Oct 26, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

McMURRAY – The old adage in sports is that it’s hard to be a team three times in one season.

Early on Saturday for Peters Township girls volleyball that looked like it might be the case against Canon-McMillan.

The Indians swept the Big Macs in the regular season, but already down one set, they stared at a 24-21 deficit in the second.

But they dug deep and rallied to win a 28-26 thriller.

It seemed to turn the tide as No. 2 Peters Township went on to win the third and fourth sets for a 3-1 victory over the 10th seeded Big Macs in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal match at AHN Arena.

“We definitely shifted the entire match by winning that second set,” Peters Township sophomore Maddie Carroll said. “It was really important for us, because as soon as we got that win we were able to push through the third and fourth sets.”

Peters Township advanced to play No. 6 North Catholic in the semifinals, 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mt. Lebanon.

The Indians, who split the Class 4A Section 1 title with Upper St. Clair, beat Canon-McMillan in the regular season, 3-1 on Sept. 11 and 3-2 on Oct. 7. Getting a third win was special for a young Indians team that features two sophomores, a junior and a freshman in its frontcourt rotation.

“It feels really good to beat a team like that, especially three times,” Peters Township sophomore Alex Knox said. “It’s a team we usually don’t beat, so to beat them three times in one season is really impressive. It shows how much we improved as a team.

Canon-McMillan (10-7) had set point on five occasions in the second set, but Peters Township (14-3) fought back each time.

The Big Macs led 24-21, but a kill by Maddie Carroll and a couple of hitting mistakes allowed the Indians to tie it at 24-24.

Canon-McMillan took the lead when Kaitlynn Wing won a battle at the net, but freshman Charlie Tookey answered with a kill for the Indians.

Journee Scott put a kill in down the line and again Canon-McMillan had set point, but a hitting error followed by a net violation put the Indians back in front.

The first time Peters Township had set point, Knox put down a kill and the Indians evened the match.

“We came in with great energy and were actually down in that second set and came back, but we just couldn’t finish it,” Canon-McMillan coach Sheila Mitchell said. “I don’t know if that was the deciding factor, but it did knock some wind out of our sails. We didn’t give up when we were down. We kept trying and that’s what I told the girls after. If we left everything out on the court, that’s all we can do.”

In the third set, Peters Township breezed to a 25-16 victory.

A kill by Carroll gave the Indians a 10-9 lead and they did not surrender it from there. They ended up scoring 15 of the next 26 points. Carroll finished off the set with a kill.

The Indians finished off the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth. Knox secured match point with a kill.

Peters Township led most of the first set, but a kill by Natalie Carr and a service ace from Aurora Shirdon gave Canon-McMillan its first led of the day at 20-19.

The Indians called time out, but the Big Macs continued their surge.

A hitting error and back-to-back kills by Carr increased the lead to 23-19 and Peters Township took its second time out.

A net violation ended Canon-McMillan’s run, but consecutive hitting errors by Peters Township gave the Big Macs a 25-20 win.

Carr, a Youngstown State recruit, played her final match for the Big Macs. She had over 1,000 kills in her career, including 23 in Saturday’s match.

“She’s been a leader on our team, so we’ll miss that,” an emotional Mitchell said. “I think she’s done a good job teaching the young girls what it takes. Going forward (Carr) set the tone and I think the younger girls are ready to try and fill her shoes.”