Once again this week, the MSA Sports Network will recap the WPIAL boys and girls soccer postseason matches as well as WPIAL girls volleyball playoff matches that were broadcast that evening on the MSA Sports Network. We continue with reports from Semifinals action in boys soccer and Quarterfinals play in girls volleyball from Tuesday, November 3rd.

Thanks to Sam Hall, Lee Mohn, Don Vandergrift, Adam Hoerner, Jonathan Whaley and Greg Kuntz for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AAA QUARTERFINALS:

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 3 - Shaler Titans 1
The top-seed in AAA got everything they wanted from the 8 seed in girls volleyball playoff action at Mount Lebanon High School Tuesday night. Mount Lebanon was forced to play four games in one night for one of very few times on the year by a very game Shaler Titan club that just ran out of answers for the oh so powerful Blue Devils. Lebo wins it 25-13, 24-26, 25-20, 25-15 advancing to the semi-finals. Senior Olivio Grattan led the Blue Devils with 10 blocks and 16 kills on the night, most of which were set by senior Kate Begor who tallied six kills and six blocks of her own for Mount Lebanon. After Mount Lebanon had cruised to an easy game one win 25-13 the Titans appeared as if they were going to go easily falling behind late in the second game before rallying behind Sarah Roth’s service and strong net play from Alex Schmitt, Marie Tappe and Leah Stack as well as great back court play from Natalie Ranalla and Amanda McKenzie to take a dramatic 26-24 win in a game two that really got the south gym at Mount Lebanon rocking. The effort took a lot of energy out of the Titans and it seemed, afterword they just were unable to match the size and athleticism of the unbeaten Blue Devils. Mount Lebanon improves to 11-0 and moves into the semis, while the Titans fall to 10-3.

Seneca Valley Raiders 3 - Baldwin Highlanders 0
Seneca Valley moved on to the semifinals with a 3-0 victory over Baldwin. Scores were 25-14, 25-18, 25-19. Seneca Valley fell behind in all 3 games but about mid-point found there way in each game to then pull away. Coach Kelly Martini says they have done this all year so they are used to playing from behind. No one played better than sophomore Meghan Drambel for Seneca Valley. Coach Martini says she cannot remember a miss hit Tuesday from her. Seneca Valley will now move on and play arch-rival North Allegheny Thursday night in the WPIAL semifinals.

North Allegheny Tigers 3 - Latrobe Wildcats 0
The North Allegheny Lady Tigers defeated the Latrobe Wildcats, 3-0, in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class AAA tournament in a match at Plum High School on Tuesday night. In the first game, the teams battled on even terms with Latrobe taking a 13-12 lead midway through the contest on a kill by Katie Svetahor. After junior OH Kassie Freyermuth tied the game with a kill down the middle, NA built a 17-13 lead and did not trail again as the Tigers took a 25-19 decision. In game two, it was Latrobe with the early 5-2 lead behind the hitting of 6-2 senior MH Brittany Lhota. NA came back to tie the game at 12-12, but the Wildcats used strong hitting by junior RS Courtney Stynchula and Lhota to take a 19-18 lead.. The teams exchanged points down the stretch with Latrobe having two chances at game points at 24-23 and 25-24. A kill by NA junior MB Tori Pernell tied the game at 25-25 before a pair of Wildcat hitting errors gave the Tigers a 27-25 victory. In game three, NA took a quick 10-3 lead behind the hitting and serving of senior setter Logan Meinert. After a kill and block by Latrobe freshman MH April Krivoniak, NA senior OH Kaitlin Bradshaw answered with an ace and a kill to push the margin to 12-7. NA extended the lead to 20-11 before senior OH Kaley Burkardt led a Latrobe rally that cut the lead to 20-18. Down the stretch, kills by Freyermuth and Pernell gave NA the game and match point at 24-19. Bradshaw's kill sent the Tigers to the semifinals with a 25-19 victory in game three and a three games to none win in the match. Bradshaw led NA with nine kills and and ace while senior OH Leeanne Haus added 8 kills and Freyermuth six. Lhota led the Wildcats with 12 kills while Krivaniak recorded six. NA advanced to the semifinals on Thursday night where they will meet section rival Seneca Valley. NA and Seneca split the two section matches this year with each winning at home.

Pine-Richland Rams 3 - Upper St. Clair Panthers 2
Upper St. Clair (13-1) entered its quarterfinal match with Pine-Richland (11-3) undefeated, but the Panthers would not leave the Chartiers Valley gymnasium with the same status, as the Rams took them the distance and won 3-2. Game one saw the Rams jump out to an early lead, but the Panthers battled back with a big run of their own and kept control in a close 25-20 affair. Game two saw Pine-Richland hold onto a five-point edge most of the way and pull ahead late for a 25-16 decision. Game three opened with a fantastic sequence of serves from Upper St. Clair junior Rachel Jones which set up a six-point advantage her team would not squander, ending the game 25-15. Faced with elimination in game four, the Rams showed no signs of being intimidated, carrying a six-point lead of their own to a 25-19 final. Into game five we went, and Pine-Richland just had too much momentum, putting together some great serve sequences before sophomore Caitlyn Scioscia picked up one of her 11 kills, not to mention her eight digs, for the match point. Other notable performers for the victorious Rams included seniors Austen Ashworth (14 digs) and Maria Nicholas (15 assists, nine digs) along with junior Julia McCabe (16 kills) and sophomore Hanna Muzzonigro (12 assists). Awaiting Pine-Richland in the semifinals on Thursday night will be another undefeated team in Mount Lebanon.


WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AA QUARTERFINALS:

West Allegheny Indians 3 - Derry Trojans 0
The West Allegheny Indians used their superior size, depth and athleticism to eliminate the Derry Trojans in the girls AA volleyball playoffs at Mount Lebanon high school Tuesday night by a score of 3-0. The Indians won by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20 to advance to the semi-finals in AA. The front line combination of Korin Wengryn, Carissa Miara and senior Chelsea Katich proved at times to be overwhelming for the Trojans. Katich was very tough on the Trojans, making huge blocks, several kills and also doing damage from the back line with a powerful jump serve that produced many aces. Give a lot of credit to Brock Smith’s Derry Trojans who showed a lot of heart and fought every point, tooth and nail against the top seeded Indians. Senior Brittany Hauser and junior Kelley McBroom combined for 15 kills up front for the Trojans who also got a nice effort and 25 assists from junior Maria Slezak. The Trojans season ends at (7-4) while West Allegheny improves to (10-1) and moves on to the semi-finals.

Freeport Yellowjackets 3 - Hopewell Vikings 1
Freeport moved on to the Semifinals on Tuesday night night by defeating Hopewell 3-1. Scores were 20-25, 25-23, 25,15, 28,26. These two teams were very equal Tuesday, all except the 3rd game when Freeport pulled away. The first game was tied at 20 when Hopewell would finish the game by scoring the last 5 points. Vanessa Trombetta and Jamie Berkman were huge for Hopewell in the first game. The second game Hopewell lead 12-9 and that is when Freeport's coach Tom Phillips said his team woke up. Freeport scored the next 5 points to take a 14-12 lead then finally put it way. The 3rd game was tied at 12 then Freeport scored the next 13 out of 16 points. Game four was a classic. It looked like Hopewell would go on to game 5. Hopewell had game point at 24-23 when Shatori Kimbrough-Walker put the ball over the net for the apparent victory but it was ruled her hand was over the net so Freeport was able to get the point and eventually pull out the match. The star of the game for Freeport was Carlie Bieranowski. She had numerous kills and kept Freeport in it all night. Freeport will now take on Mars in the Semifinals Thursday night.

Mars Fighting Planets 3 - Indiana Little Indians 1
The number three seeded Indiana Little Indians played this quarterfinal match at Franklin Regional High School against the six seeded Mars Fighting Planets without two members of their starting lineup. Indians head coach Malinda Oesterling did not give a specific reason for their absence and it seems to have been for an off-the-court incident. They could have used them as the Planets eliminated the Indians from the Class AA playoffs with a 3 games to 1 victory. The scores were 25-23, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-18. Each and every set was a tightly contested battle and Indiana had their chances but primarily were undone by several critical service errors. Mars was able to hold them off in the latter stages of the three sets that the Planets won and have advanced to the semifinals on Thursday against the Freeport Yellowjackets who defeated the Hopewell Vikings tonight, 3-1. The Mars win was also very significant as it put the Planets into the PIAA playoffs for the first time in school history. The Planets feature a 6'0" dominating Middle Hitter, in Senior, Camblin Leonard, who had a terrific night with 16 kills, 2 blocks and 4 aces. The player who did a wonderful job in setting her up is Senior, Setter, Madie Hudac. The key moment in this match occurred in the second set. Mars had a 1 set to none advantage and the Indians were trailing 23-20 and had Haylie Fefolt behind the service line. With the score 23-21 Mars, Haylie spun off two consecutive aces to tie the match at 23 all. That is when Mars head coach Dan Mountain called a timeout to try to ice Fefolt. The strategy worked to perfection as Fefolt hit the following serve into the net for a service error, making the score, 24-23, Mars. The Planets won the game on the next point and with a comfortable 2 sets to zero lead they went on to close out the match in 4 sets.


WPIAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CLASS A QUARTERFINALS:

Jefferson-Morgan Rockets 3 - Frazier Commodores 1
Jefferson-Morgan (13-1) and Frazier (12-2) split their regular season series, with each team winning on its home court, which led in part to the Rockets and Commodores splitting the Section 5 title in 2009. That familiarity would breed an exciting playoff contest at Chartiers Valley High School, but victories in the first two sets for Jefferson-Morgan would be too much, and down went Frazier 3-2. Game one saw some fantastic serving out of Frazier senior Amber Baughman along with Jefferson-Morgan seniors Chelsey Byers and Marissa Cameron, and it was the Rockets getting the better of it in a 25-19 decision. Game two was back and forth early, but once the Rockets went up 13-12, they took control and won 25-22. The Commodores would not go quietly on this night, though, battling back in game three. It was another tight one, but they kept control in another 25-22 score. Game four featured a sequence of eight straight points on Cameron serves for Jefferson-Morgan en route to a 25-15 final. Cameron led the way with 42 digs while senior Morgan Olson picked up 35 assists for the Rockets. Senior Mabel Culp had 15 kills, and junior Paige Huber racked up 10 in the winning effort. Jefferson-Morgan will meet West Shamokin or North Catholic in the semifinals on Thursday.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 3 - Bentworth Bearcats 1
The number 2 seeded Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions just had too much power for the number 7 seeded Bentworth Bearcats at Franklin Regional High School this evening. The Centurions won in 4 sets by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 17-25 and 25-18 to advance to Thursday's Class A semifinals when they will face the winner of Tuesday's Beaver County Christian Eagles v. Bishop Canevin Crusaders quarterfinal at a site, time and location to be announced on Wednesday. Greensburg Central's 5'8" Senior, Outside Hitter, Samantha Chorney and 5'11" Freshmen, Outside Hitter, Shannon Hurley
put it down on too many spots on the hardcourt for the hustling defense of the Bearcats to deny them this victory. Bentworth did not go down without a fight but their inability to put up a consistent block did not allow them very many chances to ring up multiple point runs during the match. The good news for Bentworth head coach Greg Sprdik is that he loses only (2) seniors off of this year's team. Seven of the Bearcats top (9) players will don the black and gold in 2010. The Centurions have (5) seniors among their top (8) players and move forward with a chance to bring the first ever Class A girls volleyball title back to their school.


WPIAL BOYS SOCCER CLASS AA SEMIFINALS:

Mars Planets 3 - Chartiers Valley Colts 0
Tha Mars Planets dominated the Chartiers Valley Colts right from the outset with a 3-0 victory to earn a spot in the WPIAL Class AA Boys Soccer Finals. Just 48 seconds into the game, midfielder Chris Karns shot the ball past Char Valley keeper Ross Young to take the 1-0 lead, That is all that Mars would need, but they scored twice in the second half as in the 46th minute of play, junior forward Yulian Lutsiv scored past freshman reserve keeper Alex Malone, who took over after Young was injured in the first half and did not return. The final insurance goal came during the 60th minute as senior midfielder Mike Page kicked one past Malone for the 3-0 win.


WPIAL BOYS SOCCER CLASS A SEMIFINALS:

Springdale Dynamos 2 - Freedom Bulldogs 1
Mike Funyak scored from a Bursic corner kick to lift the Springdale Dynamos to a 2-1 win over the Freedom Bulldogs in the Semifinals Tuesday night to advance to the 2009 WPIAL Class A Boys Soccer Finals. There was no scoring in the first half despite both teams having their share of scoring chances. The Dynamos cracked the scoreboard 19 seconds in to the second half when striker Ryan Francis took a give-and-go pass from forward Bryan Weimerskirch and drove a shot past Freedom keeper Anthony Kosis for the 1-0 lead. Springdale struck again in the 64th minute as junior forward Mike Funyak scored from a Francis corner kick to make the score 2-0. Freedom was able to get on the board in the 72nd minute as Brad Prinkey was able to beat Springdale keeper Cody Perrett on a header into the net to cut the Springdale lead in half, but that goal was not enough as the Dynamos punch their ticket to Elizabeth Forward and the WPIAL Class A Boys Soccer Finals.