SF girls help Bishop Canevin dominate WPIAL volleyball competition
Eleanor Bailey
Eleanor Bailey
Alexis Zarnick, Tamara Blue of South Fayette, Kylie Airesman and Maddie Maziarz of South Fayette celebrate after helping Bishop Canevin capture the WPIAL Class A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 win against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
The “No Pain, No Gain” adage has not gone out of fashion as far as Tamara Blue is concerned. See, the South Fayette resident continues to play volleyball on achy legs.
Despite having undergone multiple surgeries since 2013 to repair tendon damage on her foot, all the suffering paid off for Blue on Nov. 4 when Bishop Canevin captured the WPIAL title with a victory, 3-0, against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the girls’ Class A championship match played at Baldwin.
“It is amazing,” said Blue about going out her senior year as a champion after last year the Crusaders finished as district runners-up. “For all I’ve gone through though this makes it 10 times better. This means so much more.”
After spraining the growth plate on her foot on an uneven parallel bars routine in gymnastics at age 5, Blue has lived with tendon issues that required months of rehabilitation after each of three surgeries. She played in every match her junior year when the Crusaders finished runner-up to Greensburg Central Catholic. This fall, she helped the Crusaders capture their third WPIAL title since 2013 as well as claim a section banner.
There is lingering pain, however.
Eleanor Bailey
Eleanor Bailey
Tamara Blue of South Fayette spikes the ball past Maddie Hoff during the WPIAL Class A girls’ volleyball championships. Blue is a senior middle hitter for Bishop Canevin, which won the match in three games, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22.
“Not as much as there has been in previous matches,” she admitted, “but there is still a little bit of pain.”
Grit drives Blue.
“I’ve never given up on anything,” she said. “I go out there and don’t think about the pain. If things get tough, I need to take it easier but I wasn’t taking it easy,” she added of the championship match. “I knew I needed to go out there and prove that you can be somewhat injured and still do what you love.”
Blue loved the fact that her Crusaders came back, too. After opening the match with a 25-19 victory in the first set, Canevin fell behind, 19-10. Behind Blue’s serving, the Crusaders rallied to win, 25-22. They won the third game, 25-22, as well.
Of the second game, Blue said that she knew if Canevin played its game, the Crusaders could at least get the score close. She was uncertain, however, they could bring it totally back.
“I just got back there to the service line and served it until I got it tied up and then we got our focus back and we were able to finish the game,” she said. “I definitely did think we lost focus and winning that game did bring back the focus. If we can come back from nine points down, then we definitely could take this.”
According to head coach Kevin Walters, the second-game combat, indeed, was pivotal in sealing the championship. “It was big because OLSH is a good team and has a good program but we didn’t want to let them get into it and go into four games. We needed to shut them down and take care of business.”
While Blue took care of business on the service line, Alexa Malloy and Kylie Airesman dominated the front line, leading the Crusaders in kills with 17 and 12 respectively. Airesman also led in digs with 24.
“Kylie did a good job,” Walters said. “She’s a captain and one of our team’s big leaders. She plays well and brings a lot of momentum to the team.”
Addie Maziarz is also a team captain and the South Fayette resident led the team with 40 assists.
Hanna DeLisio contributed 21 digs. She also served up four aces. Ally Correa and Malloy blocked five and three shots respectively.
For Blue and the Crusaders, the WPIAL is not the end. They begin their quest for a state title when the PIAA tournament commences this week (Nov. 7). The finals are set for Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. at Richland High School in Johnstown.
“If we play our game, then we are definitely going to make it to the finals,” Blue said.
Blue can play volleyball in college if she chooses. She has been talking to Allegheny, Roanoke and Chatham colleges. She hopes to major in mathematics and get into either education or actuary science.
“I’d definitely like to play if I get an offer but with my ankles, if I don’t play, it won’t bother me.”
All that matters to Blue right now is finishing on top as she did when the Crusaders claimed the WPIAL title this past weekend.
“There’s no better way to end it, especially with all my best friends out on the court there with me,” she concluded.