Tigers Top Tornado For Section Win, 3-1
The North Allegheny girls’ volleyball team hosted the Butler Golden Tornado on Wednesday night at UPMC Court and earned a 3-1 victory in Section 1-4A action. The Tigers won by set scores of 25-14, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-16.
Tied 4-4 in the opening set, the Tigers gained control thanks in large part to flummox the Tornado with their serves. Senior Caileigh Duffy’s serves helped NA put together a 4-0 run for an 8-4 lead, and senior libero Avery Butcher tallied four of her team-high five aces in the set to open up a 20-8 advantage later in the set. With the addition of four kills by senior Marin Dunaway, the Tigers cruised to a 25-14 win in set one.
The second set was a much different story. The Golden Tornado jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the early going and held a 20-15 advantage late. The Tigers rallied with a 5-0 run to tie the score and were deadlocked 23-23 with a chance to steal away the set. However, junior Audrey Lehman powered the Tornado down the stretch for a 25-23 win. Lehman tallied five kills in set two for Butler.
North Allegheny returned to form in set three with a 25-15 victory, including four kills from senior Kyra Schmidt. The IUP commit totaled a team-best 11 kills on the night and added three aces.
The fourth set belonged to the Tigers as well, 25-16, thanks in large part to middle hitter Bridgit Murphy, who posted a career-high eight kills. Adding two blocks, Murphy was tabbed the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
Senior Jamie Frisco peppered the Butler defense with 10 kills and added two blocks. Freshman setter Molly Robertson and junior setter Mackenzie Jones totaled 20 and 19 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Butcher posted a team-best 13 digs, followed by Jones with 10 digs and junior Macey Casten with eight digs. Duffy notched seven digs and three aces. Robertson and senior Ariana Schiller added two blocks each.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Section 1-4A. Butler slips to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the section. The Tigers will visit Seneca Valley on Tuesday in a battle of unbeaten teams.
Girls Volleyball Summary vs. Butler, 9-20-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY SETS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Butler | 14 | 25 | 15 | 16 | 1 |
| North Allegheny | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
