Lillian Otto PETERS TOWNSHIP- The Hopewell Vikings took on the Avonworth Antelopes in the WPIAL 2A Championship Game on Saturday. The familiar section foes battled hard, in an intense four-set match. Both teams, student sections and fans showed tons of energy and fight, but ultimately Avonworth came out on top 3–1, winning their first WPIAL Volleyball Championship in school history. Here’s how the match played out.
Set 1: Hopewell came out fired up in the opening set. Lahna Murray got them on the board with a big kill, and the teams traded points early. Hannah McDowell and Avery Boyd teamed up for some great blocks, keeping the Vikings even at 7–7, 8-8 & 9-9.
McDowell then delivered an ace that barely made it over the net, giving Hopewell a small edge. The Vikings’ front line kept pressure on Avonworth, with strong plays from Murray, Boyd, and Mikayla Kurta. Late in the set, Murray’s serve caused an error, and Brianna Inderelst added a clutch tip shot to get Hopewell to set point.
Hopewell finished strong, with Bella Ceccarelli making an awesome play at the net to seal the 25–20 Set 1 win.
Set 2: Avonworth bounced back fast in the second set. Despite early kills from Murray, Inderelst, and Kurta, Avonworth built a solid lead through an aggressive offensive attack that is difficult to slow down. Hopewell called a timeout down 4–8 but struggled to stop the momentum.
Addison Davis gave the Vikings a spark with an ace, and Murray added another big swing, but Avonworth kept rolling. Hopewell couldn’t recover and dropped the set 12–25, tying the match 1–1.
Set 3: The third set started tight, with Murray hammering a kill to give Hopewell the early lead. Avonworth responded though with a few strong attacks to go up 6–2. The Vikings kept fighting though, with Boyd, Inderelst, and McDowell each having big plays to keep the team in it.
Hopewell showed great defense, especially from Davis, Ceccarelli and Marina Pinchotti, who helped turn several rallies into points. Down 14–19, the Vikings went on a run with kills from Murray and Kurta plus an ace from Davis and another kill from Murray to pull within one, 21–22.
Hopewell nearly completed the comeback, but Avonworth managed to close it out 25–21 to take a 2–1 match lead.
Set 4: Building of that late momentum in Set 3, Avonworth came out red hot in the fourth set, jumping ahead 8–0 before Hopewell could get on the board. Inderelst finally broke the run with a strong kill, and the Vikings tried to climb back in.
Boyd and Kurta teamed up for a big block, and McDowell delivered an ace to bring some life back into the team. Ceccarelli and Davis made several great defensive plays, but Avonworth just kept answering with strong offense that put Hopewell’s back row constantly under siege.
Hopewell made a late push with Murray tipping to the middle and Ceccarelli scoring on a serve, but Avonworth held on to win 25–16 and claim the WPIAL Championship.
Even though it’s difficult in this moment and they came up short of their ultimate goal, the Hopewell ladies should be extremely proud of their accomplishments this season and hold their heads high. Getting to the WPIAL Championship game 2 years in a row is a significant achievement and shows that the Hopewell Volleyball program is one of sustained success across several years of students.
The Vikings’ amazing season isn’t over yet! By finishing as WPIAL runner-up, Hopewell has officially qualified for the PIAA 2A State Playoffs. They’ll represent District 7 as they begin their state tournament run next week against the winner from District 6.
Best of luck to the team as they continue their incredible journey, the entire Hopewell community is behind you! Let’s Go Vikings!
Here is a set recap of the WPIAL Championship Match:
Set #1-
1-2 Hopewell on the board off a kill from Lahna Murray
2-2 Hopewell ties it up on an Avonworth error
4-5 Avery Boyd and Mikayla Kurta with a great block
5-5 Hannah McDowell with another block
7-7 Back and forth we go
8-8 Avonworth with an error
9-9 Murray with a tip shot into the middle
10-9 McDowell with an ace that just cries over the net
11-9 McDowell with another strong serve
11-11 Tied back up
12-11 Brianna Inderelst with a nice touch shot for a kill
14-12 Kurta stuffs an overpass
15-13 Boyd hammers a cross-court kill
16-16 Tied up again
18-16 McDowell mixing it up with back-to-back touch shots for kills
19-17 McDowell with another big swing
20-17 Avonworth error for a point
23-19 Murray with a great serve causing an error
24-19 Inderelst with a tip shot
25-20 Ceccarelli with an awesome play at the net on a tip shot to seal Set #1
Set #2-
1-1 Hopewell on the board on a long return from Avonworth
2-3 Murray with a sneaky turnaround dump shot
3-4 Inderelst with a great shot down the line
4-5 Kurta with a hammer shot for a kill
4-8 Avonworth on an early run, timeout Hopewell
5-11 Hopewell grabs a point to stop the run
7-11 Davis with an ace
8-12 Murray with a big swing for a point
8-15 Avonworth on another run, timeout Hopewell
9-15 Inderelst with a rocket shot for a kill
9-18 Avonworth with an ace
10-19 Avonworth with a long return
12-23 Hopewell in trouble in Set #2
12-25 Avonworth wins Set #2
Set #3–
1-1 Hopewell on the board off a long serve from Avonworth
2-1 Murray with a big swing for a kill
2-6 Avonworth with some strong offense to start
5-7 Boyd with great kill for a point
6-9 Hopewell trying to find a way to defensive setup to stop #10
6-11 Timeout Hopewell
7-11 Avonworth returns one wide
8-11 McDowell and Murray team up for a great block
9-13 Hopewell with a good read on a long serve
10-14 Inderelst with a great shot down the line
11-15 Hopewell trying to grind back
12-19 Davis with a great dig that gets over causing an error
13-19 Inderelst with an ace
14-19 Ceccarelli with an incredible pass that Hopewell converts
16-20 Hopewell clawing back
17-21 Kurta with a big kill
18-21 Davis with an ace, timeout Avonworth
19-22 Murray hammers a kill
20-22 McDowell with an ace
21-22 Murray hammers an overkill
21-24 Avonworth gets to Set point
21-25 Avonworth wins Set #3
Set #4-
0-4 Avonworth in front early forcing an early timeout
0-8 Every bounce going Avonworth’s way early
1-8 Inderelst gets Hopewell on the board with a kill
3-10 Hopewell trying to climb back
3-14 Avonworth extending the lead, timeout Hopewell
4-14 Boyd and Kurta team up for a great block on 10
5-15 Ceccarelli dumps a pass to the middle
6-16 Hopewell with a great defensive set. Davis with a great dig
7-15 Hopewell climbing back in it
7-19 Avonworth responding with a run
9-19 Hopewell stops a small run
10-21 Avonworth with a wide return
11-21 A good defensive set from Hopewell leads to an error
12-21 Murray tips one to the middle
14-21 McDowell with an ace
14-23 Avonworth responds again
16-23 Ceccarelli serves for 2 straight points
16-24 Avonworth with a huge block to reach match point
16-25 Avonworth wins the match.
Here are the girls receiving their medals and the runner-up trophy.
(By Mike Vukovcan)-
Despite being very emotional and falling short of their ultimate goal, two seniors Bella Ceccarelli and Brianna Inderelst were willing to talk to Vikings Sports Now’s Mike Vukovcan after the match. Doing something like shows true character and it’s what leaders do.
It’s easy to do an interview after you win, but it shows heart and guts to do so right after a moment like this. Things in life aren’t always going to go your way and you’re going to fall short; champions/winners understand that, hurt for a bit but ultimately move on and get better.
Impressive stuff Bri and Bella, that’s the stuff of champions, thanks ladies.
