Lillian Otto Hopewell came out on top Tuesday night in a much-anticipated WPIAL 2A Section match, defeating Avonworth 3-1 in front of a lively home crowd to move their record to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in the section.
The first set was a rollercoaster. Avonworth jumped out to an early lead and looked dominant at the net, but Hopewell clawed their way back multiple times, tying the score at 11-11, 19-19, and even holding a 24-21 lead. Avonworth, however, rallied with four straight points to earn a set point and eventually took the set 27-25.
The Vikings quickly regrouped. In the second set, Hannah McDowell stepped up with a big serving run, including three aces that helped Hopewell pull ahead 16-12. With smart offensive and strong defense, including another key block from McDowell, Hopewell took the set and tied the match at 1-1.
The third set continued the back-and-forth theme. Avonworth kept it close, but once again McDowell’s serving gave Hopewell the edge. The front row trio of McDowell, Kurta, and Murray delivered late, electrifying the crowd and student section with clutch blocks and kills off great sets from Ceccarelli. Hopewell won the set and took a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, both teams traded leads again until Hopewell’s total team effort pushed them ahead. The back row defense, led by Davis, Goodrum, Pinchotti, and Inderelst was extremely solid, defending a very aggressive offensive attack from Avonworth all night.
Kurta, Boyd, Murray, and McDowell continued to lead the way up front at the net, while Ceccarelli covered the court setting up hitters. Hopewell built a 24-18 lead, and although Avonworth made one last push to close the gap to 24-21, a final kill from Murray sealed the important win.
Hopewell travels to New Brighton on Thursday night for another road section game.
Here’s the recap of each set:
Set 1:
1-1 Hopewell on the board with a kill from Bree Inderelst
2-4 Inderelst with another kill
3-7 Hopewell with a good read on a long serve
5-11 A great rally ends with a long shot by Avonworth
6-11 Bella Ceccarelli with a nice flip that catches the line
7-11 Marina Pinchotti with an ace
9-11 Pinchotti with another great serve
11-11 Mikayla Kurta hammers a block to tie it up
12-15 Kurta with a kill
13-17 Tessa Burgess with a nice read on a long serve
14-17 Hannah McDowell with an ace
15-18 Lahna Murray with a kill
18-19 Avery Boyd with a kill
19-19 Boyd with an excellent block
20-20 Inderelst with a kill off a beautiful back row set
22-20 McDowell places a kill perfectly in the left corner
23-20 Inderelst with a serve causing an Avonworth error
24-21 Kurta with a kill off a perfect Ceccarelli set
25-25 Kurta slams a kill to stop an Avonworth Set point
25-27 Avonworth pulls out a late victory in Set 1
Set 2:
1-0 Inderelst with a kill to get Hopewell on the board
3-1 Murray with the kill off a Ceccarelli set
4-1 Kurta sends a block to the floor
5-5 Kurta with a kill to stop an Avonworth run
8-5 Inderelst gets on a run to put Hopewell back in front
9-8 Sky Ross with a kill
11-9 Addison Davis with an ace
12-12 The match continues to go back and forth as Hopewell ties it up
16-12 McDowell with 3 straight aces
17-13 Murray flips it over to a perfect spot for a kill
18-14 Boyd with a kill to an open spot
19-14 Kurta hammers a Ceccarelli set to the back row
21-15 Inderelst with 2 straight serves to extend the lead
22-18 McDowell with a block to stop a 3-point Avonworth run
24-19 Davis with an ace
25-21 Hopewell with pulls out the victory in Set 2
Set 3:
1-0 Hopewell on the board with an early Avonworth error
2-1 Ceccarelli with a great block
3-1 Inderelst with a kill
4-2 Boyd with a great block
5-5 A long serve ends an early Avonworth run
7-8 McDowell with a kill off a Ceccarelli set
8-9 McDowell with another strong kill
9-9 Murray neatly places a kill off another Ceccarelli set
13-10 McDowell with 3 straight aces
16-12 Murray with a great kill to the back left corner
19-18 Boyd with a great kill to keep Hopewell in front
20-18 Kurta hammers a block
21-19 Ceccarelli with a great kill
23-20 McDowell with back to back strong kills off Ceccarelli sets
24-22 Murray with a strong kill
25-23 Murray with an awesome block to close out set 3
Set 4:
1-0 Hopewell on the board with an Avonworth serve error
2-0 Ceccarelli with an ace
2-4 Avonworth with 4 straight points
4-5 Ceccarelli with a great return that just touches the back line
5-5 Kurta hammers a kill
7-5 Boyd with a kill
8-6 Inderelst with a back row kill
9-7 Kurta drops another hammer off a Inderelst pass to Ceccarelli set
10-7 Davis with an ace
13-10 Good read from Ella Goodrum on a long serve
14-13 Inderelst with a nice tip to stop an Avonworth run
15-13 Murray with an ace
16-13 Kurta stuffs an Avonworth return
17-13 Boyd with a great block
19-14 Hopewell with a great defensive set forcing an error
22-17 McDowell hammers a kill off a Ceccarelli set
23-17 McDowell with an ace
24-18 Hopewell gets to match point on Avonworth error
24-21 Avonworth will not go away, reeling off 3 straight points to force a timeout.
25-21 Murray slams home a kill, off a Ceccarelli pass from Davis to win the match
Earlier this evening, the Hopewell JV Team continued their strong start to the season with a 2-0 victory, improving their overall record to 4-1.
It’s great to see the JV team performing so well early on. Their success is a strong sign of the talent and potential coming up through the volleyball program, which bodes well for Hopewell’s recent success to continue into the future.
Here’s a recap of how the JV Sets played out:
JV Game:
Set 1:
1-0 Hopewell on the board early of a Teigen Murray serve
5-2 Lily Oldham with back-to-back aces
6-2 Addison Blosnick hammers a kill
10-2 Oldham continues a string of solid serves with great defense behind her.
12-3 Abby Babinsack with a great block
16-3 Cici Smetana on the serving run now
17-7 Blosnick with a kill to stop an Avonworth run
21-15 Murray with a good serve that is returned long
23-15 Jiselle Cain with a nice kill off a Sidney Malackanich set.
24-18 Lillian Otto with a kill
25-19 Tessa Burgess with a great read on a long serve to end set 1
Set 2:
1-4 Hopewell on the board off an Avonworth error.
4-4 Hopewell ties it up with their own 4-0 run off Murray’s serve
6-10 Cain with a kill to keep things within reach
8-11 Blosnick hammers another kill off a nice Murray set
10-11 Bella Cipolla with a good serve forcing an error
12-11 Hopewell grabs the lead
14-13 Ava Ray with a great serve forcing an error
15-15 Murray with a great kill. Pass from Smetana & set by Cipolla
17-15 Babinsack with back-to-back aces
20-16 Murray with a deep serve causing an error
21-17 Madeline Earley with a kill right into the middle
22-18 Blosnick blocks a return straight into the floor
25-24 Avonworth serves long after putting together a furious comeback
26-24 Ava Ray with a great serve causing an Avonworth error, sealing the match.
