The Warrior volleyball team played in a tournament at Saint Francis University on Saturday, September 16th. First, they had to play in a few games to determine their seeding of the bracket. In that round-robin, they faced Chestnut Ridge, River Valley, Bellwood-Antis, and Westmont Hilltop.
- In their first clash, West Branch tied with Chestnut Ridge after two sets. West Branch won the first one by 5 points, downing the Lions 25-20. After a tough-fought second set, the Lions came out on top, 27-25.
The Warriors would then have to battle River Valley, Bellwood-Antis, and Westmont Hilltop, who they all beat in 2 sets. All sets would be won with 5+ points, other than the second set of the Bellwood-Antis game. The Lady Warriors had won the first set 25-17 but then the Blue Devils gave them a run for their money. The Blue Devils had battled during the set but just couldn’t get enough points to win. The Warriors would eventually prevail 26-24.
For the first round of the playoffs, the Lady Warriors faced off against the Forest Hills Rangers, coming from Sidman, PA. With the game being the first round, the teams only played one set, in which the Warriors would come out on top. West Branch would then go on to face Bald Eagle Area High School in the finals of the tournament.
The Warriors kept their momentum from the day going into the last round of the tournament. They won the opening set 25-15. The Eagles wouldn’t go down without a fight, winning the second set by 3 points. In the final set, it was a back-and-forth battle between both teams. Eventually, Bald Eagle would win the gold. Since the game was a best of three, the teams only had to get 15 points. With that being said, the Eagles won the game 17-15 due to the rule that you have to win by 2 points. The Warriors took home silver that day.
Returning to a usual matchup, the Lady Warriors had to challenge the Trojans of Mount Union. Mount Union came into this game with a 2-1 record overall, trying to better it. With their fair share of games, the Warriors have had plenty of experience thus far in the season. West Branch would finish off the Trojans in just 3 sets, winning 25-10, 25-10, and 25-12.
Senior Allison Shingledecker comments on why she believes the team is doing good. “I think a huge success for us in the past few games has been our tough serving and resilient serve reception. Serve receive has been a huge focus of our practices, and I really think it is starting to pay off.” West Branch is sitting at the top of the ICC North division, with a 5-0 record of games inside the conference. The team is also the number one team in PIAA District 6 Class A rankings, being 7-0.
