Hopewell Junior High Girls Volleyball

Hopewell Township- After losing two matches in a row against Montour and Quaker Valley, both the Hopewell 7th and 8th Grade Volleyball teams bounced back this afternoon with impressive performances against Eden Christian Academy.

The day started with the 7th grade team winning in two sets, 25-19 and 25-20.

Brooke Otto turned in one of the best performances by a Hopewell player all season as she served 10 aces in 18 attempts.

”I feel like our team played great today, communicating well on both offense and defense,” said Otto.  “My serves were on point from the very start and I got more and more confident throughout the match as we had success”

Hopewell’s Brooke Otto

Afton Budris recorded 2 aces, while Sam Holsinger, Alyssa Phillips, Arionna Shell each served one apiece.

Moving to the 8th grade match, Coach Borkovic’s squad also won but it took 3 sets, 25-21, 9-25 and 15-8 in the 3rd and deciding set.

Liliana Katcher paced the way with 7 aces in 14 service attempts. Nice job Liliana!

Gianna Rossi was also strong with 4 aces in just 9 attempts, while Abby Babinsack collected two aces.

After having 3 matches in 3 consecutive days, the Lady Vikings have a day off before returning to action at home on Friday against Avonworth.

It’s been a busy week for the Hopewell Girls Junior High Volleyball team.

After matches earlier this week against both Avonworth and South Fayette, the Lady Vikings closed up their week of competition by taking on Montour.

Regardless of the wins and losses, these girls are getting the opportunity and game experience of taking on traditionally strong volleyball programs.

That was the case again on Friday and the good news is that the 7th grade team earned their first win of the season, after coming close in previous matches.

The match went 3 sets with Hopewell coming out on top. Montour won the opening set 25-17 but Hopewell won the next two, 25-11 and 15-8.  Congrats ladies!

Wanted to mention the bigtime performance by Sam Holsinger as she was on fire with her serve! Sam served 24 times, recording 12 aces and errors.

No doubt, that had to catch the eye of Hopewell varsity head coach Terry Borkovic, who is also head coach of the 8th grade team.

Other aces for Hopewell were recorded by Brooke Otto (1), Afton Budris (1), Alyssa Phillips (1) and Amiyah Shell (2).

The 8th grade team went into their match without one of their top performers, Abby Babinsack and they certainly ended up missing her as they lost in straight sets, 12-25 and 10-25.

Hopewell served 5 aces, 3 by Bella Cippolla, 1 by Lillian Otto and 1 by Ava Ray.

Here are some pictures of the Hopewell players from yesterday’s match.

Last week, Vikings Sports Now’s Lillian Otto gave you a preview of the 2025 Hopewell Girls Junior High Volleyball team.

For the 7th grade team, it’s been their first opportunity to compete in junior high volleyball, while the 8th graders are in their second season and are preparing to join Coach Borkovic and the Hopewell High School program.

This past week, the Lady Vikings have competed in two matches against two quality programs and fared well.

HOPEWELL VS. AVONWORTH:

On Monday, Hopewell took on Avonworth and here are some details from that match.

7th Grade Team– Avonworth won the match, 2 sets to one. Avonworth won the first set, 25-9. However, the Vikings bounced back to win set No. 2 by the score of 25-15. But in the 3rd and deciding set, Avonworth defeated Hopewell, 15-3.

In that match, Brook Otto led Hopewell with 5 aces, followed by Afton Budris with 2 aces, Alyssa Phillips with 1, Amiyah Shell with 1 and Sam Holsinger 1 ace.

8th Grade Team– Congrats to the 8th grade squad as they defeated Avonworth, 2 sets to none. Both sets were intense and well played with Hopewell coming out on top, 25-23 and then 27-25. Great job ladies!

In that match, Gianna Rossi finished with 4 aces, Abby Babinsack with 3 aces, Bella Cipolla had 2 aces, while Lillian Otto and Liliana Katcher each served one ace.

HOPEWELL VS. SOUTH FAYETTE:

Yesterday afternoon, the girls junior high program hosted South Fayette, and this was a tightly contested match.

7th Grade Team– The Lady Vikings battled a talented South Fayette program to 3 sets but came up short, 2 sets to 1. South Fayette won the first set, 25-16, with Hopewell rebounding in the second set, 25-20. In the 3rd set, South Fayette came out ahead, 15-11.

Sam Holsinger led the way with 4 aces, followed by Leah Buettner with 3, Amiyah Shell, Arionna Shell, Alyssa Phillips and Brooke Otto each had 2 aces, with Lily Cain recording one.

8th Grade Team– As was the case with the 7th grade contest, this one also went 3 sets with South Fayette coming out ahead 2-1. South Fayette won the opening set, 25-16, with Hopewell responding in set two, 25-22. But in set three, South Fayette was the better team, 15-9.

Lillian Otto was outstanding, leading the way with 5 aces, followed by Bella Cipolla with 3, Abby Baninsack with 2 and Liliana Katcher and Gianna Rossi, each served one.

Despite losing this match, this team made huge year to year growth as South Fayette soundly defeated this same team one year ago.

Next up for the Girls JH Volleyball team is a match on Monday against Quaker Valley.