Frustrating Finish
PETERS TWP — The tide turned twice in Saturday’s WPIAL Class 2A girls volleyball championship match between Freeport and Beaver.
While the Yellowjackets used the first wave to pull even with the Bobcats, they were swept under by the second.
After falling behind two games to none, Freeport won sets 3 and 4 before their momentum hit the skids as Beaver earned district bragging rights with victory by scores of 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 13-25 and 15-13.
It was the first loss of the season for Freeport (20-2) against Class 2A competition.
“Beaver is big and physical and plays great defense,” said Freeport coach Tom Phillips. “We made some critical errors at the end, but I’m proud of our girls for coming back from being down 2-0.”
The unbeaten Bobcats (20-0) began the decisive set by jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Kills from Autumn English and Leah Schreckengost and a block from English led Freeport’s rally that had the ‘Jackets down by just two, 12-10, before a Freeport service error, a hitting error and an ace from Beaver’s Zoe Ringer ended the match.
It was a clutch turnaround for the Bobcats, who were thoroughly dominated in the fourth set.
“We showed a lot of mental toughness there,” said Beaver coach Susan Pollins. “We changed our defense around and it worked.”
The ‘Jackets, who entered the match as two-time defending district champs, flashed the style early that had earned it the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Alaina Whitlinger dropped seven kills and Sydney Selker five in the first set, but it wasn’t quite enough to trump the play of Kailyn Connelly and Chloe List, who combined for 10 kills to hand their team a 23-19 lead. Moments later, Alaina Malobabich’s kill earned for Beaver the first set.
While List (6-foot-1) and Connelly (6-2) stand out on Beaver’s roster, it was sophomore outside hitter Jaedyn Brown who led the team’s win in the second set with five kills.
Brown finished the match with nine kills.
“Our pin hitters (Brown and Anna Vinopal), they’re just 5-3 and 5-6, but play bigger than they are,” said Pollins.
With their backs to the wall, the ‘Jackets remained focused.
“I didn’t panic,” said Schreckengost. “I treated it, all of us treated it like we could come back.”
Facing defeat, Freeport received a six-kill effort from Whitlinger in the third set. She, along with Schreckengost and Selker, combined for 17 kills in a fourth set that had the Bobcats reeling.
Whitlinger led Freeport with 24 kills and Grace Beach did her part with 57 assists for the ‘Jackets.
List paced Beaver with 21 kills.
“We moved (Whitlinger and Schreckengost) around, but the List girl is so tough for anybody to defend,” Phillips said. “We switched to a new rotation and started to get more comfortable with it during the match.”
Freeport, the defending PIAA champion, will open the state playoffs Tuesday by traveling to District 10 champion North East.
Phillips is hoping for a repeat of 2017, when his team lost to Beaver in the district final before going on to win the state championship.
“We need to get back in the gym on Monday and take it one game at a time,” he said.
