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Rockets shoot past Frazier into semis
Headlee is the second-year head coach of Waynesburg University's up-and-coming wrestling program that has designs on cracking the Top 25 in NCAA Division III. The Yellow Jackets' season begins Saturday in a tournament at Messiah College, Headlee's alma mater.
Headlee also is the head girls volleyball coach at Jefferson-Morgan. The Rockets' success this season has Headlee juggling his wrestling practice schedule around J-M's matches and practices.
And if Jefferson-Morgan can win one more match, Headlee might have to change his weekend travel schedule.
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The Rockets (17-1), who advanced to the semifinals for the second time in the program's history, are the No. 4 seed. They play top-seeded West Shamokin Thursday. West Shamokin defeated North Catholic Tuesday, 3-2. The WPIAL finals will be played Saturday.
"It's been hectic, but I have a good assistant (wrestling) coach in John Yates to take care of things," Headlee said.
The Rockets, meanwhile, took care of Frazier for the second time this season. The teams split a pair of regular-season matches and were co-champions of Section 5. Jefferson-Morgan swept the Commodores in the most-recent meeting and continued its momentum by winning the first two games in the quarterfinals, though they didn't go according to the Rockets' plan. Jefferson-Morgan fell behind at the start in each of the first three games, including deficits of 7-1 and 11-5 in the opening game.
The Rockets, however, are an experienced group that doesn't panic. They have nine seniors on the roster and nearly all played key roles against Frazier.
"The kids stayed focused," Headlee said. "Even in that first game, after we fell behind, you could see the look in their eyes. They still believed in themselves. We've talked to the girls about that. We have nine seniors and some of them play (Junior Olympics). This is why they do those things."
Jefferson-Morgan charged back in the first game and took a 14-12 lead on an ace by Chelsey Byers. Another ace, this one by Marissa Cameron, pushed the J-M lead to 18-13 and the Rockets, behind the heady play of setter Morgan Olson, finished off the win in the pivotal opening game.
"We had to win that first game," said J-M senior outside hitter Kaylie Becker. "That got the momentum going. Frazier seems to feed off our energy. When we're down, they seem to play better."
The Rockets controlled much of the play at the net in the second game with Mabel Culp and Shelby Yourchik in the middle, and outside hitters Becker and junior Paige Huber, who play taller than their height suggests.
Frazier, which was bolstered by having Megan Manak back in the lineup after missing several matches, did a better job of blocking the middle in winning the third game.
"We had to win the first game," Headlee said. "They had the big middle-hitter returning. When you have someone who is in her first game back, sometimes it takes time to get into a rhythm."
The Commodores relied on kills by Gena Keebler and Caitlin Fidel to finish strong in the third game after J-M trimmed a 16-8 deficit to 17-15. But whatever momentum Frazier gained was quickly lost in the fourth game. Jefferson-Morgan forged a quick 8-0 lead, getting kills by Byers, Huber and Culp, an ace by Cameron and some steady back line defense.
"You're not going to win when you spot the opponent eight points to start a game, especially against Jefferson-Morgan, which is so consistent," Frazier coach Mandy Hartman said. "We made too many mistakes, too many balls hit out of bounds."
Fittingly, the Rockets ended the match with a kill by Culp, who had a team-high 15. Huber had 10 kills. Cameron played a magnificent game with 42 digs and 21 service points, including three aces. Olson had 35 set assists and kept Frazier guessing with some well-timed and well-placed dinks.
"There's not one aspect that really excel in," Becker said. "We're just solid in every aspect. We have to rely on everyone."
Greensburg C.C. 3, Bentworth 1
Kaitlyn Dorazio had 10 kills and 17 digs, but Bentworth dropped a WPIAL playoff match to Greensburg Central Cathlolic, 25-17, 20-25, 25-17 and 25-18.
Rachel Spridik added 26 assists, while Dilyan Stephenson had 18 digs for Bentworth, which finishes its season at 13-3.
