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Bethel Park blocker named POTW

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Abby Neal of Bethel Park earned one of the the final Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association’s Player of the Week distinctions of the regular season. She shared the honor with Canon-McMillan’s Julia Murdy, Butler’s Ava Plunkard and Shaler’s Mackenzie Barr.

A senior middle blocker, Neal helped lead her team to the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs where the Lady Hawks dropped a 3-0 decision to top-ranked North Allegheny in a first-round match. The Tigers went on to battle No. 2 Pine-Richland for the WPIAL title on Nov. 5 at the UPMC Events Center on the Robert Morris University campus.

In Class 3A, South Fayette surprised the competition. Seeded 10th, the Lady Lions advanced to the championship match, also played on Nov. 5 at RMU, via a series of upsets.

SF toppled No. 7 Armstrong, 3-2, in the playoff opener then knocked off No. 2 Hampton, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.

On Nov. 1, the Lady Lions dispatched No. 3 Greater Latrobe, 3-1. The Wildcats were undefeated in 18 previous matches this season before falling to SF, which had earned a playoff berth after finishing in a three-way tie for second in Section 2 with Moon and Trinity.

The Lions opened semifinal action at Gateway High School by winning the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-22. The Wildcats rallied for 26-24 win in the third game before sealing the win with a 25-12 victory in the fourth set. In the final set, SF mounted a 19-5 advantage.

Freshman Juliette Leroux, senior Morgan Saulle, Livia Chambers and Sydney Westfall sparked the Lions in the opening set while senior Ava Leroux provided seven kills and two blocks to put distance between the Lions and Wildcats in the second set.

The Lady Lions were making only their second trip to a WPIAL volleyball final and first since 2007.

The PIAA state championships are set for Nov. 19 at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg.

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