Michael Love stories, Page 42
Kiski Area volleyball sweeps Plum in nonsection play
Plum and Kiski Area teams are no strangers to each other as the schools match up in multiple sports across fall, winter and spring. The Mustangs and Cavaliers girls volleyball teams continued that series Monday with a nonsection matchup at Kiski Area High School. With both teams hoping to build...
Frazier new No. 1 team in Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class A rankings
Frazier girls volleyball remained undefeated in Section 2-A last Thursday with a 3-1 win over California. The Commodores, also 11-1 overall, are the new No. 1 team in Class A as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its latest WPIAL girls volleyball rankings Monday morning. Serra Catholic (10-0, 8-0...
Gateway notebook: Boys soccer edges Franklin Regional; Cisse takes 3rd at section meet
The Gateway boys soccer team needed almost the full 80 minutes, but a late penalty-kick goal from junior midfielder James LoCoco was the difference as the Gators topped Section 4-3A power Franklin Regional on Oct. 3 at home. The 3-2 victory avenged a 1-0 loss to the Panthers from Sept....
While awaiting head coach, Gateway baseball team prepares for ’24 season
The process to hire a new varsity baseball coach at Gateway continues this month, but the program’s players, under the direction of several assistants from last spring, haven’t stopped gathering for workouts and fall games to stay sharp and on the same page with the 2024 season on their minds....
A-K Valley football notebook: Deer Lakes streaks into matchup with East Allegheny
The Deer Lakes football team won its fifth game of the season Friday night and evened its Allegheny 6 Conference record at 1-1. The Lancers hope to move closer to a WPIAL Class 3A playoff spot when they visit East Allegheny (5-2, 2-0) on Friday. The Lancers gave up just...
Young Plum girls volleyball team growing up fast in time for WPIAL playoffs
When Rachel Satira was hired as head coach of the Plum girls volleyball team, she knew the team would be young with some growing to do to get to where it wanted to be. With just two returning starters and only four seniors, three of which owned prior playing time...
Plum sophomore girls soccer player steps into Bigger role with football team
One day a couple of years ago, Olivia Bigger was delivering soccer kicks toward a goal from about the 40-yard line. A couple of Plum football coaches took notice of her booming boots. “They were impressed with my leg and asked me to try out,” Bigger said. “I told them...
Deer Lakes uses fast start to roll past Valley
Deer Lakes wasted no time getting on the board in its Allegheny 6 Conference matchup with Valley on Friday at Lancers Stadium. Junior Zach Grant took the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown. The Lancers then took advantage of a Vikings turnover and converted for a two-score lead just...
Kiski Area’s Miller shines again at cross country sectional
Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller crushed her own Northmoreland Park course record Wednesday at the WPIAL Division 1, Section 4 cross country championship meet, finishing the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 22.80 seconds. It was her fourth individual section title in as many attempts. She surpassed by 19 seconds her...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2023 Week 6
Player of the week Jake Cummings Leechburg, Jr., TE/LB Cummings carried the ball seven times for 31 yards and two touchdowns, caught an additional five passes for 91 yards and a score and converted two 2-point conversions Friday in Leechburg’s bounce-back win over Frazier. He also blocked a punt that...
A defensive battle the past 2 seasons, plenty on the line in Valley-Deer Lakes matchup
Points were at a premium in the past two meetings between the Deer Lakes and Valley football teams. The Vikings and Lancers combined for 15 total points as Deer Lakes won 7-2 last year and 6-0 the year before. Vikings coach Mark Adams and Lancers coach Tim Burk expect a...
Freeport volleyball rolls past Deer Lakes, stays perfect in section play
The Freeport girls volleyball team didn’t let visiting Deer Lakes gain any momentum in a Section 5-2A match Tuesday at Freeport Middle School. The Yellowjackets were impressive from the start and swept the Lancers, 3-0, with scores of 25-11, 25-5, and 25-4. “I think tonight was a very clean game...
Plum girls soccer defeats Latrobe in overtime thriller
The Plum and Latrobe girls soccer teams needed overtime to decide their Section 3-3A matchup Monday evening at Plum’s Mustangs Stadium. Freshman Emily Grubich made sure the homestanding Mustangs came away with the crucial three points. She raced down the middle of the field, possessed the ball after passes from...
Deer Lakes girls soccer learning on fly, gaining confidence
Deer Lakes sophomore Bryanna Simonetti spelled out a simple formula for the Lancers’ Section 2-2A clash with section power Freeport last Wednesday. “It just came down to us sticking together as a team and playing solid at both ends,” Simonetti said. “We had been playing pretty well, and I had...
Girls volleyball rankings: Section races heat up for stretch run to WPIAL playoffs
There were no changes at the top in each of the four WPIAL classifications as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its Week 5 polls Monday morning. Staying at No. 1 were North Allegheny in Class 4A, Hampton in Class 3A, Freeport in Class 2A and Serra Catholic in...
Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame inducts Class of 2023
The Kiski Area athletic community gathered last month to celebrate a group of Cavaliers greats. Their exploits in competition were recognized with enshrinement as the latest class of the Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame. Lauded during the Sept. 2 banquet and ceremony were Sean Arnold (Class of 1998, soccer,...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Freeport shows grit despite loss
Despite his team not pulling out a victory in its Allegheny 6 opener against Shady Side Academy, Freeport coach John Gaillot reiterated Saturday the praise he had for his mix of youthful and veteran players in battling through adversity on and off the scoreboard in the 31-28 outcome. The Yellowjackets...
Shady Side outlasts Freeport in Class 3A Allegheny 6 Conference opener
The Class 3A Allegheny 6 Conference was one of two in the WPIAL to have none of its teams play a conference game before Friday night. Shady Side Academy and Freeport hoped to get off to a winning start in conference action after five nonconference contests to start the season....
Leechburg athletic director Angela Franke resigns
Angela Franke’s brief tenure as athletic director at Leechburg has come to a close. Her last day in the position was Friday, high school principal Doug Rodgers confirmed. Rodgers said he believes Franke is leaving for a full-time athletic director position in eastern Pennsylvania. The Leechburg AD job is part...
Top 4 teams in WPISL standings pair off for Sunday doubleheaders
Mt. Lebanon brought previously undefeated Plum back to the pack in a doubleheader sweep of the Mustangs last Sunday in Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League action. The wins bumped the Blue Devils up to 6-2, while Plum fell to 6-2. West Allegheny dominated North Hills over two games to also...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2023 Week 5
Player of the week Cooper Hornack Burrell, Sr., RB/DB Hornack, the reigning two-time Valley News Dispatch wrestler of the year and the 2023 PIAA Class 2A champion at 127 pounds, was a difference-maker last Friday as Burrell won its third straight game after an 0-2 start. Burrell ran the ball...
Conference title in focus when Knoch, Deer Lakes renew rivalry
Deer Lakes and Knoch waged a frantic, down-to-the wire battle last season at Lancers Stadium to open Allegheny 6 Conference play. The teams combined for 38 points in the fourth quarter — 22 from Knoch and 16 from Deer Lakes — as the Lancers pulled out a 37-36 victory. “Looking...
St. Joseph volleyball keeps improving, sets sights on WPIAL playoff spot
In 2020, the St. Joseph girls volleyball team went 0-12 in section play. It was 0-14 the year before and in 2018. The Spartans won just three section matches in 2021, but things were looking up. Last year, they recorded four victories in section play, and a late-season 3-1 loss...
Serra Catholic ascends to No. 1 in coaches association WPIAL Class A girls rankings
There is a change at the top in Class A as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its Week 4 WPIAL girls rankings Monday morning. Serra Catholic, last year’s WPIAL runner-up, unseated Bishop Canevin. The Eagles improved last week to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in Section 4-A. Defending WPIAL...
Gateway grad Courtney Jackson finding success at Arkansas State
Courtney Jackson is playing his first season with the Arkansas State football team, and on Sept. 16, he hauled in his first touchdown pass for the Red Wolves in a 31-7 victory over Stony Brook. Arkansas State collected 485 yards of total offense with the receiving corps gaining 140 of...
