4 hours Ago
It was a win-and-you’re-in scenario for the Mohawk High volleyball team on Thursday. It was a tall task considering the Lady Warriors had to take on Neshannock, the outright WPIAL Section 4-2A champions. The Lady Lancers bested host Mohawk in four games, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, in the section matchup.
“We knew coming in that it meant something for (Mohawk),” Neshannock coach Jenny Bolinger said. “It was their senior night; they’re playing for a playoff spot. We knew coming into this that we were going to be in a hostile environment.
We told our girls that. We tried to take the pressure off of them by saying we’re in playoffs. This game doesn’t have implications for us but we want you to go out strong in the first set and show who you are and that you are the section champs.
“I give a lot of credit to Mohawk because they did not want to give up. They were all over the floor. I did not see them get in their heads, they fought back and they really wanted it.
I give Mohawk a lot of credit for giving us a game.” After the match, Mohawk’s team huddled around a monitor connected to the scorer’s table to watch the Shenango-Ellwood City Lincoln contest with hopes of reaching the postseason hanging in the balance. Ellwood City won the contest much to the delight of the Lady Warriors.
“Go Ellwood,” Mohawk coach Anna Fadden said with a laugh. “We had to wait and see what happened between Shenango and Ellwood. With Ellwood winning, that puts Shenango and us both in (the playoffs).
” In the first game, Neshannock’s Ainsley Allison helped create a 5-1 lead for her team. “When she’s hot, she’s hot and you can’t stop her,” Bolinger said of Allison. “For her to come out big with a block and those kills really set the tone for that first set.
It was great.” After a back-and-forth first game, Neshannock’s Payton Newman served the next four points to win. Newman had 10 kills in the game.
“Payton had five aces. Payton does not like to go back to the serving line,” Bolinger said. “We keep telling her ‘You have an amazing serve.
’ For her to have five aces, that is great for Payton.” Neshannock’s Rian Owens came alive in the second set and helped create a four-point lead before Mohawk was forced to call a timeout. Owens had 12 kills.
“Yesterday, we had a pretty rough practice. It was a really rough start. We always have rough starts if you watch our games,” Owens said.
“It’s very slow but we start to get into it. It’s like, alright, we want to put on a show the last three sets and make it seem like we’re going to lose. This was a tough game actually because once Mohawk gets energy, they’re going up.
” Story continues below video Neshannock kept the momentum going to take the second game. Mohawk’s Malayna McBride kept her team alive in the third game to win it and trail by 2-1. McBride had four kills and seven blocks.
“Malayna, her middle, she did great,” Fadden said. “She had some great hits for us and great blocks. She came in clutch on some serves too and she had some passes.
She’s usually not a back-row player. But, when she’s serving, she plays back row and she had some nice passes in the back row and some nice saves for us.” In the fourth game, a series of serves by Mohawk’s Riley Shaffer frustrated the Lady Lancers.
Shaffer supplied seven assists. “I’m really proud of her,” Fadden said of Shaffer. “She was in her head a little bit.
She was able to get some serves in and had some nice sets. She got some carries tonight. She kind of gets in her head a little bit but she was able to battle through it and make some plays for us.
” Neshannock responded in the fourth game and Owens served the next four points to pull away with the victory. “It’s scary. I’ll go back there and I’m taking five deep breaths and just breathing heavy,” Owens said on the final series of serves.
“I’m like ‘All right, just get this in. It doesn’t matter where it’s at. Get it in and play defense.
’ That’s all I was thinking, protect; serve.” The WPIAL will announce playoff pairings on Friday afternoon. Playoff matches are set to start as soon as Monday.
“This is our first time since the 2015 season,” Fadden said on reaching the playoffs. “My assistant coach, Erin Giancola, she was actually on that team. She actually made the winning block that put Mohawk into the playoffs.
I told her I was going to give her a shoutout if I talked to anybody.” Bolinger said she thinks her team is going to be a three seed heading into playoffs. In the junior varsity match, Neshannock won in three games, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13.
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