A hot hand

Lady Mounties start out strong to spike rival BEA

Gordon Brunskill

- gbrunski@centredaily.com

WINGATE — The Philipsburg-Osceola girls'; volleyball team turned up the heat Tuesday night, and Bald Eagle Area could not hold up to the pressure.

Craig Houtz

Bald Eagle Area's Katelyn Miller blocks a shot by Philipsburg-Osceola's Natasha Frank (4) on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009

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Some tough serving and consistent play dictated the night for the Lady Mounties, who once again got the best of their rivals.

Behind a match-high 12 kills from Natasha Frank, P-O traveled back up the hill with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-8 victory.

“I wasn’t expecting us to come out so strong,” said Lady Mounties senior setter Kelsey Gonder, who added 17 assists, five kills and an ace. “It was nice to be able to do that.”

Carolyn Gallagher contributed six kills for P-O (6-0), Aleksa Pollick collected six digs, Taylor Harpster had three aces and Megan Yonushonis had two kills among her 18 service points.

BEA (5-1) was led by Kendra Fetzer’s eight kills and three blocks, Katelyn Miller’s six kills and six blocks, 10 digs from Nicole Reese, eight digs from Courtney Switzer and Kelsey Shaw’s 18 assists.

The match was all about the big point runs, especially for the Lady Mounties.

P-O had separate runs of 7-1 and 5-0 in the first set, a burst of 12-2 in the second and shots of 7-0 and 11-0 in the third.

“It was really important to do that,” Gonder said. “We knew if we got them down, they weren’t going to be able to come back. It was good to make ourselves established in the beginning.”

Frank was a big contributor to the runs in the first two frames with some big swings out of her middle position.

“(Frank) played really strong today,” P-O coach Mick Dininno said. “(She) gave us a lot at the front blocking, playing balls at the net, some nice tips — we got good middle play.”

The Lady Mounties also forced action with some deep serving, practically destroying any rhythm for the Lady Eagles’ offense.

“We wanted to force them right from the serve,” Dininno said. “Once we got established pushing them deep (with serves) and making them play the ball a little high, not getting good passes. I don’t care what kind of hitters — our hitters aren’t that effective if we’re passing the ball 10-12 feet off the net.”

BEA in turn gave plenty of free points back to its rival, with 31 errors over the three sets, compared to 14 for the Lady Mounties.

“They served us tough and made us a one-option team,” Lady Eagles coach Larry Campbell said. “When you’re one-option and your set’s from 15 feet off the net, it really closes down the court for you and limits your opportunities.”

Campbell’s team, which starts only two seniors, plus four juniors and a sophomore, did have some bright moments. They rallied with a 12-2 run in the first set to close the gap to 20-17 and a 6-0 run in the second to trail just 19-16, but could not cut the gaps any more.

“We’re loaded up with juniors — which is nice for next year,” Campbell said. “We’re like a big roller coaster. When you watch P-O, they’re like the senior citizen ride. My team, when it’s cooking, it’s really, really hot and it’s tough. A lot of teams can’t match up with us physically. Unfortunately we’re not used to playing in big-game situations.”

Though the Lady Eagles did keep P-O’s top offensive weapon, Taylor Harpster, in check with four kills and a block, they were frequently caught off guard by Gonder, who picked up five kills dumping the second touch of the ball into the middle of the BEA defense.

“(The P-O coaches) definitely told me that would be there,” Gonder said. “It’s a good thing because it makes myself established, and then the hitters get more open because people are worried about blocking me. It helps everybody.”