Westmoreland County campus clippings: Derry grads John Kerr, Mark Pavlik earn postseason awards

Derry has a strong presence on the Penn State men’s volleyball team.

It also loomed large at postseason award time.

A pair of Derry alums — a high-energy hitter and his veteran coach — are taking home some top-notch hardware.

Grad student John Kerr was named the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Player of the Year, while Mark Pavlik was announced as the top coach in the EIVA.

Kerr, in his first year as a full-time starter, is hitting .357 while averaging 4.27 points, 3.75 kills, 1.27 digs and 0.52 blocks per set. For the regular season, Kerr ranked second in the EIVA in points and kills per set, and was third in hitting percentage. Pavlik, who guided PSU to the regular season title, has won coach of the year 10 times. This is his 30th season.

The Nittany Lions are 11-6 against nationally ranked teams.

Penn State (21-6), which has won five consecutive EIVA Player of the Year awards, will host the EIVA Tournament Wednesday through Saturday.

The Nittany Lions will play the winner of No. 4 NJIT vs. No. 5 Harvard in the semifinals.

Men’s volleyball

Geneva: Freshman Owen Kelley (Hempfield) was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Newcomer of the Year.

Kelley, who also made the all-conference third team, led the team with 325 kills, while adding 196 digs, 43 blocks and 36 service aces.

He played all six rotations.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Shawn McSwiggen was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, while Bearcats’ leader Kate McCauley was chosen as the conference coach of the year.

SVC also had three first-team picks in McSwiggen, senior outside hitter Matthew Minkin and sophomore setter Zach Wyant.

Sophomore outside hitter Zebadiah Wyant and senior libero Matthew Klasnic (Latrobe) made the third team.

McSwiggen led the AMCC in the regular season in per-set kills (3.85) and points (4.6), and was third in service aces (38).

McCauley, who is in her third season, helped the Bearcats set a program record for wins (19) and a first-place finish to go with the top seed for the conference playoffs.

SVC (19-8) finished as the runner-up after a loss to Hiram in the championship.

Minkin averaged 2.81 kills on a .205 hitting percentage, while Wyant averaged 8.18 assists and 2.44 digs per set, and had 27 service aces.

The Bearcats this weekend will open the ECAC Tournament. They will take on Rutgers-Newark at 5 p.m. Saturday in New Jersey.

Softball

Seton Hill: Winners of seven in a row, the Griffins (31-9, 19-3) are leading all Division II teams in the nation with a .377 batting average.

Four players are hitting over .400 in Kassidy Wittig (.452), Nina Grandey (.437), Camryn Murphy (.426) and Morgan Toal (.420), while Grace Paredes is batting .380 and Brooklyn Fukushima .368.

The Griffins have outscored their opponents, 366-158. They have 157 extra-base hits, including 55 home runs.

Baseball

Cal (Pa.): Sophomore closer Jake Kramer (Hempfield) broke the single-season record for saves (10) and tied the program mark for career saves (16).

The previous season mark was nine set by Dave Yasenchak in 1983.

Yasenchak also has 16 career saves.