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Volleyball future bright for Bishop Canevin girls

By Eleanor Bailey sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 2 min read
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Bishop Canevin’s abrupt end in the PIAA volleyball tournament did not mean the Lady Crusaders fell short of their goals for the 2017 campaign.

With only one senior on the squad, Tamara Blue from South Fayette, the Lady Crusaders achieved their expectations. They captured a section crown, winning all 14 of their matches. They also had a great district playoff run, capping the post-season with a third WPIAL championship in five years.

“We had a very successful season,” admitted head coach Kevin Walters. “We did accomplish two of our major goals.”

A state banner, however, will have to wait until next year because Clarion booted the Crusaders from the PIAA tournament, 3-2. The teams traded wins in the first four games, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, before Clarion took the match with a 15-6 victory in the fifth set.

Maddie Maziarz, also from South Fayette, led the team with 35 assists. She added 11 digs and four aces. Blue provided five kills and four blocks.

Alexa Malloy racked up a team-high 16 kills while Kylie Airesman followed with seven. Airesman also provided three aces and 26 digs.

Other leaders included: Ally Correa (4 kills, 2 blocks), Lexi Hall (6 kills, 2 blocks), Hanna DeLisio (30 digs) and Gabby Matakovich (15 digs, 4 aces).

With 14 players returning, including nine of whom earned all-section acclaim, the future is bright for the Lady Crusaders. Airesman, Malloy and Maziarz earned first-team All-WPIAL acclaim while Blue and DeLisio were second team selections.

Additionally, Malloy, who is a sophomore, set the school record with 314 kills this season. Plus, Canevin placed at least one player among the Top 50 Pennsylvania leaders in each of the five major state categories.

“We’ll have a strong core coming back with talent and experience,” Walters said. “We like to go into each season able to make winning our section and getting to the WPIAL finals as two realistic goals. With this group of girls, we feel like we should be able to compete at that level for the next couple of seasons.”

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