Westmoreland County campus clippings: Pitt-Greensburg announces Hall of Fame class

Pitt-Greensburg announced its 2024 Athletics Hall of Fame class.

It includes a team, an administrator and a pair of athletes.

The inductees are the 2002-03 women’s basketball team, Dr. Frank Cassell, men’s soccer star Adam DiCarlo (Class of 2006) and cross country runner Zach Kocian (‘08).

• The women’s team is the only one in school history to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. UPG finished 23-7 and won the program’s first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title.

The Bobcats, coached by Carol Gelet, defeated Mount Saint Mary, 62-54, in the NCAA first round behind All-AMCC players Annie Sral, Erin Arnold and Jess Porter.

• Cassell was UPG president when the school joined the NCAA, helping to oversee and guide the athletic department into the future alongside other Hall of Famers Dan Swalga and Rick Fogle.

• DiCarlo scord 63 goals in his soccer carer for 143 points, both UPG records. He was the AMCC newcomer and player of the Year in 2002 and was a first-team all-conference pick.

He was named one of the top runners on the AMCC’s 25th anniversary list.

• Hempfield alum Zach Kocian was a four-time all-conference selection and held the fastest 8K time for 15 years.

He went on to coach cross country at UPG and at Westmoreland County Community College.

Football

Seton Hill: Senior defensive lineman Dioh Desuah was named to the D2CCA All-Super Region 1 Second Team. Desuah had 39 tackles, including 14 for loss, and was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year.

Men’s basketball

College of Charleston: Grad forward Bryce Butler (Latrobe) scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and passed out four assists in an 84-78 win over Kent State.

Mercyhurst: Freshman guard Adam Bilinsky (Norwin) is averaging 7.0 points and 1.8 rebounds, and is 9 of 10 from the foul line, for the Lakers. He has appeared in eight games and is playing 21.4 minutes a night.

Montevallo: Freshman guard Landon Butler (Latrobe) scored 12 points and added four steals in 23 minutes in a 96-81 win over Shorter.

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Matt Marinchak (Ligonier Valley) scored 22 points and freshman Trent Rozich had 21 as UPG downed Penn State Behrend, 72-68.

Rozich added eight rebounds and Marinchak had seven, with Marinchak connecting on 4 of 8 3-pointers for UPG (2-5, 1-1 AMCC).

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats continued their hot start, running their record to 6-0 with a 74-71 win over Waynesburg as sophomore Dev Ostrowski scored 22 points, sophomore Jaden Gales added 16 and senior Osyon Jones chipped in 12.

Seton Hill: A big second half helped the Griffins (4-1, 1-0) push past Shippensburg, 72-66, in their PSAC opener.

Senior Ryan Meis had a team-high 17 points, while grad forward Jimmy Moon scored 11 and freshman Kedrick Curtis chipped in 10.

For the first time this season, the Griffins are ranked (10th) in the D2CSC Atlantic Regional Poll.

Women’s basketball

Grove City: Junior Mara Polczynski (Norwin) scored a season-high 16 points, including one of the team’s 11 3-pointers during a run early in the third quarter, in a 76-60 win over Westminster in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Polczynski added 14 points and eight rebounds, both team highs, in a 70-58 loss to Carnegie Mellon.

Marietta: Senior guard Olivia Gribble (Norwin) tied a team high with 15 points, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, in an 87-51 win over Heidelberg.

Mercyhurst: Sophomore Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) is leading the Lakers in scoring through seven games with a 14.9-point average. She has started every game and is shooting 51.3% from the field.

Kuhns had 21 points against Roberts Wesleyan and 19 against Ohio Dominion.

Saint Vincent: Senior guard Emily Cavacini poured in 30 points to tie a career high and lead the Bearcats (4-3, 3-1 PAC) to a 69-60 victory over Waynesburg. Cavacini made 14 of 21 shots, and grad forward Madison Weber added 10 points and 12 rebounds for SVC.

Seton Hill: The Griffins moved to 4-3 overall (2-0 PSAC West) with a 70-59 victory over Shippensburg.

Senior guard Christiane Frye scored 16 points to lead the way for Seton Hill, which has won three of its last four. She was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week.

Men’s soccer

Penn State Behrend: Senior Justin LeDonne (Franklin Regional) was named to the United Soccer Coaches Division III All-Region VII Second Team.

Junior forward Blake Cooper (Franklin Regional) made the third team.

LeDonne was the AMCC co-player of the year. He helped the Lions post 12 shutouts in 21 games.

Behrend gave up only three goals in AMCC play. LeDonne added three goals and an assist.

Cooper led the team with 32 points (12 goals, 8 assists).

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Zander Plizga was named to the United States Soccer Coaches Division III All-Region Second Team.

Plizga had 10 goals and six assists for a team-best 26 points.

Women’s soccer

Saint Vincent: Senior forward Tanisha Grewal was selected to to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team, while sophomore defender Olivia Toomey made the third team.

A player from SVC had not earned all-region honors since 2012.

Grewal, a PAC first-teamer, had 10 goals and five assists, while Toomey helped a back line produce a conference-low 0.67 goals-against average. SVC had nine shutouts in 18 games.

Westminster: Junior Brooke Horvath (Franklin Regional) was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Women’s All-Region VII Third Team.

Horvath, a three-time All-PAC player, was third in the conference with 10 assists, fourth in points (34) and fifth in goals (12).

Men’s swimming

Clarion: Freshman Henry Miller (Southmoreland) and junior Austin Prokopec (Penn-Trafford) were part of the 200-yard medley relay team that finished ninth at the Akron Zippy Invitational. They recorded a school-record time of 1 minute, 29.32 seconds.

Prokopec also swam with the 400-yard relay that broke a 30-year-old school record with a time of 3:00.52.

Women’s swimming

Clarion: Junior Jordan Kutchak (Norwin) helped the 800-yard freestyle relay team post its top time of the season, at 7:42.90, for a 12-place finish at the Zippy Invitational at Akron.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Grad student John Kerr (Derry) is back for the Nittany Lions and will serve as a team captain.

The 6-foot-6 Kerr played in 67 sets as a blocking substitute last season and had 123 kills and 22 blocks.

Penn State coach Mark Pavlik is a Derry native.

Wrestling

Army: Sophomore Ethan Berginc (Hempfield/Jeannette) finished second at the Cougar Clash with 18 points, earning a bye, then scoring a pin and a major decision before falling to teammate Charlie Farmer in the finals at 125 pounds.

Bucknell: Senior and No. 21-ranked 133-pounder Kurtis Phipps (Norwin) picked up a win with a second-period pin, but the Bison fell to No. 18 Wisconsin, 24-22.

Pitt: A pair of local standouts, both redshirt freshmen, are ranked nationally. Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant) is No. 11 at 285 pounds, while Finn Solomon (Franklin Regional) is No. 23 at 149.

Pitzer is 4-1 this season and 12-4 for his career, while Solomon had a record of 10-2 with two pins and a major decision.

Seton Hill: Freshman Jonathan Graham finished as the runner-up at 285 pounds at the Lake Erie Storm Open.

Waynesburg: Freshman Billy Sugden (Ligonier Valley) picked up a win at heavyweight for the Yellow Jackets at the Lake Erie Storm Open.

Women’s volleyball

Seton Hill: Freshman middle hitter Catie Flohr was awarded for a strong debut season. She was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Atlantic Region Freshman of the Year, and was selected for the AVCA All-Atlantic Region First Team.

She is the first player from Seton Hill to earn the top freshman honor. Flohr, the PSAC West Freshman of the Year, was second on the team with 318 kills and led the Griffins with a .385 hitting percentage. She also had a team-high 67 blocks to go with 77 digs and 16 aces.

Men’s indoor track and field

Saint Vincent: Senior Tim Patterson broke his own school 5K record with a time of 15 minutes, 8.87 seconds at the Youngstown State Icebreaker.

He finished third among 49 runners.

Seton Hill: Sophomore Angelo Allen set a school record in the shot put (16.16 meters), while senior Andrew Campbell established a new program mark in the 60-meter dash (6.89 seconds) at the Lehigh Mountain Hawk Opener.

Women’s indoor track and field

Clarion: Junior Leah Perry (Derry) finished fifth in the high jump in the unseeded heat at the Youngstown State Icebreaker with a mark of 1.47 meters.

Duquesne: Freshman Cydney Blahovec (Hempfield) finished fourth in her first 800-meter race with a time of 2 minutes, 23.05 seconds at the Youngstown State Icebreaker meet.

Point Park: Senior Allison Plassio (Norwin) finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run, leading the early laps, with a personal-record time of 10:51.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Caroline Kozera broke the school record in the 200-meter dash in 27.58 seconds at the Youngstown State Icebreaker. The previous mark of 29.51 seconds was set by senior Miranda Guthrie last year.