BUTLER TWP — Grant Hoover left his mark in a big way on the Seneca Valley volleyball team’s latest victory.

With the Raiders up one set to none and holding a slim 17-15 lead in the second set over Butler, the senior outside hitter delivered six of SV’s final eight points with four kills, one block and a service ace — as the Raiders took a commanding 2-0 lead.

Hoover owned the third set, tallying 10 of his 18 kills Tuesday and the Raiders left Butler’s gym with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 victory.

Seneca Valley’s Grant Hoover (24) goes for a kill against Butler during a boys volleyball match Tuesday. Hoover totaled 18 kills in the Raiders’ sweep. Justin Guido/Butler Eagle

“He’s the best player in the WPIAL,” said SV coach Brett Poirier. “He can do things like that and you saw it tonight. That’s why he’s one of our captains.”

The Raiders (6-2, 4-2) felt desperate for a win, having lost their last two Section 2-3A contests to Shaler and North Allegheny.

“We were on a losing streak. We lose tonight and we would’ve dropped to fourth place in the section,” Hoover said. “It was important for us to get back on the winning side of things.”

SV led 20-13 late in the first set, but blocks from Butler’s Andrew Archer and Max Gianneski and a kill from Nate Grossman helped close the gap to 24-23. Jordan Hoover decided matters with a kill to hand the Raiders the two-point win.

“We work on that type of situation in practice ... being able to pull out a tight set when we’re not dominating the other team,” said Grant Hoover.

“We had 10 unforced errors in that first set and our guys still almost won it,” said Butler coach Lew Liparulo. “We just didn’t work as a unit tonight. We kept serving the ball in the same place and that helped to facilitate their offense, which dominated the second and third sets.”

Butler’s Alex Moncello (26) shows his excitement after scoring a point against Seneca Valley during Tuesday’s boys volleyball match. Joining in the celebration are Butler’s Max Gianneski (17) and Andrew Archer. Justin Guido/Butler Eagle

Butler (6-3, 3-2) came close to staying alive. Archer’s kill late in the third set cut SV’s lead to 20-19, but Grant and Jordan Hoover dropped kills to help SV seal the deal.

Matt Cinker tallied 18 digs for the Raiders and Steve Mazur had 18 assists.

Coleton Welter paced Butler with 12 kills, including six in the second set. Alex Moncello dished out 29 assists and Adam Kaufman contributed 18 digs.

Butler had previously won section meetings with North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and North Hills this season.

“Knowing how we performed in those matches, it’s hard to describe the difference with the level of play we had tonight,” said Liparulo. “But credit Seneca Valley. They played well and we didn’t.”

Butler hosts Pine-Richland on Thursday while the Raiders visit Fox Chapel.