Lillian Otto HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP- Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) traveled to Hopewell on Tuesday night for a much-anticipated matchup between two undefeated teams in WPIAL 2A Section 1. Both squads entered the night with perfect 6-0 records in section play, setting the stage for an important matchup.
The first set was a tightly contested battle, with momentum swinging back and forth throughout. OLSH jumped out to an early lead, but Hopewell quickly responded, tying the set at 8-8 before pulling ahead 11-8. The teams continued to trade points until a late serving run by Addison Davis gave Hopewell the edge 19-15. Strong offensive plays by Hannah McDowell and Brianna Inderelst closed out the set for the Vikings 25-18.
In the second set, Hopewell came out strong, racing to a 7-1 lead behind the serving of Bella Ceccarelli and key blocks from Lahna Murray and Avery Boyd. OLSH, a very disciplined and resilient team, clawed back multiple times, cutting the lead to one at 10-9 and again at 18-17. However, Mikayla Kurta and Ceccarelli caught fire late, executing several great set-and-kill connections to keep OLSH off balance. McDowell sealed the set with a powerful kill, with a final score of 25-18.
OLSH responded in the third set with poise. Hopewell never managed to take the lead, despite multiple attempts to close the gap. Each time the Vikings threatened, OLSH answered. After Hopewell cut the score to 21-22, OLSH closed out the set by taking the final four points, forcing a fourth set 25-21.
In the fourth set, Hopewell once again jumped out early, building an 8-2 lead thanks to a tough Murray serve that OLSH sent into the rafters. Still though, OLSH wouldn’t go quietly, climbing back to tie the set at 15-15 and even taking a brief lead at 17-19. But the Vikings dug deep, rallying behind key defensive blocks from Kurta and Ceccarelli, along with clutch serving from Davis to regain control at 24-21. OLSH made one final push, winning two straight points to cut it to 24-23, but Hopewell sealed the match with a textbook return, a perfect pass from Marina Pinchotti, an accurate set from Ceccarelli, and a powerful kill by Murray to the right side.
With the win, Hopewell improves to 7-0 in the section and 9-0 overall, now sitting alone atop WPIAL 2A Section 1. The mid-season grind continues though, as Hopewell faces two key matchups next, hosting #4 Quaker Valley on Thursday (9/25), followed by a road test against #3 Avonworth on Monday (9/29).
Here is a recap of each set:
Set 1
1-0 Hopewell on the board first off an OLSH error
2-4 Sky Ross with a strong kill to stop an early OLSH run
3-5 A great defensive dig by Ella Goodrum results in a Hopewell point
6-7 Mikalya Kurta with a kill
8-8 Lahna Murray with a block
9-8 Bella Ceccarelli with a beautiful tip that catches the line
11-8 Inderelst with 2 straight kills of Ceccarelli sets
13-11 Inderlest with another kill
15-13 Kurta with a kill off a Ceccarelli set
17-15 Addison Davis with an ace
19-15 Davis continuing strong serves forces a long return from OLSH
20-17 Hannah McDowell with a kill of a nice pass from Pinchotti
22-17 McDowell with an ace
23-18 Inderelst with a kill off a great pass from Goodrum and a Ceccarelli set
25-18 Hopewell with a block to finish off set 1
Set 2
1-1 Back-to-back serving errors by both teams to strangely start set 2
2-1 Murray with a block
4-1 Ceccarelli on a serving run forcing a wide return
7-1 Avery Boyd with a block and then a kill on the next point
8-4 Murray with an awesome block to stop a run
9-7 Kurta with a strong hit that comes back across that she promptly blocks
10-9 McDowell with a kill
12-10 McDowell with a great reaction on a ball into the net
14-11 Pinchotti with a good read on a long return from OLSH
18-13 Murray hammers a kill
18-17 OLSH fights back forcing Hopewell to quickly regroup
19-17 Kurta hammers a kill off a Ceccarelli set to stop the run
21-17 Kurta with a quick left-handed return that finds the floor
22-18 Kurta with another kill off an Avery Boyd pass to a Ceccarelli set
24-18 Pinchotti with back-to-back serves finished off by a Kurta block to get to Set point
25-18 McDowell finishes off set 2 with a kill
Set 3
1-1 Inderelst with a kill to get Hopewell on the board
2-3 Ross with a nice hit forcing an OLSH error
3-5 Kurta comes up for a block causing an error from OLSH out of fear
5-6 Kurta with kill off a Ceccarelli set
7-10 Pinchotti with a good read on a long serve.
7-12 OLSH with some finesse plays to widen their lead. Borkovic burns a timeout.
8-13 Murray with a finesse play of her own on a tip play
9-14 Murray with another tip
10-14 Ross with a kill to the back row. Setup by Ceccarelli off a Goodrum pass.
13-18 McDowell with a thunderous kill to keep Hopewell within reach
14-18 Murray with the finesse game tonight wins another point
15-19 Inderelst with a nice read on a long return
17-19 McDowell with back-to-back aces
19-21 OLSH with a long return
20-21 Ceccarelli serves for a point
21-22 Inderelst with a strong hit that OLSH returns wide
21-24 OLSH forces set point
21-25 OLSH wins set 3
Set 4
1-0 Hopewell on the board first off an OLSH error
3-1 Inderelst with a kill off a Goodrum pass to Ceccarelli
5-1 Boyd with a great block after some great defensives plays from Davis and Ceccarelli
6-1 Inderelst sends a return to the floor
8-2 Murray with a serve that OLSH returns to the rafters
9-3 Boyd with a hit forcing an error
10-6 McDowell with a kill that catches the backline stopping an OLSH run
11-8 A good rally ends with an OLSH error
12-10 OLSH sends a serve long keeping Hopewell in front
14-13 The set continues to go back and forth
15-13 Inderelst hammers a kill
15-16 OLSH won’t go away with 3 straight points to grab the lead
16-16 Kurta answers with a kill
17-19 OLSH sends a return long after a 3-point run
18-19 Kurta with a block
19-19 Pinchotti with an ace
20-21 Ceccarelli with a block
21-21 Hopewell ties it back up
23-21 Davis serves for 3 straight points
24-21 McDowell with a kill to get Hopewell to match point.
24-23 OLSH pushes back with 2 straight points
25-23 Pinchotti with a great pass to Ceccarelli who sets up Murray for the match point kill.
Earlier in the Junior Varsity match, Hopewell was also victorious, winning 2-0 to improve their record to 8-1 on the season. It’s extremely exciting to watch the Junior Varsity program having so much success as they continue to grow and develop as a team. The future certainly looks bright with this talented group of Sophomore & Freshman girls.
Here’s a recap of the JV sets:
Set 1
1-2 Hopewell on the board after a great defensive play by Teagan Murray and then a Lily Oldham kill.
4-2 Oldham with back-to-back aces.
6-5 Jiselle Cain with 2 blocks on that rally, the 2nd one for a point.
9-6 Sydney Malackanich with an ace
10-10 An OLSH error at the net stops a run
12-11 Abigail Babinsack with an ace
14-13 Cain with a kill off a nice set from Madeline Earley
15-13 Addison Blosnick with a big swing for a kill
18-15 Some great defensive plays from Tessa Burgess and Murray force an OLSH error
19-16 Babinsack with a nice kill to the back corner
21-20 Oldham with an important kill
22-20 Murray with an ace
24-22 Hopewell gets to set point on an OLSH error
25-22 Blosnick with a great kill off a Murray set that just catches the back line to win set 1.
Set 2
1-1 Hopewell on the board with a long return by OLSH
3-1 Cain with another block
4-3 Cain with another kill off a great set from Murray
5-3 Blosnick with a strong kill off a beautiful cross court set from Murray
8-7 Murray with a kill off a Sydney set
9-8 Burgess with a great desperation play from the back forcing an error
11-9 A great back and forth rally ends with a Kane kill
14-10 Hopewell with a nice tip at the net for a point
16-11 Cain with a one-handed flip over the net that fooled the entire gym
17-14 Babinsack with a kill
19-15 Oldham with a set to the middle forcing a net fault by OLSH
21-19 Cain hammers another kill
22-19 Lillian Otto with a kill to the back row
23-19 Cain with another great kill off a Murray set
24-19 Hopewell gets to match point on a long return
25-19 Hopewell wins the match on an OLSH error
