Lillian Otto FREEDOM– Hopewell traveled to Freedom on Thursday night for another section matchup, putting together another strong performance, rolling past Freedom in straight sets, 25-13, 25-6, 25-9.
After a bit of a slow start in Set 1, Hopewell got the offense going. With Bella Ceccarelli directing the attack with sharp setting and timely tips, Brianna Inderelst and Lahna Murray fueled the early charge. Hannah McDowell added power at the net, and Marina Pinchotti closed the set with a strong serving run to seal the 25-13 win.
Set 2 saw Hopewell take full control. Ceccarelli, Inderelst, and Ella Goodrum started the set with a nice defense to office transition. Addison Davis came up big defensively with several diving saves, and McDowell’s serving proved unstoppable, racking up multiple aces. A beautiful final sequence, Davis to Ayla Pisano to Addison Blosnick for the kill, capped a dominant 25-6 finish.
Hopewell kept the pressure on in Set 3. McDowell opened with more tough serves, and Ceccarelli and Inderelst continued to spread the attack. Sky Ross and Marina Pinchotti added key kills and aces down the stretch as the Vikings closed out the sweep 25-9.
It was a full-team effort, with strong passing, balanced offense, and confident serving leading the way as Hopewell continued its momentum in section play, moving their record to 13-1 (11-1 in Section 1).
Next week brings the final two matches of the regular season, Tuesday (10/14) at Aliquippa and Wednesday (10/15) at OLSH. The OLSH match, by all indications, will decide the Section 1 Championship.
Mark your calendars now — it’s one you won’t want to miss!
Here’s the set recap from Freedom:
Set 1:
1-2 Bella Ceccarelli with a nice tip for a point
3-3 Addison Davis with a nice pass up that Inderelst tips for a point
5-5 Lahna Murray hammers a kill off the Ceccarelli set
7-5 Inderelst with an ace
8-5 Ceccarelli with a great play at the net forcing an error
9-5 Inderelst with another ace, forcing a Freedom timeout
10-5 Hannah McDowell with a kill
11-6 Murray with another big swing for a kill
12-6 McDowell with a strong kill. Hopewell’s front court looks strong tonight.
15-6 Marina Pinchotti on a serving run, Ceccarelli with a nice block at the net
18-10 Davis with an excellent dive on defense to save a ball that ends in an error
20-11 Ceccarelli with an ace
21-11 Inderelst with a nice kill
24-11 Mikayla Kurta with a quick kill on an overpass
25-13 Freedom with a long serve to end set 1
Set 2:
1-0 Ceccarelli with a great behind the back tip to start set 2
2-1 Inderelst with a kill off the nice pass from Ella Goodrum and Ceccarelli set
4-1 Davis with 2 great serves, with Murray finishing a nice kill on the 2nd
5-2 Davis with another diving save, that Murray eventually finishes off on a kill
8-3 McDowell with a kill
11-5 Murray with a kill off a great pass from Inderelst
14-5 Murray with an ace
15-5 Kurta with a kill
17-5 McDowell with a powerful kill
20-6 McDowell with an ace
21-6 Kurta with a great kill to the back corner off a Ceccarelli set
22-6 McDowell with another ace
23-6 Addison Blosnick with a kill off the Ayla Pisano set
24-6 McDowell with an ace
25-6 A perfect play to finish set 2. A Davis pass to Pisano for a beautiful cross court kill from Blosnick
Set 3:
2-0 McDowell continues the strong serving. Murta finishes a nice set from Ceccarelli
3-0 McDowell with an ace
4-1 Inderelst with a kill of a pass from the rafters
6-1 Ceccarelli with back-to-back aces
7-2 Goodrum with a nice defensive play that Ceccarelli tips over forcing an error
8-5 Ceccarelli with a dump pass that catches Freedom off guard
10-5 McDowell with a kill after a good back and forth rally
11-5 Inderelst with back-to-back aces
14-6 Sky Ross with a kill off another back-and-forth rally
18-6 Inderelst with an ace on a serving run as Hopewell takes control
20-7 Marina Pinchotti with an ace
23-7 Pinchotti keeping the serves coming forcing Freedom errors
25-9 Hopewell finishes off the match on a great defensive return from Davis, Pinchotti & Cici Smetana.
Prior to the Varsity match, the Junior Varsity team continued their strong late season play, taking care of Freedom in straight sets, 25-10 & 25-22 to move their season record to 12-2.
Freedom pushed back early in the 2nd set, taking the lead early for a bit before Hopewell regained control and finished the match.
The JV team will be at South Fayette on Saturday for their final tournament of the season.
Here is a recap of the JV sets:
Set 1:
1-1 Hopewell on the board off a Freedom error
3-1 Lily Oldham with some good serves to grab an early lead
6-4 A good kill from Addison Blosnick off set from Sydney
8-4 Blosnick with back-to-back aces
14-5 Abby Babinsack on a great serving run for Hopewell
16-10 A block from Giselle Cain
18-10 Madeline Earley with a nice kill for a point
20-10 A nice defensive return from Hopewell
22-10 A few aces and a lot of very nice serves from Oldham to take full control of the set
24-10 Cici Smetana with back-to-back aces
25-10 Hopewell wins set 1
Set 2:
1-0 Lillian Otto with a kill to get Hopewell on the board
3-0 Teagen Murray with an ace
5-4 Freedom pushing back in Set 2, stopped by an error
6-7 A nice tip from Blosnick for a point
7-11 Freedom grabs a lead forcing a timeout
9-11 Blosnick with a sharp serve
11-12 Babinsack with an ace
12-12 Cain with a block to tie it up
14-12 Hopewell back in front
15-13 Otto with a kill
17-13 Cain slams an overpass for a kill
19-13 Cain with another kill
20-17 A good read by Otto on a long serve from Freedom
21-17 Smetana with an ace
22-17 Earley with a nice return forcing an error
24-21 Blosnick with a kill off a great rally between teams
25-22 Murray with a nice tip at the net for a kill to win the match
