Upper St. Clair sweeps Norwin
Kindler Norman leaps up for the kill during Upper St. Clair’s sweep of Norwin, 3-0, in the first round of the WPIAL girls’ volleyball playoffs. The Panthers beat the Knights, 25-17, 25-13 and 25-12,and advanced to face Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals.
Isabelle Walsh had 17 kills during Upper St. Clair's 3-0 victory against Norwin in the first round of the WPIAL volleyball playoffs
Alex Hinsey views Upper St. Clair’s seed in the WPIAL Quad-A girls’ volleyball playoffs as realistic considering the season his Panthers have had but absurd when their talent is pondered. The Panthers are the No. 7 seed and they easily handled Norwin, 3-0, in their opening match. The Panthers played No. 2 seed Seneca Valley in last night’s (Nov. 1) quarterfinals.
Despite an injury-riddled regular season, USC captured the Section 2 championship. Without key players in the line-up, however, the Panthers lost several non-league matches and did not fare as well in tournaments.
“So they look at all of the results,” said the USC skipper of the WPIAL steering committee that formulates the playoff brackets. “We are a lower seed than what we would have liked. We talked about in our eyes we are not the seventh best team but we will play whoever is lined up across the net from us and do the best we can.
USC’s best was pretty impressive against the Knight, which have a storied history with a run of 10 district and multiple state titles. The Panthers swept Norwin, 25-17, 25-12 and 25-13. The Knights were the No. 10 seed and posted a 7-3 record in section action.
“They were a good team and they played really well, I thought,” Hinsey said, “but this was the first time all season that we had every option available to us in a match and we put it out there on the court. For the first time, everybody stepped up and played the best game they could play.”
Isabelle Walsh played exceptionally well. The junior hitter racked up 17 kills.
“Isabelle really stepped up,” Hinsey said. “We talked about everybody kind of doing their job. Isabelle’s job was to go out there and get some big kills for us.”
Hinsey noted that other players “stepped up” too. For example, Lilly Drucis excelled on defense. Alex Amos shone.
“Lilly did a great job defensively. That’s a stat that doesn’t go in the books,” Hinsey said. “Alex was our best service receiver passer. So everybody knows their role on the team and goes out there and executes and puts us in a good position to succeed.”
Because the Panthers are healthy, with Erin O’Malley, Maryn Foster and Alexa Segura in the starting lineup, they are on the rise. Not only did Walsh and Amos see limited practice and playing time during the regular season due to injuries, Kindler Norman struggled with setbacks, too. The squad’s setter, Norman, like Walsh and Amos, is a first-team all-section performer.
Despite those challenges, Hinsey, noted the Panthers succeeded in the section, winning the league, which also featured Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon, two teams that have also advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Hinsey also added, USC set itself up to do more and “absolutely” the Panthers are peaking.
“We knew coming into playoffs that we had everything available,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who is set up across the net. As long as we play our volleyball on our side of the net, we can beat anybody.”
Notes: In other first-round playoff action, Mt. Lebanon blanked Oakland Catholic, 3-0, and Bethel Park edged Pine-Richland, 3-2. The two teams played each other last night (Nov. 1) in the quarterfinals.
Bishop Canevin began its defense of its district and state titles by edging Jefferson-Morgan, 3-2, in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.