PIAA girls volleyball: Mars dominates Central Mountain to make Class 3A quarterfinals
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The Mars girls volleyball team celebrates after winning the second set in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball first-round game on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Mars High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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The Mars girls volleyball team celebrates after winning the second set in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball first-round game on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Mars High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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The Mars crowd goes wild after a first set win against Central Mountain in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Mars High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Alaina Graham returns a serve from Central Mountain in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball first-round game on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Mars High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
ADAMS TWP — Mars made sure that the highs of this past weekend didn’t interfere with what was now in front of them.
The Planets, three days removed from winning a WPIAL Class 3A girls volleyball crown, played host to District 6 champion Central Mountain in first-round PIAA tournament action Tuesday night.
Mars wasn’t threatened much — if at all — during the three-set sweep. It won by scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-7.
“I think they’re running on a lot of the fuel from Saturday (a 3-1 win over Beaver),” Planets coach Tami Caraway said. “They felt good on Saturday. A lot of confidence comes with that. A little fatigue, but some confidence as well.”
“Even in the beginning, we came out confident — especially coming off of Saturday,” junior Cecilia Christy said. “We also watched film. We prepared. We scouted. We knew what was coming, we knew what to expect.”
After being tied at 10 in the initial set, Mars (19-4) went on a 7-1 run aided by a pair of kills by Christy and an ace by junior Rylee Woolridge. The Planets also notched the final four points of that set, punctuated by junior Lexi Schlegel’s ace.
Mars dominated the middle of the following set, tallying a point on eight of nine serves after a 7-7 deadlock and forcing the Wildcats (14-3) into a timeout. Central Mountain had a combined 13 attack or service errors in the first two games.
“We didn’t pass, serve real well,” Central Mountain coach Chipp McCann said. “We couldn’t seem to get them out of system. Credit to them. They passed the ball extremely well, were able to run their offense and we just really didn’t have any answers for the middle.”
The Planets, on the other hand, were steady throughout. They powered to a 12-3 lead in the deciding set. Woolridge had a kill and an ace in that span, while freshman Gabi Weidemann had a pair of blocks.
Christy finished with six kills and a block. Woolridge had three kills and a pair of aces. Senior Ella Nicotra added five kills. Gabi Weidemann had 32 assists.
“I was talking to the boys lacrosse coach (Bob Marcoux) somewhere this summer and he said, ‘You know, you never rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training,’” Caraway said. “I feel like they’ve trained really hard, so when they’re in pressure moments, they have that to fall back on and they build off that.”
“I kind of think, in a way, we had to bring ourselves back down to reality and be like, ‘Hey, let’s focus in now for (state) playoffs,’” Christy said. “We’re a super competitive team. We work really hard in practice ... so I think coming into tonight’s game, I felt prepared.”
Now Mars will get ready for WPIAL third-place team Hampton, which beat District 10 champion Meadville 3-2 in another first-round match, in Saturday’s state quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
“They love the ride,” Caraway said. “They don’t want off the ride. They look forward to getting in the gym and practicing, and they can’t wait to see what’s next.”
