New Castle- Hopewell (3-1, 1-0) opening section play in impressive fashion Tuesday night, going on the road and earning a straight-set victory over Mohawk (25-18, 25-21, 25-13).
The Vikings set the tone early behind a balanced attack and strong serving. In the opening set, Marina Pinchotti delivered 3 aces, while Hopewell received kills from Avery Boyd, Arianna Fischer, Mikayla Kurta and Hannah McDowell. Teagan Murray helped direct the offense and teamed with Kurta for a key block as the Vikings pulled away for a 25-18 win in the opening set.
Hopewell carried that momentum into the second set, racing out to a 10-1 advantage. Murray fueled the early surge from the service line with back-to-back aces, while Fischer hammered home a kill following a strong pass from Tessa Burgess.
Mohawk refused to go quietly, however, cutting Hopewell’s leads to 21-18 and forcing a timeout.
The Vikings responded when they needed to. Boyd put down a hit off an Ayla Pisano pass and Pinchotti set, McDowell delivered a pair of late kills, including a huge back-row attack, and Addison Blosnick finished the set with a strong swing for the 25-21 victory.
With the opportunity to close out the match, Hopewell never let Mohawk gain much momentum in the third.
Kurta opened the attack with a pair of early kills, while Boyd and Fischer combined for a block as Hopewell began to take control. McDowell continued to find success from all over the court, Murry mixed in several well-timed dumps with her setting, and Boyd helped break the set open from the service line.
Leading 14-16 at the Mohawk timeout, the Vikings never looked back. McDowell continued to hammer away with kills to the back corner and cross court, Kurta added another finish off a Murray set, and Murray then delivered an ace to push Hopewell within two points of the match.
Boyd’s kill brought the Vikings to match point before Madeline Early put an exclamation point on the night with a block at the net, finishing the third set, 25-13, and completing the sweep.
It was a strong all-around performance to begin section play, with Hopewell getting contributions throughout its lineup. The Vikings combined aggressive serving with a diverse attack, strong net play and steady setting from Murray to keep Mohawk’s defense under pressure throughout the night.
Hopewell’s next match will be another Section 2 matchup at Quaker Valley on Thursday. JV starts at 6 PM followed by Varsity.
Here’s the Play-by-Play log from each set:
1ST SET (MOHAWK VS. HOPEWELL)
1-0 Hopewell on the board first off the Tessa Burgess serve
2-3 McDowell tips one over the blockers for a point
3-5 McDowell hammers the slide set from Teagan Murray
5-5 Marina Pinchotti with an ace
6-5 Avery Boyd places a hit right on the back line for a kill
7-5 Arianna Fischer hammers an over pass for a kill
8-5 McDowell with a big kill forcing a Mohawk timeout
9-5 Pinchotti with another ace
11-9 Mohawk with a net error stopping a run
12-9 McDowell with an ace
14-10 Addison Blosnick with a bit hit that flips over the net forcing an error
15-12 Fischer tips over the Murray set for a point
17-14 Mikayla Kurta with the kill
19-14 Murray and Kurta team up for the block. Timeout Mohawk.
20-14 McDowell skies for a beautiful kill
21-16 Kurta with a kill off the Murray set
22-17 Boyd with a bit hit that gets tipped and out by Mohawk
23-17 Pinchotti with an ace
24-18 Fischer with a big kill
25-18 Hopewell wins Set #1
2ND SETÂ
1-0 Kurta tips it over with her left hand into the middle
2-0 Kurta with another kill, catching the backline
5-0 Hopewell off to a strong start in Set 2
7-0 Murray with an ace to keep her serving run going. Timeout Mohawk.
8-0 Murray with another ace
10-1 Pinchotti serve causing a Mohawk error.
11-1 Fischer hammers a kill. Beautiful pass from Burgess to the Murray set.
12-5 Mohawk with a wide shot stopping a 4-point run.
14-6 A nice read by McDowell on a long shot.
15-7 Murray dumps one to the middle for a point.
18-8 McDowell with a sharp cross court kill fooling the defense.
21-14 Hopewell with a point after a Mohawk run
21-18 Mohawk continuing to push back forcing a Hopewell timeout.
22-18 Boyd with the hit off the Ayla Pisano pass and Pinchotti set
23-20 McDowell with a kill
24-21 McDowell with a huge back row hit
25-21 Blosnick with a nice hit to finish off Set #2
3RD SET
1-1 Kurta with a sharp hit for the kill
2-1 Murray with an ace
3-1 Kurta smashes a Murray set through the Mohawk block for a point.
5-3 Boyd and Fischer team up for a great block
7-5 McDowell with another big cross court shot that gets tipped out for a kill
8-5 McDowell with an ace
11-6 Fischer hammers the overpass for a point
12-6 Boyd with a deep serve causing the Mohawk error.
14-6 Hopewell on a run forcing a Mohawk timeout.
15-6 Boyd with an ace
16-9 Murray with another dump to the middle
18-10 McDowell with a great kill to the back corner.
20-10 McDowell with another kill off the cross court set from Murray.
21-12 Murray with another slight of hand dump for a point
22-12 Kurta stuff the Murray set for a kill
23-12 Murray with an ace
24-12 Boyd with a great kill to get to match point
25-13 Madeline Early with the block at the net to win Set 3 and the Match,