Boys Varsity Volleyball

Championship bound

Cardinals outlast Panthers in three sets

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

The District 10 Class 2A semifinal match between two top teams in Pennsylvania did not disappoint at Meadville Area Senior High School’s House of Thrills.

Cochranton outlasted Saegertown in three sets (25-23, 27-25, 33-31) on Tuesday. Each set was down to the wire and full of emotion from both teams.

The Panthers came out of the gates fired up and ready for action. Each time the Panthers registered a kill or a block, the team went bananas. The Cardinals matched their energy level and as the teams traded points the noise level in the House of Thrills was through the roof.

“It was sweet. It was a pretty awesome match to be a part of,” Cochranton head coach Rob Cierniakoski said. “They’re (the players) all close. Both teams battled and that’s District 10 playoff volleyball, that’s fun.”

In addition to dealing with huge kill attempts, each team dealt with a bit of trash talk that garnered a warning from the officials.

“I think the guys were prepared for that. Teams will do that time to time and sometimes we will too,” Cierniakoski said. “I thought it was cool to start out the match that way and it gets everyone fired up.”

Late in the first set the teams were tied at 23 before Cochranton took a lead and Chase Miller buried a big kill to take the first set.

The Cardinals kept momentum on their side and got out to a 17-13 lead in the second set, but the Panthers rebounded. A slam from Jaden Wilkins and back-to-back kills from Conrad Williams sparked a rally. Cierniakoski took a timeout up 23-21 to slow the Panthers’ momentum and again at 23-23.

Saegertown went up 24-23 but could not get the final point as the Cards rattled off a couple scores. Jaiben Walker met Wilkins at the net for a block and to give Cochranton a 2-0 lead in the match.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and when you lose the first two sets as close as we lost them, 90 percent of the time the team folds in the third set and you get blown out,” Johnson said. “We battled the whole time, we just couldn’t close anything out. A couple untimely mistakes at the end of sets was the difference.”

To say that the Panthers battled is an understatement.

Saegertown led for much of the third set as the Cardinals’ serving errors added up. The Panthers went on a 5-2 run late to lead 24-20. Then, it was the Cardinals turn to battle.

Kyle Hoffman had consecutive kills and a Landon Homa spike pushed it to 24-23. A hitting error evened the game at 24s, then the set went back and forth.

Each team had at least two chances to put the set on ice as the set see-sawed back in forth. Williams and Wilkins traded attacks for Saegertown while Hoffman and Homa both attacked the ball for Cochranton. A Saegertown net violation put the Cards ahead 32-31 and a Saegertown hitting error gave Cochranton the win in front of a raucous crowd.

“I think Saegertown didn’t want their season to end so they put everything out there and gave us everything they had,” Cierniakoski said. “To be able to withstand that, that’s the best they’ve played all season I think, to be able to survive that and move on to the next round is huge.”

“I’m proud of them because they didn’t quit. They were in a position where they could have quit, but they kept battling. I was most proud to see that,” Johnson said. “If you’re gonna go down, you go down like that. You don’t want to go down any other way.”

Wilkins led the Panthers’ offense with 12 kills and added six digs. Williams tallied 11 kills, nine digs and two blocks. Brady Greco dished 25 assists.

Saegertown’s season is over, though Johnson believes the team belongs with the best of them in the state.

“We’re just a few errors away and a few mistakes on defense away from being right there with Cochranton, Meadville and McDowell. I think most people around here would agree, if they watched any volleyball this year in other parts of the state, we’re a top five team in the state. I firmly believe that,” Johnson said. “We’re not gonna get out of Crawford County, but we’re a top five team in the state. I think coach Bancroft and coach Cierniakoski would agree with me.”

Cochranton was led on offense by Homa with 15 kills, Hoffman added ten. Andrew Custead had 15 digs while Greyson Jackson had 39 assists. Cochranton will face Meadville on Thursday in the District 10 Championship.

Starting out strong

Panthers eliminate Blue Devils in three sets

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Saegertown had its hands full against Cambridge Springs on Thursday, though the score may not reflect it.

The Panthers (No. 3 seed) swept the Blue Devils (No. 6 seed) 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-13) in the District 10 quarterfinals on Thursday.

The team’s were neck and neck throughout the first set. Saegertown senior Jaden Wilkins and Cambridge senior Jackson Mumford took turns slamming the ball into the gym floor of Meadville Area Senior High School’s House of Thrills.

Neither team had control of the match until back-to-back kills by Wilkins broke a 19-19 tie and gave the Panthers a 21-19 lead. Saegertown closed the set on a 6-2 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

“Overall we played extremely well. I’m happy with everything all the way around,” Cambridge Springs head coach Kyle Marzka said. “We were firing on all cylinders and we looked good.”

After squeezing out a first set win, Saegertown went on a roll in the second set. The Panthers opened with a 16-7 lead, but struggled to put the set away. Cambridge mounted a rally, but it ultimately fell short with service errors piling up.

“I think because we’re a younger team, we’re only losing one senior this year and then the year with COVID and everything, this is their first taste of playing on this stage,” Marzka said. “Then we had that heartbreaking first set loss, but they came back fighting in the second. They got a big lead on us, but we fought back.”

The third set was all Saegertown. The Panthers controlled the flow of the action and won 25-13.

“Offensively we played pretty well. Defensively we played poorly, I thought. Serve-receiving we didn’t do too bad, but we got the win and that’s what’s important. We get to play again, so that’s good,” Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson said. “I thought we started a little slow emotionally, too. In the second and third we got our emotions into a bit more and played pretty well.”

Leading Saegertown’s offense was Wilkins, a Hood College recruit, with 11 kills and five digs. Fellow senior Conrad Williams tallied 10 kills and seven digs while setter Brady Greco dished 25 assists. Johnson thought the team’s defensive effort was lackluster and will need to improve for Tuesday’s semifinal matchup with Cochranton.

“If we’re gonna beat Cochranton we have to play better defense than that, that’s all there is to it. We just didn’t get to many balls defensively tonight,” Johnson said. “Pretty much if we didn’t block them we weren’t getting it. Cochranton runs a slick offense and if we don’t get some touches it will be a long night for us. I’ve seen us play good defense, so we’ll see which team shows up for us.”

For Cambridge, the team ended the season 4-8 overall. First year head coach Marzka was happy with the team’s effort in his first year at the helm.

“I’m pleased with this year. As a first year coach I wasn’t sure what to expect but we played well and we improved,” Marzka said. “We’ve got a lot of players returning and now they know my coaching style and I know them so I’m excited for next year.”

Mumford led the team with 12 kills and had three blocks. Josh Reisenauer had eight kills and two digs while Parker Schmidt racked up 28 assists, six kills and three digs.

3) Saegertown vs.

(6) Cambridge Springs

Meadville Area Senior High School, 7:30 p.m.

Saegertown will take on Cambridge Springs for the third time this season. The Panthers won both meetings between the PENNCREST rivals during the teams’ regular season matchups.

The Panthers are ranked No. 8 in the latest Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association poll. The Panthers come into the matchup with a 9-5 record. They’ve lost to Meadville once and Cochranton and McDowell twice. The Panthers are led by Jaden Wilkins, Conrad Williams, Brady Greco and Sam Hetrick.

“Saegertown is a very scrappy team. They don’t let many balls hit the ground,” Cambridge Springs head coach Kyle Marzka said. “Some of the keys for us will be eliminating errors on our side of the ball and staying aggressive.”

After starting the season 1-7, the Blue Devils enter the district tournament on a three-game winning streak. The Blue Devils are led by Jackson Mumford, Josh Reisenauer, Parker Schmidt and Kaiden Boozer.

“I believe my expectation is to always win and we have the talent to do so,” Marzka said. “It will also give us a learning experience for our younger players.”

The winner will play the winner of Cochranton/Rocky Grove on Tuesday at a time and location to be announced.

Panthers win regular season finale against Erie First Christian

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

ERIE — The Saegertown boys volleyball team defeated Erie First Christian 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11) on Monday. With the win, the Panthers end the regular season with a 9-5 record.

Brady Greco earned 42 assists, seven digs and a block and an ace. Conrad Williams added 15 kills, 12 digs and a pair of aces. Jaden Wilkins contributed 14 kills and seven digs. Quincy Zook compiled 11 kills and Sam Hetrick chipped in 14 digs.

With the regular season now over, Saegertown enters the District 10 2A tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Panthers will take on No. 6 Cambridge Springs on Thursday at Meadville’s House of Thrills at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Blue Devils in both of their meetings this season.

Saegertown gets back on track in sweep vs. Conneaut

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — The Saegertown boys volleyball team swept Crawford County rival Conneaut 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-21) on Thursday at Steve Scott Gymnasium.

The Panthers earned the win after dropping back-to-back matches to Meadville and McDowell. The win also clinches the No. 3 seed for the Panthers in next week’s District 10 2A tournament.

“It was a huge match for us because it really had a lot to do with our seeding going into the playoffs next week,” said Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson. “We don’t win that, we don’t get the third seed. That makes things a lot more difficult coming in as four or five, so that was a big win for us.”

Even though the game ended in a sweep, it was a lot closer than on paper. During the first set, the two teams traded points until it was tied at seven. From there, the Panthers went on a 9-5 run to go up by four. However, the Eagles responded with four points of their own to tie it back up. After the set was knotted at 20, the Panthers went on a 5-1 run to take the first set.

“I think it’s been a battle that we’ve been doing all season,” said Conneaut assistant coach Shawnya Mast. “We gotta use basics. We gotta have good serves. We gotta have good passes. I mean it’s literally volleyball 101 and that’s where we were falling short tonight, so once we got the kinks out, they seemed to come around.”

The second set was a little less dramatic.

After the Panthers went out to a 5-1 lead, the Eagles responded with a 4-1 run to make it a one-point game. However, the Panthers answered with a run of their own, making it a 12-6 lead before Conneaut coach Nate Resele called a timeout. The rest of the set was smooth sailing for the Panthers as the Eagles never made the deficit closer to four. The Panthers won the second set 25-18 after a spike by the Eagles went out of bounds.

The third set started with a 3-3 tie. However, the Panthers broke the tie with five consecutive points, which prompted Resele to use another timeout. After the timeout, the Eagles scored back-to-back points before the Panthers went on another run. The Panthers managed to go on a 8-1 run thanks to timely kills by Jaden Wilkins, Conrad Williams and Brady Greco. The Eagles responded with six consecutive points, which made Johnson use a timeout. After the timeout, the set was back-and-forth until the Eagles made it a 22-21 game. However, the Panthers scored three consecutive points to take the set and game.

“We just got stuck in a rotation where we couldn’t get out of it,” Johnson said. “We gave them like six points in a row. We gotta eliminate that here before playoffs start, which can be done, it’s just we gotta focus on not giving up as many runs as we are right now.”

“I’m really happy with the way the boys played in the third set,” Mast said. “They really rallied back. We were battling a couple of injuries. Nick Fidanza took a pretty big hit to the head that had some eye swelling and we got another kid with a questionable knee, so I mean the kids are tired.

We’re three games in straight and I think they did well.”

Williams earned 11 kills and nine digs while Wilkins tallied six kills, three digs and three blocks. Greco compiled 27 assists, nine digs and four blocks. Sam Hetrick contributed 17 digs while Collin Jones chipped in five kills and digs each.

For the Eagles, Carter Osborn compiled 11 assists, seven blocks, three kills and an ace. Spencer Foister added 12 assists while Evan Alsdorf earned nine kills and six blocks. Nolan Rados chipped in five kills and four blocks.

After playing in a tournament this weekend, Saegertown will end its regular season on the road against Erie First Christian on Monday at 7 p.m. Conneaut will also end its regular season on Monday as it hosts county rival Meadville at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are 12-0 and ranked first in the latest Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Trojans sweep Panthers

SAEGERTOWN — The McDowell boys volleyball team swept Saegertown 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-12) in a region match on Wednesday.

For Saegertown, Brady Grecor orchestrated the offense with 14 assists and added seven digs. Jaden Wilkins had six kills. Collin Jones had four kills and four digs while Sam Hetrick added seven digs.

Saegertown is now 8-5 overall and 7-3 in region games. The Panthers will host Conneaut today at 7 p.m.

Continued dominance

Bulldogs too much for Panthers in sweep

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

The Meadville boys volleyball team swept Saegertown 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-19) in a region tilt on Tuesday to keep its undefeated season alive at 10-0 overall and 8-0 in region play.

Before the match, the Bulldogs celebrated senior night at Meadville Area Senior High School’s House of Thrills and the team carried energy from the festivities into the first set.

Two straight Saegertown net infractions, a Mitch McKain ace and a Cameron Schleicher block gave the ’Dogs a 4-0 lead and momentum in front a loud home crowd.

After a Saegertown timeout, the Panthers settled into their offense and chipped away at the deficit. A Conrad Williams kill brought the Panthers within one at 6-5, but it was the closest the team would come.

The Bulldogs stayed ahead throughout the whole set, though the Panthers threatened late. Two Meadville hitting errors made it 22-20 in favor of the Bulldogs, but two Saegertown errors and a huge kill from senior Julian Jones put the first set on ice for Meadville.

“I feel like there’s always a little extra motivation for every senior on their senior night,” Jones said. “You’re nervous even though you’ve done this a million times as a senior, but it’s your senior night so there’s definitely a little pressure there. We played a good game.”

The second set was all Meadville from the jump. The Bulldogs led 14-4 and stayed hot en-route to a 25-12 win. The set was capped off with Jones ace.

“We stayed aggressive all the time and played smart. We didn’t always rip the ball and we used our hands on the block,” Meadville head coach Nick Bancroft. “We mixed it up really well with tips and played all around good volleyball.”

In the third and final set, Saegertown put together stretches of solid play but mistakes kept the team from getting too close.

“We have way too many unforced errors right now, way too many. We shoot ourselves in the foot a lot. We get going and get some momentum and boom something happens,” Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson said. “It’s not like one thing. One play it’s a passing error, the next play is a hitting error and the next play it’s a service error. We were at 21-18 in the third set and made three errors in a row. That shouldn’t be happening at this point in the season.”

Saegertown’s late errors gave Meadville a 24-19 advantage. Senior Caden Mealy delivered an ace to end the match. “We’ve been playing well lately. With Saegertown on the court it’s always a big match,” Bancroft said. “We know they’re gonna give us everything they have and we need to match their momentum and we did.”

Despite the loss, it wasn’t all bad for Saegertown.

“I thought at times we passed the ball well and ran a pretty good offense. We probably had more blocks tonight than in a lot of our matches we’ve played so our blocking was probably one of our strong suits tonight when it really hasn’t been,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think we served too bad. We missed a few, but I thought we got some more points of our serves tonight than we have been getting.”

The team was ranked No. 7 in the state in Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s latest poll. Leading the Panthers on Tuesday was Jaden Wilkins who tallied 10 digs, eight kills and two blocks while Williams recorded 10 kills, five digs and two blocks. Orchestrating the offense was Brady Greco with 22 assists.

Saegertown is now 7-4 overall and 6-3 in region games. The team’s losses have come against Meadville, McDowell and twice to Cochranton. There is a good chance Saegertown will draw either Meadville or Cochranton in the district tournament in two weeks.

“I think athlete wise we are right there with them. We need to cut out the mistakes,” Johnson said. “We need to find something inside of us. Dig a little deeper than we have been. We need to get a little bit I would say, a little bit of cockiness and a little bit of confidence.”

Meadville, ranked No. 1 in the state, has won seven straight matches against Saegertown dating back to 2018. Saegertown’s last win against Meadville came in the 2017 district playoffs.

The Bulldogs were led by Jackson Decker with nine kills. Jones and Schleicher added eight and six, respectively. Mealy dished 25 assists.

“We didn’t pass as well as I thought we could have,” Bancroft said. “We served well. We could run a faster offense — I thought we missed a few times and there were a few things we could have done a bit better on that end.”

Meadville is back in action today at Cathedral Prep at 7 p.m. while Saegertown will host McDowell today at 7 p.m.

Panthers sweep Steelers

SAEGERTOWN — The Saegertown volleyball team swept Farrell 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-8) in a region game on Thursday.

Brady Greco passed for 14 assists in the win. Sam Draa and Conrad Williams each had five kills. Jaden Wilkins had four kills and four digs.

Collin Jones tallied seven assists, three aces and three digs.

Saegertown is 7-3 overall and 6-2 in region action. The Panthers will play at Meadville on Tuesday.

Hot from the start

Cards sweep Panthers in region battle

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — The Cochranton Cardinals swept Saegertown (25-18, 25-18, 25-20), but the Panthers battled hard before mistakes piled up in Thursday’s boys volleyball match at Steve Scott Gymnasium.

The Crawford County rivals traded points until the Cardinals, ranked No. 4 in the latest poll from the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association, held a 16-12 advantage. Not frazzled, the No. 8 ranked Panthers went on a 5-1 run to even the set at 18.

At that point, the Cards took over.

Cochranton rattled off the next seven points capped off by a huge Chase Miller slam into the teeth of the Panthers’ defense for a convincing first set win.

“We came to play from the first point,” Cochranton head coach Rob Cierniakoski said. “To do it against a team that I think starts hot early in Saegertown and to battle with them in the whole first set, I was pleased to see that.”

Saegertown opened the second set with a 5-2 run highlighted by two big Jaden Wilkins kills. Then the Panthers committed three straight net violations to bring Cochranton into the fold.

“We made a lot of mistakes at crucial times. We would get the momentum, then we’d be in the net. We’d get the momentum, then we’d do something that we shouldn’t have like mishandle a ball or something like that,” Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson said. “That’s kind of been our thing against the better teams. We’re just not as refined as the Cochranton’s and Meadville’s right now.”

After playing to a 12-12 tie, the Cardinals took over similar to the first set. A 13-6 run gave Cochranton another 25-18 set win and a two set advantage. Cochranton brought the momentum into the third set.

It seemed like the Cardinals could do no wrong and the Panthers could do no right early on. Cochranton was getting blocks and kills from Louden Gledhill, aces from Andrew Custead and spikes from Kyle Hoffman. The team went up 11-4 before a Saegertown timeout. “I felt like we were clicking and not giving them any free balls,” Cierniakoski said. “We were just trying to keep the pressure on Saegertown.”

Saegertown did right the ship and mounted a rally. The Panthers clawed back to make it a four-point deficit at 22-18.

“I think we need to be focused no matter what the score is and make sure every point, no matter what the score is, we’re doing what we have to do,” Cierniakoski said.

The Panthers’ rally stopped there as Cochranton closed the match with a kill from Landon Homa to seal the victory.

“We’re playing with these teams to 18, 19 points. If we’re getting that far you’re going to sneak one out eventually,” Johnson said. “We’re just making too many errors.”

Wilkins paced Saegertown with 12 kills and nine digs. Brady Greco dished 23 assists and added five digs. Conrad Williams smacked eight kills and Collin Jones added five.

With the loss, Saegertown dropped to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in region action. The Panthers host Farrell on Thursday before a tough stretch versus Meadville, McDowell and Conneaut.

“I think we’ll be fine. I’ve said this for years — it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be playing good at the end of the year,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some things we’re still working on. We have two full Saturday tournaments we’re going to, which you get a lot of play at and a lot of reps. Hopefully we can stay healthy and I think we can get there.”

With the sweep, Cochranton is now 7-3 overall and 5-1 in region games.

The Cardinals were led by Homa with 11 kills while Hoffman and Gledhill each added seven. Jaiben Walker had five digs and Greyson Jackson recorded 27 assists.

Cochranton plays at Farrell on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Panthers down Orioles

FRANKLIN — The Saegertown boys volleyball team swept Rocky Grove 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) on Tuesday.

Jaden Wilkins led the panthers with 16 kills while contributing six digs. Conrad Williams added 11 kills. Sam Hetrick led the team with 13 digs. Brady Greco added 39 assists and eight digs.

Next, Saegertown will host Crawford County rival Cochranton on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Panthers sweep Eagles

SAEGERTOWN — The Saegertown boys volleyball team swept region opponent Erie First Christian 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) on Thursday. With the win, the Panthers improve their record to 5-2.

Brady Greco stuffed the stat sheet with 26 assists, nine kills and two aces and kills each. Jaden Wilkins led the Panthers

with 12 kills and added five digs. Quincy Zook recorded seven kills while Sam Hetrick contributed 11 digs and four aces.

Saegertown will next go to take on another region opponent in Rocky Grove on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Saegertown sweeps Fort LeBoeuf

SAEGERTOWN — The Saegertown volleyball team swept Fort Leboeuf 3-0 (25-13, 25-8, 25-18) on Wednesday.

Conrad Williams paced the Panthers with 12 kills and two blocks. Jaden Wilkins added nine kills.

At setter, Brady Greco dished 19 assists. Josh Perrine served up four aces. Saegertown is 4-2 overall and 3-1 in region action. The Panthers will host Erie First Christian today.

Panthers lose to Trojans

ERIE — The Saegertown volleyball team lost to McDowell 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 27-25) in a region match on Tuesday at McDowell High School.

Jaden Wilkins led the Panthers with 15 kills and four digs. Conrad Williams and Colin Jones added six and four digs, respectively. Brady Greco recorded 25 assists and eight digs, while Sam Hetrick led the defense with ten digs.

Saegertown dropped to 3-2 overall on the year and 2-1 in region play. The Panthers will host Fort LeBoeuf today at 7 p.m.

Getting on track

Cards overcome slow start, down Panthers 3-1

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

COCHRANTON — In a matchup of two Crawford County teams ranked in the top ten in the state, No. 4 Cochranton defeated No. 8 Saegertown 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-16) Friday night at the Bird Cage.

While it was the Panthers’ first loss of the season, the Cardinals have won three consecutive games after losing back-toback games to open the season.

The Cardinals’ only blemish of the night was the first set, which started in their favor, but the Panthers came out on top to take a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals got out to a 5-0 lead in the set, forcing Saegertown coach Justin Johnson to call a timeout. The Panthers subsequently got their first point of the night on a spike from Josh Perrine.

After the Cardinals took a 7-2 lead, the Panthers scored five consecutive points to tie it up. Later in the set, the Panthers took a 17-14 lead, which prompted Cochranton coach Rob Cierniakoski to use one of his timeouts. The Cardinals then went on a 4-1 run to to knot it up at 18. However, the Panthers took control for the rest of the set en route to a 25-22 edge.

“I think that’s just a credit to Saegertown,” Cierniakoski said. “Every time we play them, it doesn’t matter what lead you have or if you’re up on sets against them, they’re gonna get hot. They got Jaden (Wilkins) and Conrad (Williams) and those guys, they’re good volleyball players.”

In the second set, the Cardinals came out strong from the beginning as they took a 9-5 lead that made Johnson call another timeout. At one point, the Panthers cut the lead to one at 13-12, but the Cardinals dominated the rest of the way as they won the set 25-17 to give both teams a set each.

The third set also saw the Cardinals get off to a fast start after going out to an 8-4 lead. However, the Panthers came fighting back to tie it at 9. The Cardinals then responded with a 16-6 run to win the set 25-15 and earn a 2-1 lead.

The Cardinals were again in control for the fourth and final set of the night as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The Panthers earned the next two points to cut the lead in half, but that was as close as they got in the set. The Cardinals pulled away to win the set 25-16 and the game 3-1.

“I think we played pretty well,” Cierniakoski said. “Obviously game one, they came out firing away and I felt like we were timid, but we bounced back well after that and everybody did their job.”

Kyle Hoffman and Landon Homa each recorded 11 kills while Chase Miller added eight for the Cardinals. Jaiben Walker contributed six kills and five digs. Andrew Custead and Greyson Jackson compiled 15 and 11 assists, respectively. For the Panthers, Wilkins led the team with 15 kills while Williams and Collin Jones added eight and six kills, respectively. Wilkins, Williams and Jones also contributed six digs each. Brady Greco compiled 31 assists and five digs while Sam Hetrick led the Panthers with nine digs.

As a team, the Panthers committed 19 hitting errors and six service errors.

“They served us a lot tougher in the other sets than they did the first set,” Johnson said. “I mean they got back there and they didn’t make a whole lot of service mistakes after the first set. We did start off 5-0 and then we came back from that but right now the name of the game is serving and passing and they did that better than us both sides. They served better than us, they passed better than us.”

Next, Cochranton will host Ambridge of Beaver County on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Saegertown looks to get back on track on Tuesday when it hosts Fort LeBoeuf at 7 p.m.

Panthers dominate Ramblers

ERIE — The Saegertown Panthers swept Cathedral Prep 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-17) in boys volleyball action on Thursday at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

Junior Brady Greco dished 21 assists in the win. Conrad Williams and Jaden Wilkins each had seven kills. The team combined for 12 aces and five blocks.

Saegertown is now 3-0 overall and 2-0 in region play. The Panthers are scheduled to play Cochranton tomorrow on the road.

Panthers defeat Blue Devils in four sets, sweep season series

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

SAEGERTOWN — The Saegertown volleyball team defeated PENNCREST-rival Cambridge Springs 3-1 on Monday. With the win, the Panthers are now 2-0 and have completed the series sweep over the Blue Devils. The Panthers, who rose to no. 8 in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A poll after being unranked, previously defeated the Blue Devils 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-12) last Tuesday. The Blue Devils are 0-2 with both losses coming to the Panthers.

In Monday’s match up, the Panthers got out to a two-set lead after winning the first two sets 25-15 and 25-18, respectively. The Blue Devils claimed the third set by a margin of 25-22 to make it 2-1 Panthers. However, the Panthers returned the favor during the fourth and final set after winning 25-19 to take the match.

Jaden Wilkins propelled the Panthers with 55 kills, 22 digs and seven blocks. Collin Jones recorded 25 kills and 23 digs. Conrad Williams earned 21 kills, 23 digs and eight blocks. Sam Hetrick contributed 42 digs while Brady Greco added 17 digs and eight kills.

For the Blue Devils, Parker Schmidt stuffed the stat sheet with 25 assists, four aces, four kills and a block. Jackson Mumford recorded five kills, six digs, five aces and two blocks. Josh Reisenauer added eight kills and three digs while Kaiden Boozer contributed nine kills and three kills.

Saegertown will look to continue its winning ways on the road against Cathedral Prep while Cambridge Springs seeks to get its first win of the season against Erie First Christian at the Devils Den. Both matches will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Taking care of business

Panthers overcome slow start, sweep Blue Devils

By Alex McGinley

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — After both Saegertown and Cambridge Springs participated in the Meadville Volleyball Tournament over the weekend, the two PENNCREST rivals played in their first dual match of the season on Tuesday night at the Devils Den.

The match up between the Crawford County foes ended fairly quickly as the Panthers edged the Blue Devils 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-12) to earn their first win of the season.

The Panthers didn’t completely dominate the match as the Blue Devils started out with a 3-0 lead in the first set. The Blue Devils grew their lead to 15-10 before the Panthers woke up. The Panthers went on a 7-2 run to knot things up at 17, which forced Cambridge Springs head coach Kyle Marzka to call a timeout. However, the Panthers were in control for the rest of the set as they ended things on a 8-2 run to take the first set 25-19.

“This is a game you can’t explain,” said Saegertown head coach Justin Johnson. “It’s a game of momentum and sometimes you step out on the floor and a team gets a jump on you. Luckily we were able to recover from that.”

Not only did the Panthers recover from the first set, they also used their momentum in the next two sets to complete the sweep.

In the second set, the Panthers exerted their will after going out to a 9-4 lead before the Blue Devils called another timeout. The Panthers made it 14-8 before the Blue Devils used a 4-1 run to pull within three. However, the Panthers used a 10-6 run to pull away from the Blue Devils as they won the set 25-18.

The third and final set was the most dominant for the Panthers as they won it 25-12 to close things out.

“They made some service errors, so that helped us out in that first set, but after that I thought we started passing the ball a little better, we started getting some attacks, got a few blocks,” Johnson said. “I thought we played well about halfway through the first set and on.”

A big part of the Panthers’ win was outside hitter Jaden Wilkins, who recorded 10 kills, five digs, two blocks and two aces.

“Jaden played well tonight,” Johnson said. “On the outside, on the pin, they couldn’t stop him out there. He got blocked a few times swinging from the back row, but he played aggressive and I like to see that.”

Also for the Panthers, setter Brady Greco recorded two aces, two kills and 18 assists. Libero Sam Hetrick contributed three aces and nine digs. Outside hitter Collin Jones added six kills and two digs.

Josh Reisenauer led the Blue Devils with nine kills while adding a block. Jackson Mumford added five kills and three blocks. Kaiden Boozer earned six kills and five blocks.

Even though the Blue Devils got swept, Marzka has already seen his team improve from Saturday’s tournament at Meadville. The Blue Devils finished the tourney with a 1-9 record.

“We started off really hot and we performed really well,” Marzka said. “Then at the end, our passing started to lax a little bit, but overall we definitely improved from Saturday and I think we’re getting better everyday.”

The two teams will meet again at Saegertown’s gym on Monday at 7 p.m.