B-C volleyball avenges playoff loss in win over Cal
COAL CENTER – A year ago the Beth-Center girls volleyball team saw its best season in eight years end with a loss in straight sets to California in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs’ first chance to exact revenge against their neighboring rivals was at California’s home gym on Tuesday night and they took full advantage.
Beth-Center shrugged off a tough first set and won the next three to defeat California, 3-1, in a battle for second place in Class 2A Section 4.
“It was a lot … I mean a lot,” Beth-Center’s Kendall Welsh said about the motivation of last year’s playoff loss. “I think having their crowd here tonight and watching us beat them made it even more special.”
After losing the first set, 25-15, the Bulldogs won the next three 25-22, 25-20 and 25-19 in a loud gymnasium that had vocal supporters from both sides.
“It was definitely competitive and loud,” Beth-Center middle hitter Abby Novotney said. “It’s hard not to get nervous, but I think we had it under control. We’re definitely happy whenever people come out to support us. We have way more energy if there’s more people in the gym.”
The two teams were in different sections last year, but met in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. California swept the match, 3-0, winning by set scores of 25-17, 25-22, 25-17.
Beth-Center (5-1, 7-1) clinched match point when Maddison Chisler’s spike at the net went careening off California’s block attempt and out of bounds. Beth-Center took the lead in the fourth on a block by Novotney at 10-9 and never looked back.
Jenna Pohill and Olivia McNett had crucial kills when California made a run late.
The Trojans had tied the set at 19-19 before the Bulldogs finished on a 6-1 run.
California (4-2, 5-4) led 9-7 in the third set, but Novotney took over.
The Bulldogs’ 6-foot senior middle hitter had three consecutive blocks. After the third one, she put her palms in the air and shrugged her shoulders before getting hugs from her teammates.
A kill by Novotney and an ace by Sims put the Bulldogs in front, 15-11 forcing the first time out of the night by California.
Following the timeout California took seven of the next eight points to edge back in front, 18-16.
Beth-Center got consecutive aces from Welsh to take the lead at 19-18 and never trailed in the set again.
A kill followed by a fist pump from McNett got the Bulldogs to set point.
California called timeout, but Pohill had an ace on the next serve to give the Bulldogs the win and a 2-1 lead.
“We have a really good group coming back and we’re just solid on serving,” Beth-Center coach Stephen Beyer said. “The game was won on serve-receive. We did a fantastic job serving in this one.”
California led the entirety of the first set.
The Trojans went on a 10-5 run, which included kills from Gibson and Gabriella Kent, a block by Lila Mitchell and an ace by Elizabeth Kent, to establish a healthy lead.
Beth-Center called timeout hoping to quell the momentum, but three straight hitting errors by the Bulldogs allowed the California lead to stretch to 16-7.
A brief 3-0 run on a pair of kills and an ace by Pohill stopped the bleeding for Beth-Center, but the set ended on three consecutive aces by Bella Smith.
“They had 10 kills and we had one in that first set,” Beyer said.
Beth-Center got off to a much better start in the second set, which proved critical even though California rallied.
The Bulldogs took a 7-2 lead with kills from Ella Sims and Maddison Chisler, as well as a service ace from Sims.
California responded by taking 9 of the next 11 points to take an 11-9 lead.
Consecutive aces by Bayla Galis put the Trojans in front.
Beth-Center was determined to even the match, however, and did so with a strong performance by Sims.
Sims tied the match at 21-21 and combined with Pohill on a block that gave the Bulldogs a 22-21 lead.
The teams trade points before Sims had a kill to make it 24-22 Bulldogs and closed out the set with an ace.
“Half of these girls were in the playoff game last year, so they’re battle-tested,” Beyer said. “We knew coming in it would be a tough environment. We’re rival schools and we love playing each other. It was a great volleyball match. We are a totally different team when we have the lead. That was the focus after the first set, get a five-point lead and go from there.”