PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It’s been four years in the making for the seniors on Elk County Catholic volleyball team.
Many more years in school history.
But here the Crusaders are after a 25-23, 29-27, 25-17 sweep of Serra Catholic. One step away from playing for the PIAA Class A title.
The usual suspects shined again for Elk County Catholic.
Tori Newton had 18 kills. Reagan Bauer added 14 more. Lucy Klawuhn 21 digs and Kiri Emmert 36 assists.
All four of those players are seniors and all four have never lost a match in the regular season. But a trip to the state title match has eluded them. So has getting to the semifinals, which hasn’t been a destination for the Crusaders since 1986.
Until now.
ECC will take on defending state champion Maplewood on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
“It means a lot because we have put a lot of hard work in this season and it’s nice to see it finally working out,” Klawuhn said. “It’s just awesome to be doing it with this team.”
The Crusaders are looking forward to getting another shot at Maplewood, which beat ECC in straight sets a season ago in the first round of the state playoffs.
ECC has never beaten Maplewood in the postseason in three tries.
The two teams met in the 1985 Class AA state title match (there was only Class AA and AAA) with Maplewood winning 9-15, 15-2, 15-10 back before rally scoring and when the state championship was decided by pool play.
The Crusaders lost again in the finals in 1986 to Richland, 15-3, 15-12.
This is the first time since that season Elk County has advanced this far in the state postseason.
Newton, the District 9 Most Valuable Player as voted on by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association, didn’t have a hitting error against Serra Catholic.
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