Geibel ends Lady Mikes’ volleyball season in WPIAL quarterfinals
Carmichaels鈥� Taylor Christopher attempts a spike during Tuesday蘑菇视频 match against Geibel Catholic in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Norwin High School. The Lady Mikes suffered a 3-1 setback. (Photo by Jonathan Guth)
Jonathan Guth | 蘑菇视频
Carmichaels鈥� Nicole Ludrosky attempts a kill during Tuesday蘑菇视频 match against Geibel Catholic in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Norwin High School.
Jonathan Guth | 蘑菇视频
Carmichaels鈥� Kendall Ellsworth serves during Tuesday蘑菇视频 match against Geibel Catholic in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Norwin High School.
Jonathan Guth | 蘑菇视频
Carmichaels鈥� Katelyn Meadows returns the ball over the net during Tuesday蘑菇视频 WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff match against Geibel Catholic at Norwin High School.
NORTH HUNTINGDON 鈥� Geibel Catholic won the rubber match against section rival Carmichaels, 3-1, last Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Norwin High School.
鈥淲e are happy to play another day and we have two chances to get to states,鈥� Rick Watkins, Geibel Catholic coach, said. 鈥淲ith only nine girls, I鈥檒l take that. We will show up, play and do our thing against Bishop Canevin. They are the team to beat, but our goal every year is to win WPIAL and state titles. If that isn鈥檛 your goal, then there really isn鈥檛 a reason to be here.鈥�
The Lady Gators rallied back after losing the first set, 25-21, with a 25-15 triumph in the second. Geibel Catholic won the third set, 25-19, and took the fourth, 25-23.
鈥淭his match was exactly what I expected,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淲e knew it would be a dogfight, and it was. You think they have them down and they come back, and they think they have us and we come back.鈥�
The Lady Gators used an 8-0 run in the second set for a 9-3 lead. Geibel Catholic pushed its advantage to 14-6 and Lady Mikes head coach Julianne Speeney took a timeout. The Lady Gators extended their lead to 20-10 before closing out the set.
鈥淚 really believe the second set was the turning point,鈥� Speeney said. 鈥淲e had a little bit of a better set in the fourth, but we just couldn鈥檛 get it going around the middle of the second set.鈥�
The rivals traded the lead several times in the early part of the third set before Geibel Catholic took a 13-9 lead that prompted Speeney to call timeout. The Lady Gators held a 12-10 edge to close out the set and take a 2-1 advantage.
Geibel Catholic held an early 3-0 lead in the fourth set, but the Lady Mikes (14-2) battled back for a 6-6 tie. Carmichaels tied the set at 17 after a long rally was finished by Emma Hyatt, and the match appeared to be headed for a decisive fifth set with the Lady Mikes take a 20-17 lead, but closed the contest on an 8-3 run.
鈥淚 think we could go back-and-forth with Geibel all day,鈥� Speeney said. 鈥淭hat is the way it has always been against them. There are no surprises against them.鈥�
Geibel Catholic held a 14-11 lead in the first set, but Carmichaels closed on a 14-7 run for a 25-21 victory. The Lady Gators had an early 3-0 advantage, but the Lady Mikes battled back for their first lead of the set at 9-8.
鈥淎fter that first set, I talked to the girls, and just told them to stay calm,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淚 also told them that we would win this match.鈥�
Geibel Catholic蘑菇视频 Shannon Watkins led the match in assists with 37, and added six kills. Teammate Lauren Tomasko had 18 kills.
鈥淚 really believe that Lauren and Shannon are the two best players in our section, and that蘑菇视频 not to take anything away from any other the teams,鈥� Rick Watkins said. 鈥淪hannon rarely misses a ball, and when she is on the serve line to close out the match, I like those odds, which was the case tonight. I think the best thing about Shannon is the amount of work she put in.
鈥淚 told her in eighth grade, if she wanted to play for me, she had to be twice as good as the others because I didn鈥檛 want it to appear that she was only on the team because she was my daughter.鈥�
The Lady Gators鈥� Kennedi Stockey had 17 kills, 10 service points and two aces.
鈥淭his might have been Kennedi蘑菇视频 best game,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淪he came to play. I asked her before the match if she was ready, and she said she was 鈥楤eyond ready.'鈥�
The Lady Mikes鈥� Taylor Christopher led the match in kills with 21, and added four blocks. Teammate Alie McGee had 36 assists and 14 service points.
Carmichaels鈥� Nicole Ludrosky added 12 kills and Abbey Fordyce had 19 digs. Beth Cree chipped in with 12 digs and Kendall Ellsworth had 14 service points.
Speeney, who was an assistant under Watkins at Geibel Catholic for six years and also played for him, was in her first year as head coach of the Lady Mikes, as her sister, Ashley Shoemaker, took a year off. Speeney was proud of what her team accomplished, but will miss her three seniors in Christopher, Fordyce and Katelyn Meadows.
鈥淚 would absolutely come back to Carmichaels next year if given the opportunity to coach with Ashley,鈥� Speeney said. 鈥淚 love volleyball and being a strong, role model for young girls. It was a tough decision to walk away from Geibel, but I live in Morgantown, and it was a much easier drive to Carmichaels.
鈥淚 am going to miss the seniors for everything they have done for the younger girls on the team. I also want to give credit to my sister and assistant coach Emma Lewis, who is in her third year here, for turning the program around and that is why we have had these great matches in front of great crowds.鈥�