ST. MARYS — Elk County Catholic used a dominant serving performance to sweep visiting Sheffield 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals Tuesday night.
The third-seed Lady Crusaders got off to a strong start at the service line as they used a couple lengthy service runs on the way to finishing with 19 service points in the set to kickstart the three-set win.
In the end, ECC finished the night with a 49-24 edge in service points, including a 9-3 advantage in aces, as the hosts committed just three service faults on the night.
“That was huge tonight, our serving, we only had three service errors the whole night,” ECC head coach Kelsey Morey said. “We’ve been going back-and-forth with that during the season, so I’m really happy with their serving and I think our passing was also key tonight in getting our offense running.”
Julia Aikens, who led the Lady Crusaders at the line with a match-high 18 service points along with three aces, sparked the match with a four-point run to start the opening set.
Aikens opened the match with an ace, before capping the run with another ace, while Gabby Weisner came up with a kill during the run.
The four-point run gave ECC a lead it would hold the remainder of the set, as its biggest advantage of the set came at 18-6 on the heels of a eight-point run by Weisner.
Sheffield got to within three points at 9-6 on a block by Lexi Goldthwaite followed by a Maddy Roell ace before a net violation sent Weisner to the line for her lengthy run.
Annabel Sheldon went on a three-point run for the sixth-seed Lady Wolverines to cut the deficit back down to 20-11 before a kill by Brook Bauer sent Katharine Kirst to the service line.
A pair of service points by Kirst put ECC on the brink of the first-set victory at 23-11 before one final gasp by Sheffield.
After a side out, Kassidy Orinka won four points in a row behind an ace and a kill to get the visitors back within seven points at 23-16.
Aikens then swung the momentum back to the home side of the court with a kill before taking to the service line and winning set-point behind a Bauer kill as the Lady Crusaders took a 1-0 set lead with a 25-16 win.
“Momentum is everything, especially in the playoffs,” Morey said. “You’re already amped and ready to play, so that first game was really important and I was happy to see them start off well.”
Elk County Catholic led the second set from start to finish despite the majority of the set being more tightly contested than the first set.
Bauer started the set with a block off a Sheffield service to give the Lady Crusaders the lead for the remainder of the set.
The Lady Wolverines hung around throughout the early and middle portions of the set, as a kill by Lynzie Grubbs off a Syrena Antonuccio service got them within one at 10-9.
Bauer continued her strong night at the net, where she finished with five kills and two blocks, with a kill to swing the service back to ECC’s side and Aikens.
Aikens kept her dominant night at the line going with a five-point run behind another Bauer kill to push the advantage out to 16-9.
The two sides then went back-and-forth as Sheffield slowly cut into the deficit and eventually trailed 21-18 after a Emily Lechtenberger kill.
On the ensuing point, a long rally ended with a Bauer block to give the Lady Crusaders the momentum they needed to finish off the set.
Kirst then won back-to-back points thank to an ace to give ECC set-point at 24-18 before Sheffield fought off one set-point as a side out eventually ended the set with the home side winning 25-19 to take a commanding two-set advantage.
Aikens opened the third set with a pair of service points for the Lady Crusaders before a kill from Grubbs and a two-point run by Lechtenberger gave Sheffield its lone lead of the match at 5-3.
Weisner got ECC back within a point with a kill, sending Tami Geci to the service line where she rattled off seven points in a row behind an ace and two kills and a block from Maddie Marzullo to give it an 11-5 advantage.
Geci and Weisner both finished with 10 service points on the night, as Weisner had four kills while Marzullo led ECC with six kills and three blocks.
A four-point run by Aikens followed later by a run of three points from Bauer helped by a Marzullo block gave ECC match-point at 24-13.
Sheffield was able to fend off a pair of match-points before the Lady Crusaders finished off the sweep with a 25-15 win.
Elk County Catholic will now visit second-seed Otto-Eldred in Thursday’s semifinal round with a spot in Monday’s title match on the line.
The Lady Terrors topped 10th seed Cameron County in four sets after dropping the first set in a quarterfinal match Tuesday.
The semifinal match will be a rematch of a Sept. 23 match, one in which the Lady Crusaders won in straight sets on their home court, which remains the lone loss for Otto-Eldred (17-1).
“We’re excited, whoever we get to play I think it’s going to be a good game,” Morey said. “We’re going to be in the top-four in District 9 looking to get to the championship and whoever we get to play it’s going to be good and we’re ready.”
