Lillian Otto PETERS TOWNSHIP- Hopewell took on OLSH in the semifinals Tuesday night at Peters Township High School, playing for the third time this season. From the start, it was clear that Hopewell came to play. The student section was loud, and the Vikings played like they were not going to be denied a ticket to the championship match.
Learning from their previous thrilling 5-set match vs OLSH where they fell behind early, Hopewell started off hot in Set #1. Bella Ceccarelli’s serve caused chaos for OLSH, and Lahna Murray followed with an ace to quickly make it 4–1. Hannah McDowell stuffed an overpass right back at them, and Addison Davis kept things rolling with a great mix of rocket and float serves to keep OLSH guessing and burning timeouts. The Vikings just kept piling it on though, with Murray and Ceccarelli teaming up for a combo block. McDowell and Avery Boyd added some nice kills, and Bree Inderelst crushed one from the back row. Hopewell took the first set 25–15 after another long OLSH serve ended it.
In Set 2, OLSH tried to bounce back early, but Hopewell’s defense was locked in. Ceccarelli, Pinchotti, Goodrum and Inderelst made some great passes & saves to keep plays alive, and soon the Vikings were back in front. Mikayla Kurta came up big at the net with a monster block, and McDowell followed with a huge ace. Murray and Boyd then both added kills off perfect sets from Ceccarelli. OLSH made a little run late, but Hopewell called timeout, regrouped, and Boyd came out of it with a clutch down ball. Inderelst and McDowell finished strong, and Hopewell took Set 2, 25–22.
The third set was a battle early, with both teams trading points. Ceccarelli fired off an ace, Murray hammered a kill at the net, and Inderelst hit one down the line for an excellent kill. McDowell kept OLSH guessing with tough serves, and Boyd had an insane left-handed dive that led to a point. Kurta, Boyd and Murray came up huge at the net, continuing to get hands on every OLSH hit to hold their offense at bay.
OLSH tried to fight back late behind some strong serves, closing the gap all the way to 23–21, but Ceccarelli stepped up with a great block to get Hopewell to match point. A few plays later, the Vikings closed it out 25–23 and punched their return ticket to the WPIAL 2A Championship Match on Saturday 11/2 vs Avonworth.
The match start time has yet to be determined, but it will again be played at Peters Township High School. Stay tuned to Vikings Sports Now over the next few days, where we’ll update the starting time as soon as it is known. Let’s pack the gym on Saturday, to support these girls in what will likely be an extremely competitive championship match.
On an exciting side note, the win Tuesday night does guarantee a berth in the PIAA Class 2A State Playoffs, which are scheduled to start early next week! More info to come on that after Saturday.
Here is a set recap from tonight’s semifinal match:
Set 1-
1-0 Hopewell on the board first on a long return from OLSH
3-1 Bella Ceccarelli with a serve causing an OLSH error
4-1 Lahna Murray with an ace
5-2 OLSH with another long return
6-2 Hannah McDowell stuff an overpass
9-4 Addison with a good read on a long serve
11-4 Murray & Ceccarelli with a combo block
12-4 Davis with a rocket serve causing an error
13-4 Davis floats a serve now causing another error
14-5 McDowell with the kill off a great pass from Davis and set from Ceccarelli
15-7 Ceccarelli with a beautiful tip that catches the line
16-7 Avery Boyd with a great tip shot
18-9 Ella Goodrum with a great read on a long serve
21-10 Bree Inderelst with a great back row kill
22-12 Pinchotti with a great pass
23-12 Davis with an ace
24-12 Murray hammers an overpass for a point
25-15 OLSH with a long serve to end Set #1
Set 2-
1-2 Hopewell stops an OLSH start with a great defensive set from Ceccarelli, Pinchotti and Inderelst
4-3 Hopewell back in front
5-4 Davis with another good read on a long serve
6-4 Mikayla Kurta with a huge block
8-6 McDowell with a hard cross court kill
9-7 Pinchotti with a great read on a serve to the side
10-8 Inderelst with a great play on a one-handed return leading to a point
11-8 McDowell with an ace
13-8 Murray with the kill off a Ceccarelli set
15-10 Goodrum reads another long hit well, point to Hopewell
16-10 Kurta buries another block for a point
17-10 Ceccarelli with a gorgeous back set to Boyd for a kill
18-13 Kurta with a nice defensive play at the net
19-17 OLSH pushing back here, timeout Hopewell
20-17 Boyd with a nice down ball out of the timeout
21-18 Kurta tips one over to the middle
22-20 McDowell with a big kill to keep the lead
23-20 Inderelst with a kill
23-22 OLSH fighting back
24-22 Hopewell gets to set point
25-22 Hopewell wins Set #2
Set #3-
1-1 Hopewell on the board on an OLSH error
2-1 Ceccarelli with an ace
3-1 Murray with a kill at the net
4-2 Goodrum with a great pass that gets flipped over leading to an error
5-3 Inderelst with a kill
6-6 Kurta with a block at the net
7-7 McDowell with a kill in a back-and-forth stretch
9-9 Back and forth again
10-9 McDowell with an ace
11-9 OLSH with an error
12-10 Inderelst hammers a kill down the line
13-10 Boyd times up a swing on high pass perfectly
15-10 Hopewell extending their lead on Ceccarelli’s serves and great defense behind them.
16-11 Boyd with an incredible left-handed dive leading to a long return from OLSH
17-12 Boyd with a great block
18-12 Boyd with another kill
20-12 Kurta smashes another overpass
22-12 Hopewell stretching it out late in the 3rd
22-19 OLSH with a run here on strong serves from #14
23-19 McDowell sneaks a kill over
23-21 OLSH continuing to hang around
24-22 Ceccarelli with a block getting Hopewell to Match point.
25-23 Hopewell closes out the match, winning Set #3, 25-23.
