Sep 9, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg senior Ani Cree can hurt opposing teams with her ability to rise and swing with her right arm to bring thunderous kills and she showed that Tuesday night against Chartiers-Houston.

She also showed she can pull off a magic trick if she needs to do so for a kill.

Facing away from the net and falling down, Cree somehow got her arm on a ball that made it over the net and onto an unoccupied spot on the floor.

“I had just served, so I wasn’t really paying attention, but thankfully I saw the tip come down and kind of threw myself there and it worked,” Cree said.

It was one of six kills in the second set which helped the Raiders score a 3-0 sweep against the Bucs. They won 25-12, 25-11, 26-24.

Cree finished with a team-best 13 kills.

Waynesburg, the defending Class 2A Section 3 champion, improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in section play.

Chartiers-Houston had a strong 4-0 start to the season but has dropped matches on consecutive nights after losing a nonsection match, 3-0, to Bishop Canevin on Monday.

Waynesburg cruised in the first set and gained control in the second, but the Bucs used a 3-0 run to draw to within 8-6, but after an extended volley for the next point a hitting error gave the point to the Raiders.

Then Cree took over.

She scored a block on the next point and proceeded to have a half dozen kills the rest of the set to help the Raiders secure a 25-11 win.

“Cree sets a really good tone for the rest of the team,” Waynesburg coach Dan Higinbotham said. “She’s a great leader and good captain. She’s a very positive influence for the entire team and we’re happy to have her.”

Facing a 2-0 deficit, Chartiers-Houston didn’t go quietly into the night. The Bucs jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the third set. They did not have a lead at all in the first two sets.

The Bucs led 21-19, but back-to-back kills by Harper Grimes tied the score.

Emily Rafferty had a kill from the back row and gave Waynesburg a 22-21 lead. Grimes added another kill, which forced a Chartiers-Houston time out. Waynesburg had match point at 24-22, but the Bucs battled back to tie it 24-24. A service error and a Grimes kill finished off a 26-24 win.

“At the end of that last game when it was super hectic, our girls have a good tendency to stay calm and just play volleyball,” Higinbotham said. “We made a couple changes that worked out in our favor.

“We switched up Harper and put her on the outside to get her some more opportunities and it worked. She’s been coming on really strong lately.”

The Raiders got out to a 10-4 lead in the first set, which forced a Chartiers-Houston timeout. Rafferty had two kills in the first 10 points, Railey Bochna had one and Cree and Leila McCollum added a service ace each.

The Raiders continued to build their lead after the timeout. Bochna had three kills and an ace in the set. Cree finished with two kills, a cross-court spike that gave the Raiders a 16-6 lead and the final kill to finish off the set. She also had one block. Gina Tedrow added two kills and an ace. The Raiders had four aces in the set.

Seven of Chartiers-Houston’s points in the first set came on service errors by Waynesburg. Mackenzie Shumar had two kills, Ava Kolovich had one and Kylee Bandini combined with Brooke Popeck on a successful block.