Beat Goes on for Undefeated Elk County Catholic; Clarion’s Run of District Titles Ends in Semifinal Loss to Oswayo Valley

ST. MARYS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — They have been quite the triple threat all season long.

Tori Newton, Madison Marzullo and Reagan Bauer were at it again on Tuesday night.

Newton had 18 kills, Bauer 16 kills and Marzullo 10 kills as the Elk County Catholic volleyball team overcame a first-set loss to Johnsonburg to move on to the District 9 Class A title match with a 25-27, 25-8, 25-22, 25-17 victory.

“I am incredibly proud of these girls,” said ECC coach Tricia Bauer. “We lost the first game and they came out on fire in the second game. They played their hearts out tonight.”

Kiri Emmert also had another big match as the setter with 47 assists.

The Crusaders were undaunted after falling behind 1-0.

The ECC defense also came up big, Coach Bauer said.

“Our defense made some incredible saves and our hitters did a great job creating chaos on the other side,” she said.

The Crusaders will take on Oswayo Valley, which knocked off four-time defending D9 Class A champ in the other semifinal on Tuesday.

That championship match will be played at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Kane.

“We are really excited to be back into the District 9 championship game,” Coach Bauer said.

OSWAYO VALLEY 3, CLARION 1

The four-year run as District 9 Class A champion is over for Clarion as Oswayo Valley downed the Bobcats, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 25-15.

Olivia Cook was a big reason for that.

The Green Wave hitter had 21 kills in the victory.

Avaree Kellert added 18 kills for Oswayo Valley, which lost to Clarion in the title match last season.

Senior Aryana Girvan had 21 digs to lead Clarion, which was also the two-time reining PIAA Class A champ.

Hadlee Campbell pitched in 11 kills and Grace Ochs had 42 assists for the Bobcats.