Crusader Volleyball Team Falls To Dubois, St. Marys And Johnsonburg Win
Elk County Catholic made its first bus trip of the season Tuesday night, traveling to DuBois to take on a talented Lady Beavers squad in a tough District 9 matchup.
The Lady Crusaders showed stretches of strong play and battled throughout the night, but DuBois came away with a 3-0 victory by scores of 25-17, 25-10 and 25-22. The loss was ECC’s first of the regular season, moving the Lady Crusaders to 4-1.
DuBois wasted little time establishing itself in the opening set, racing out to a 14-2 advantage and putting ECC in an early hole.
The Lady Crusaders, however, refused to let the set get away.
ECC began stringing points together, settled into the match and battled all the way back to pull within three. DuBois eventually regained control down the stretch and closed out the opening set, 25-17, but ECC’s response showed its ability to fight through adversity.
“I was really proud of the way we responded in that first set,” ECC head coach Josh Burrs said. “When you get down 14-2 against a team like DuBois, it would be very easy to let the set get away from you. Our girls didn’t do that. They kept competing, started playing our style of volleyball and gave themselves a chance to get back into it.”
The Lady Beavers controlled much of the second set, preventing ECC from establishing an extended run and taking a 25-10 victory to move ahead 2-0 in the match.
ECC responded with some of its best volleyball of the night in the third.
The Lady Crusaders and Lady Beavers went back and forth throughout the set, with neither side able to completely take control. ECC stayed right with DuBois and remained within striking distance late, but the Lady Beavers made the plays they needed in the closing points to secure a 25-22 victory and finish the sweep.
“DuBois is one of the best teams in District 9, and I thought there were stretches tonight where we played very good volleyball,” Burrs said. “That third set showed that we can compete with teams at that level. Now the challenge for us is learning how to play that way more consistently throughout an entire match. There are definitely things we can take from tonight and build on.”
Katelyn Myers led the ECC attack with seven kills and also collected nine digs, while Lanie Weisner finished with six kills, three digs and two blocks. Bethany Cunningham contributed three kills, an ace, two assists and seven digs.
Addy Gradl filled the stat sheet for the Crusaders with 13 assists, seven digs, two aces, one kill and a block. Bella Dixon added 10 digs, one kill, one assist and a block.
ECC also received plenty of work from its back row. Stella Stebick led the team with 15 digs and added an ace, while Brynlee Schutz supplied a team-high three aces along with a dig. Ava Corl and Bailey Thorwart each recorded four digs, and Bella Beimel added a dig in her appearance for the Lady Crusaders.
As a team, Elk County Catholic finished the night with 18 kills, 16 assists, seven aces and 61 digs.
The ECC junior varsity team also suffered its first loss of the season, falling to DuBois 2-0. The JV Lady Crusaders are now 4-1 on the year.
Both ECC teams will look to bounce back when the Lady Crusaders return home Thursday to take on Cameron County at Elk County Catholic. The junior varsity match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with the varsity match to follow.
ST. MARYS 3, PUNXSUTAWNEY 1
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Taylor Van Alstine had 12 kills, 11 digs and five aces as St. Marys rallied from a slow start to beat visiting Punxsutawney, 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-12).
Mavis Caskey added seven kills, 11 digs, two blocks and an ace for the Lady Dutch, while Roxanne Eckert had seven kills.
Rylee Largey contributed five kills and seven digs in the win.
JOHNSONBURG 3, RIDGWAY 2
RIDGWAY, Pa. – Lily Myers’ monster match of 20 kills and five blocks helped visiting Johnsonburg rally past rival Ridgway, 3-2 (10-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11).
Bristol Mathis added a double-double of 13 kills and 16 digs to go with three aces for the Ramettes.
Mari Dennis had 32 digs, five aces and two kills in the win.
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