Ray Fisher stories, Page 31

To say the players on the Thomas Jefferson girls volleyball team have clicked would be more than accurate. The TJ girls cruised to the Section 3-3A title with an 11-0 record with one match remaining on their 2021 schedule. “My early thoughts this season were that we were going to...

The Quaker Valley girls focused firmly on one thing this soccer season. “Our goal from the start was to make the playoffs, and the girls got that done,” said Maggie Behun, QV’s co-coach with Rachel Loudermilk. “We were able to win the games we needed to and our losses were...

Sewickley Academy’s boys soccer team eked out a section championship by the narrowest of margins this season. The Panthers and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart tied 1-1 in their Section 1-A showdown Oct. 13; the Panthers locked up first place with a 9-0-1 record. OLSH ended up in second...

The turnaround began last year and continued into this season. After sitting out the WPIAL soccer playoffs from 2015-18, the Bethel Park girls team qualified last year with a 6-4-2 section record, then continued the process in 2021 in a hard-fought battle with rivals Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair....

After shaking last year’s winless record, Bethel Park’s football team played its way to a WPIAL playoff berth with four impressive midseason victories. The Black Hawks started off their bounce-back year with a 1-3 record before dialing in wins against Franklin Regional (28-13), West Allegheny (26-10), South Fayette (27-7) and...

The Springdale boys soccer team clinched a WPIAL playoff berth with a 1-0 section win Oct. 11 at Carlynton. The Dynamos improved to 6-4-1 in Section 3-A, good for third place behind Winchester Thurston and Eden Christian, then followed up with a 4-2 section win Oct. 13 against Riverview. “Coming...

Quaker Valley already has claimed one championship this fall. QV’s boys soccer team prepped for the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs by stacking up a 12-0 record in section play. Not only were the Quakers unbeaten in the section, they did not allow a single goal. Remarkably, QV outscored the opposition...

Not only was it his best effort this season, it was the top individual performance of his football career. Senior RB/WR/DB Patrick Cutchember led Quaker Valley to a 30-7 conference win Oct. 8 against Hopewell with a dazzling 200-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance. “We have one of the best playmakers in...

Dan Venture capped his 2021 golf season as a WPIAL finalist. A junior at Hampton, Venture shot 8-over 80 and tied for 19th at the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals Sept. 27 at Willowbrook Country Club. Venture advanced to the championship round held Oct. 5 at Nemacolin, where he finished with...

The Valley boys golf team successfully checked off a couple of goal-oriented boxes this season. The Vikings were hoping to improve on last year’s .500 record. Check. Through 11 matches, Valley was 8-3. The Vikings also were hoping to advance to the WPIAL team championship. Check again. Valley tied for...

One is a senior. One is a sophomore. Individually, Anna Cohen and Matt Otto represent the top competitors on the Quaker Valley girls and boys cross country teams. Cohen, a senior who is known as a cerebral student-athlete, has been a solid runner throughout her high school career. Second-year QV...

After one game, the Quaker Valley hockey team already was ahead of last year’s pace. QV lost its first four PIHL games last season en route to a 6-11 record and didn’t attain its first victory until Jan. 12 against Westmont Hilltop. The Quakers opened the 2021-22 season Oct. 4...

Maddie Boyer made school history in qualifying for the WPIAL Class AA girls individual golf final. “Maddie is the first female I have had on the boys team to compete for a WPIAL individual championship,” Knoch coach Rob Voltz said. “I hope she enjoys the experience.” The WPIAL girls golf...

Section 9 was well represented at the WPIAL Class AA boys individual golf final Sept. 30 at Allegheny County Club. Sewickley Academy’s Joey Mucci and Quaker Valley’s Ethan Dai easily eclipsed the qualifying mark of 85 at the earlier section qualifier also held at Allegheny Country Club, SA’s home course....

Not only does he have the height and brawn, he has the smarts. Thomas Jefferson graduate Ethan Dunsey plans to continue his basketball career at Saint Vincent. Dunsey, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound frontcourt player, was awarded the Chancellor’s Scholarship — the college’s highest level of merit scholarship — for his academic...

Thomas Jefferson ended up third in Section 3-3A boys soccer last year behind co-champs Belle Vernon and Trinity. The Jaguars are prepared to leapfrog over both opponents this season. “I believe we have the ability to compete for a section title,” coach Michael “Doc” Kulish said. ” We are a...

Brentwood has strung together three straight WPIAL playoff appearances in boys soccer, advancing to the quarterfinals each season. A fourth postseason berth in a row appears to be within reach. “My expectations are high. We have six returning starters,” coach Ron DiNardo said. “All together, we are hoping for a...

Welcome to the “Michael DiSantis Show,” which played to excellent reviews at Sewickley Academy early this season. DiSantis, a junior midfielder and third-year starter, sparked SA boys soccer to a 4-0 start with impressive section wins against Beaver County Christian, Southmoreland, Neshannock and Riverside. DiSantis erupted for 12 goals in...

Quaker Valley is in the midst of a rebuilding project in girls volleyball this season. The Quakers utilized five seniors in an eight-player rotation a year ago, leaving coach Mike Vavrek with three returning starters in 2021. The veteran coach has been fashioning this year’s squad around seniors Anna Weisser,...

Hampton opened its section schedule in girls volleyball with a pair of impressive victories, blanking Highlands and Knoch by 3-0 scores in early September. The Talbots also participated in two tournaments, placing second to Pine-Richland at Mt. Lebanon and dropping a 25-23 decision to South Fayette in the semifinal round...

Five decades covering a span of 41 years were represented at this year’s Bethel Park Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The 2020 Hall of Fame class was announced Sept. 17 before the Gateway-Bethel Park nonconference football game at Black Hawk Stadium. The inductees consist of Alan Smith (1969), Doug...

Adam Triscila, coach of the Bethel Park girls golf program, offered an open invitation. “Our team needs golfers,” he said. “If any young ladies have an interest in golf and would consider playing for us next fall, please contact me (Triscila).” Meanwhile, this season, Triscila welcomed three letter winners back...

Sewickley Academy is a fixture in the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs. The Panthers have advanced to the postseason 12 of the past 13 years, including 11 consecutive times from 2007-17. During that span, the SA girls captured four section championships, with the latest coming in 2017. The Panthers qualified for...

Quaker Valley’s soccer teams were absent from the WPIAL playoffs last season because of coronavirus protocols. After a covid-19 outbreak in the district last fall, QV’s athletic seasons were shut down. The QV girls finished fourth in Section 1-2A after going 3-5-2 in league play and 3-7-2 overall. The Quakers...

Fox Chapel was a WPIAL finalist in field hockey in 2020. The Foxes lost 2-1 to undefeated defending champion Penn-Trafford in the Class 2A final Nov. 2 at a chilly Burk Stadium in Fox Chapel. The Fox Chapel girls were vying for a seventh WPIAL championship in school history; they...