Tigers Lock Up Outright Section Title With Senior Night Sweep Over Raiders
The North Allegheny girls’ volleyball team secured an outright section championship on Tuesday night at UPMC Court with a 3-0 sweep of Seneca Valley. The Tigers prevailed on Senior Night by set scores of 28-26, 25-23 and 25-17. The contest was a battle of a pair of top-five ranked teams in the state according to the latest PVCA rankings.
North Allegheny’s 10 seniors were honored before the contest, including Avery Butcher, Ariana Schiller, Elysia Smith, Kyra Schmidt, Caileigh Duffy, Marin Dunaway, Rylee Gadomski, Julie Butler, and Jordan and Jamie Frisco. All 10 seniors would make their impact felt in the victory.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw 17 ties and 10 lead changes. Tightly contested throughout, neither team led by more than two points in game one and it appeared Seneca Valley, the fifth-ranked team in the state, might pull out a win and held a 24-23 lead. However, the third-ranked Tigers rallied for a 28-26 victory and were powered by the big swings of Jamie Frisco, who tallied seven of her game-high 14 kills in the opening stanza. Sparking the Tigers with her spirited play throughout the night, Jamie Frisco was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Match.
Dunaway peppered the Raiders with well-place swings early in the second set to help NA take a 9-4 lead. Seneca Valley bounced back by taking eight of the next nine points to garner a 12-10 lead. Thanks in part to three kills and a block from senior Katie Craig, the Raiders constructed a 22-18 advantage and again seemed poised to win the set. Once more, North Allegheny staged a thrilling comeback and went on a 6-0 run and seized seven of the final eight points to garner a 25-23 win. The serves of freshman Molly Robertson, including one ace, spearheaded the rally. Smith posted two critical kills during the late-game run and Jamie Frisco belted out three kills down the stretch.
In the third set, Seneca Valley led 6-5 before North Allegheny seized control with an 8-0 run that was keyed by Duffy’s serves. The senior defensive specialist totaled a team-best four aces, including three in the final set. Gadomski notched all four of her kills in game three and the Tigers came out on top, 25-17.
Along with Jamie Frisco’s big hitting night, Dunaway posted nine kills and Robertson followed with eight kills. Gadomski, Schiller and Schmidt each posted four kills. Junior Mackenzie Jones and Robertson distributed 23 and 22 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Butcher led with 11 digs and Duffy tallied 10 digs. Robertson and Jordan Frisco added nine digs apiece. Jones chipped in with eight digs.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 12-1 overall and 7-0 in Section 1-4A, while Seneca Valley slips to 11-3 overall and 5-3 in the section. The Tigers will visit Pine-Richland for the section finale on Thursday night ahead of the WPIAL playoffs next week.
Girls Volleyball Summary vs. Seneca Valley, 10-17-23
| GAME SUMMARY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | FINAL |
| Seneca Valley | 26 | 23 | 17 | 0 |
| North Allegheny | 28 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
