out of the first half of section play with a 6-0 record. The Lions opened the second half with a 3-0 sweep of West Mifflin and enter Thursday’s rematch with Montour ranked No. 4 in the WPIAL. Montour has dropped to No. 8, while Trinity is No. 6.

“It’s going to be a little more challenging in the second half with our rematches against Montour and Trinity on the road,” Sundgren said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if both matches went to five sets. We just have to control the ball and stay focused if we fall behind.”

A key to South Fayette’s success has been the play of its senior captains: opposite Annika Henkel, setter Haley Nicholson and libero Kaylin Goldstrohm. All three were recognized on the Section 2 all-star team last year: Henkel on the second team, Nicholson and Goldstrohm on the third team.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a few good left-handed opposites over the last seven or eight years and Annika is one of them,” Sundgren said. “Haley filled our biggest graduation loss by switching from outside hitter to setter. Kaylin is the type of player who will run through a wall to make a play.”

South Fayette’s rematch with Trinity is Oct. 14.

“There is no clear favorite in Class 3A,” said Sundgren, when asked about the WPIAL playoff picture. “There are at least six teams, maybe as many as eight, that are capable of making it to the title game. It’s a wide-open race.”

Hampton

Annie Bozzo’s first season at Hampton last year was both successful and frustrating.

Hampton recorded eight consecutive victories to open its Class 3A Section 5 schedule, then lost two of its last four matches and finished in a four-way tie for first place for the section title with Freeport, Armstrong and Mars.

“That was crazy,” said Bozzo, referring to the fourway tie. “Our disappointing finish didn’t help us in the seeding process.”

Hampton was seeded No. 12 in the 20-team bracket and lost a five-set marathon with South Fayette in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Bozzo has four of eight starters back from that squad and the Talbots find themselves in almost the same position they were last season.

Hampton finished the first half of section play with a 6-0 record and opened the second half with 3-0 sweeps of Mars and Knoch. The Talbots enter next week’s rematch against Freeport ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL. The Yellowjackets are ranked No. 3 with their only section loss to Hampton.

“Our first match with Freeport went to five sets,” Bozzo said. “I expect the rematch to be the same, but this one is on the road. The girls have to stay focused and stay aggressive until the last point.”

Hampton’s lineup includes three players who were recognized on the Section 5 all-star team last year. Senior setter Claudia Braun and senior middle hitter Kai Herchenroether were voted to the second team, while sophomore outside hitter Emmy Schrom was a thirdteam pick.

“Claudia has learned so much since I started working with her last year,” said Bozzo, who was a setter in her playing days at Shaler. “Kai has really stepped up and given us a strong middle attack. Emmy has become a dynamic hitter on the outside. All three have worked so well with our other starters to give us a strong lineup.”

Bozzo is also keeping track of her alma mater, for more than the obvious reason. Her younger sister Tia is Shaler’s senior setter. And like Hampton, Shaler is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.

“I’m so proud of Tia,” Annie Bozzo said. “It’s great that we’re both ranked No. 1, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work for both teams to stay No. 1. It’s a long season and anything can happen.”

Leechburg

A COVID-19 shutdown forced Leechburg to start the season two weeks later than the other teams in its section. But it didn’t stop the Blue Devils from getting off to an impressive start.

“It was very frustrating,” Leechburg coach Eve Hebrank said. “Our boys soccer team faced the same thing. Most of our COVID cases were contact tracing. We just had to wait until we were allowed to play.”

Leechburg began its Class 1A Section 4 schedule on Sept. 21 with a 3-1 win against Trinity Christian. Two days later, the Blue Devils pulled one of the biggest upsets of the 2021 season with a 3-2 win against GreensburgCentral Catholic. The Centurions placed second in the WPIAL last season and had been ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL since the start of the season.

“We were so excited and thankful to get back on the court,” Hebrank said. “To beat Greensburg Central made it even more enjoyable.”

The upset is even more impressive considering that Greensburg Central won the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-13.

“The first set was close and we made too many mistakes in the second set,” Hebrank said. “We put it all together in the third and fourth sets [with wins of 25-10 and 25-15]. The fifth set came down to the wire, but we pulled out a 15-12 win.”

Leechburg has since recorded four more section victories with sweeps of St. Joseph and Springdale last week and wins against Apollo-Ridge and Riverview this week. The Blue Devils have moved to No. 4 in the WPIAL Class 1A rankings.

“Coming into the season, I thought we were a top-five team, but knew it would be a battle,” Hebrank said. “We made a statement with the win over Greensburg Central, but we still have to face them in the second half [on Oct. 19] and that match is on the road.”

Leechburg has been led by senior setter Tatum Verner, senior outside hitter Kalli Grine and 5-9 junior outside hitter Macy Kubla.

“Tatum stepped in as our setter this year after playing all the front-line positions. That filled a big graduation loss for us,” Hebrank said. “Kalli is a three-year starter who moved from the outside to the middle this year. Macy’s play on the outside allowed us to move Kalli to the middle.”