Jerin Steele stories, Page 38

The day after North Catholic girls volleyball lost to Freeport in the WPIAL Class AA finals by surrendering a 2-0 lead, coach Amanda Fetter told her players they deserved to have a banner hanging in the gymnasium, and the only one left to get was a PIAA banner. The Trojans...

Skylar Burkett Class: Senior School: Knoch Sport: Volleyball Report card: Burkett totaled 22 kills in Knoch’s two 3-0 sweeps in the PIAA playoffs last week. The Knights topped South Fayette in the first round and Franklin Regional in the quarterfinals. Burkett is an outside hitter and setter, and she possesses...

At practice Monday, Knoch girls volleyball players sat on the gym floor in a circle around coach Diane Geist as they prepared for their state semifinal opponent, District 3 champion Palmyra. The Knights are in the PIAA semifinals for the third year in a row and will be seeking an...

The Mars girls soccer team has been dominant against WPIAL opponents all season, and in its final meeting against a district foe this season, it wasted little time establishing the tone. The Fightin’ Planets scored twice in the first five minutes Saturday, which went a long way towards breaking a...

As Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz was giving his postgame speech with his players surrounding him on a knee, the assistant coaches started tossing Heinz ketchup packets into the huddle. The ketchup-themed celebration has become semifinal tradition as of late for the Rams, and after a career night from junior quarterback...

The last time Kennedy Christy was in the Shaler gym, she was injured on the final night of the regular season in a nonsection match against the Titans and it caused her to miss Knoch’s entire WPIAL playoff run. Christy was cleared to play Monday and made her return on...

After having to come back from two-set deficits to win in the WPIAL semifinals and finals last week,the Freeport girls volleyball team had a much less stressful opening to the state playoffs. Behind a balanced attack, the Yellowjackets cruised to a 3-0 sweep of District 9 champion Brookville in the...

Isabella Russo Class: Sr. School: Freeport Sport: Volleyball Report card: Russo had the match-clinching kill for the Yellowjackets, who rallied after dropping the first two sets in a 3-2 win over North Catholic in the WPIAL finals Saturday at Fox Chapel. She had 17 kills in the match. Russo also...

In its playoff run, Knoch girls volleyball proved how strong a team it is by grinding out wins without standout hitters Kennedy Christy and Hannah Rowe. On Saturday in the WPIAL finals, Rowe showed how good a player she is, and delivered a three-peat for the Knights. Rowe, surrounded by...

If someone had told Plum boys soccer coach Raf Kolankowski before the season that his team would have been leading in a WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal with five-plus minutes remaining, he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat. What happened in those final five-plus minutes, where Canon McMillan scored twice to...

The Big Macs had one more comeback in them and it was one that they’ll remember for a long time. Trailing by a goal with just over a minute remaining, Luke Gladden found some open space and scored a goal from 18 yards out before Joey Fonagy scored on a...

Kaitlyn Killinger Class: Fr. School: Plum Sport: Soccer Report card: Killinger scored twice and had an assist for No. 2 Plum in a 4-2 win over Hampton in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals on Thursday. She also was one of six girls that scored in penalty kicks in Plum’s 2-1...

Deer Lakes boys soccer has used “unfinished business” as its mantra after narrow misses on the road to a WPIAL championship appearance the last few years. Lancers junior Michael Sullivan provided the finishing touch Saturday, when he scored all three goals in a 3-0 victory over South Park in the...

A few minutes after the Plum boys soccer team’s magical season ended Saturday with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals that saw Canon-McMillan score twice in the final six minutes, Mustangs coach Raf Kolankowski used the moment as a teaching tool. “It’s disappointing, but I told...

Logan Deri got a text from his younger brother, Peyton, on Tuesday, and the message hit home with regard to how he’s been able to carve out a strong career on the football field at West Liberty. The text read: “There’s always going to be someone bigger, faster and stronger...

Class AAAA 9-Fox Chapel (10-7-1) at 1-Norwin (16-1) 8 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 4-Moon (15-2-1) and 5-Seneca Valley (12-3-2) on Monday in semifinals Coaches: Peter Torres, Fox Chapel; Lauren Karcher, Norwin Players to watch: Lucy Ream, Jr., F, Fox Chapel; Katelyn Kauffman, So., MF/F, Norwin Corner kicks: The...

Sara Novak Class: Sr. School: Burrell Sport: Volleyball Report card: Novak had a solid all-around game for playoff bound Burrell in a 3-0 sweep of rival Valley on Thursday with five kills, seven aces and 10 assists. She also had 13 kills and 11 digs in a 3-1 loss to...

The best word to describe Leechburg girls volleyball in matches against the two teams in front of them in the Section 4-A standings is “close.” The Blue Devils took Vincentian Academy and Greensburg Central Catholic to five sets in the second meeting with each team this season before falling. The...

For Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer coach Tyler Solis, Saturday’s first-round playoff game had several elements that his team needed to get through. One was several freshmen getting their first opportunity to play playoff soccer. Another was a general anxiousness among the team to start the game, and the third...

There were a lot of playoff scenarios in a crowded Midwestern Athletic Conference entering Friday night, but the easiest way for Neshannock to secure a postseason berth was to go out and get a win. Behind a dominating defensive effort and the running of standout senior Braden Gennock, the Lancers...

Freedom girls soccer has a bit of a different look from the 2018 WPIAL championship team after the graduation of some key seniors and standout Jayden Sharpless transferring to North Catholic, but the results have been the same. There have been goals, goals, more goals and wins. Led by the...

The last few seasons for the Knoch girls volleyball team has been a special ride, with two WPIAL titles and a PIAA title. So as the postseason approaches, it is natural for the seniors to dream of finishing their careers with winning a third district title. After all, they are...

Mike Devine played in the previous three American Association finals only to see his team lose in a deciding Game 5 twice and once in four games, so celebrating a championship on the field with the St. Paul Saints in September was a special moment. The fourth time was the...

Riverside quarterback Ben Hughes and wide receiver Nathan Sciarro started working on their connection in May, going down to the football field after school and running routes with the goal of getting better timing. All of that offseason work certainly paid off, because their connection was impeccable Friday night. Hughes...