vikingssportsn Avonworth — Hopewell (3-5, 2-3) showed it could go toe-to-toe with Avonworth (6-3, 3-1) for long stretches Tuesday night, but the Antelopes took control in the second set and held off another Vikings push in the third to earn a 3-0 victory in the WPIAL Class 3, Section 2 matchup. The final scores were 25-23, 25-7 and 25-22.
Hopewell came out strong in the opening set, using aggressive serving and a balanced attack to build an early advantage. Hannah McDowell helped spark the Vikings from the service line, including an ace during a run that pushed Hopewell ahead 7-3. Marina Pinschotti followed with a well-placed free ball to the middle that found the floor and forced an Avonworth timeout at 8-3.
The Vikings continued to control the set as Cici Smetana created problems from the service line and Addison Blosnick powered a ball through the block. Avonworth began to work its way back, with Julia Cernick recording her 1,000 career kill during the comeback.
Hopewell answered with some of its best volleyball of the night. McDowell hammered an overpass, Tessa Burgess dropped an impressive free ball into open space from the back row, and Mikayla Kurta came up with a big block. A beautiful backset from Ayla Pisano set up McDowell for a kill before McDowell followed with a back-row attack that gave Hopewell a 19-14 advantage. But Avonworth chipped away at the five-point deficit and eventually tied the set at 19-19. From there, neither team could create separation until the Antelopes grabbed a 23-22 lead. Hopewell fought off one set point, but Avonworth finished the comeback with a block at the net for a 25- 23 win.
The momentum carried into the second set.
Avonworth jumped ahead early and began finding openings against the Hopewell defense. McDowell provided several bright spots with a block, a push shot through the block and a back- row kill off a Pisano set, while Pisano added a well-placed tip at the net. But the Antelopes attack proved difficult to slow, turning a 13-6 advantage into a commanding 25-7 victory. Hopewell responded in the third and looked much more like the team that had controlled much of the opening set.
Arianna Fischer delivered an early block, McDowell found the corner with a push shot, and Hopewell built a 6-4 lead that forced an Avonworth timeout. Kurta later delivered a big swing off a Pisano set and hammered an overpass as the Vikings stretched their advantage to 12-8.
Avonworth again battled back, tying the set at 14-14 before the teams’ traded points down the stretch. Fischer put away a middle set from Pisano, and after Avonworth took a 17-16 lead, Kurta immediately answered with a kill to even things again. The Antelopes finally created some breathing room at 19-17. Hopewell continued to battle, getting two more well-placed shots from McDowell and staying within striking distance late.
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Avonworth reached match point at 24-21, and while the Vikings fought off the first opportunity, the Antelopes closed out the set 25-22 to complete the sweep.
For Hopewell, there was plenty to build on despite the final score. The Vikings controlled much of the opening set and responded to a difficult second set by coming right back and putting themselves in position to win the third. Against a talented Avonworth team, Hopewell showed that when its passing is there and the offense is in rhythm, it can play with some of the better teams on its schedule. The challenge now is turning those strong stretches into complete sets and, ultimately, wins.
After a road heavy early season schedule, Hopewell starts a stretch with 4 of their next 6 at Hopewell on Thursday 9/24 for a section matchup vs Ellwood City.
Here is a play-by-play recap of the night:
Set #1
1-1 Hopewell on the board with a long serve
2-2 A nice pass from Ayla Pisano stops a hit
3-3 Hannah McDowell with a big swing through the block
5-3 McDowell on the serve, long return from Avonworth
7-3 McDowell with an ace
8-3 Marina Pinchotti with a free ball to the middle that finds the floor. Timeout Avonworth
10-5 Cici Smetana with a serve forcing an Avonworth error.
11-8 Addison Blosnick hits one through the block
11-10 Julia Cernich gets her 1,000th kill for Avonworth. Timeout Avonworth.
12-12 Avonworth with the point, but an awesome pass from Burgess
13-12 McDowell hammers an overpass
14-12 Burgess with an incredible free ball from the backline that finds the floor
15-12 Kurta with a big block
17-13 Pinchotti on the serve
18-14 Beautiful backset from Pisano to McDowell for the kill
19-14 McDowell with a backrow kill
19-18 Avonworth closing the gap
19-19 All tied up. Timeout Hopewell.
20-20 Serving errors by both teams out of the timeout
21-21 Back and forth late in Set 1
22-23 Avonworth grabs a late lead on the Hopewell error
22-24 Avonworth gets to Set point. Timeout Hopewell.
23-24 A long serve from Avonworth keeps Hopewell alive.
23-25 Avonworth grabs Set 1 on a block at the net.
Set #2
1-0 Hopewell in front early on a wide return.
1-3 Avonworth on early run
2-3 A long serve from Avonworth
3-6 McDowell with a nice block at the net for a point
5-9 McDowell with a nice push shot through the block
6-10 McDowell with a backrow kill off the Pisano set
6-13 Avonworth extending their lead. Timeout Hopewell.
7-14 Pisano with a nice tip play at the net for a point
7-17 Avonworth with some big swings at the net.
7-24 Hopewell backrow having a hard time controlling Avonworth offense.
7-25 Avonworth soundly wins Set #2. Hopewell will try to regain their Set #1 form in the 3rd.
Set #3
1-1 Hopewell on the board on the long serve from Avonworth
3-3 A nice read by Burgess on a wide serve
4-3 Fischer with a nice block at the net
5-4 Avonworth with a crazy free ball from the back row
6-4 McDowell with a nice push to the corner. Timeout Avonworth.
7-4 Avonworth with a long return
10-7 Kurta with a big swing off the Pisano set
11-7 Burgess on the serve and a good read on the long return
12-8 Kurta hammers the overpass
14-14 Avonworth ties it up in Set 3
16-15 Fischer with a great kill on the middle set from Pisano
16-17 Avonworth grabs the lead on a block
17-17 Kurta answers with a nice kill
17-19 Avonworth grabs a 2-point lead. Timeout Hopewell.
18-20 McDowell with a nice shot stay in it
18-21 Avonworth answers with a big swing
18-22 Timeout Hopewell
19-22 McDowell with another push shot to the middle for a point
21-23 A wide return from Avonworth
21-24 Avonworth gets to match point on a kill from Cernich
22-24 Hopewell staying alive
22-25 Avonworth wins Set #3 and the match.
