Wilson wanted to open the PIAA Class 4A girls volleyball playoffs with a bounce-back victory.
The Bulldogs did just that, rolling past Central 3-0 Tuesday in a first-round match at West Lawn.
Wilson won by game scores of 25-7, 25-12 and 25-6, a big-time response after it lost in five sets to Hempfield in the District 3 final last week.
“Felt good,” Bulldogs senior Airyanna Kline said. “Felt good to come back with a win.”
The District 12 champion Lancers (17-2) were no match for Wilson.
In the first set, the Bulldogs (22-3) hopped to an 11-2 lead and did not look back as they dominated the rest of the way.
“We can play with anybody and have the opportunity to win this whole thing,” Wilson coach Denny Werner said. “So we talked about how you got to be consistent. We knew we were going to be probably overwhelming them tonight, but we really focused on, ‘If you want to go far you can’t take nights off now. You have to be on and focused, regardless of who you play. If you want to go far and you take off tonight, you’re not ready to try to win this thing and go far.’
“So they did a really good job tonight. I was pleased with them.”
Wilson — which lost 25-18, 22-25, 26-28, 25-21 and 16-14 to Hempfield, the top-ranked Class 4A team in the state, in the district final — continued to dominate Central in the second and third sets.
The Lancers did will their way to 12 points in the second set, and trailed only 8-6, but Wilson was too much for them to handle.
For the Bulldogs, Kline had 12 kills and four blocks; Cameryn Niedrowski had one kill, four digs, one block, five aces and 29 assists; Kassidy Means had 11 kills, six digs and four blocks; and Jasilyn Moncada had three digs and six aces.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s quarterfinals, at a site and time to be announced, Wilson will face a familiar opponent in District 11 champ Parkland, which defeated Haverford 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 26-24) Tuesday.
“We lost to them in the same exact round last year, so it’s motivation to avenge that loss and then just try to get someplace where these girls have never gotten,” Werner said. “We have never gotten past this next round (quarterfinals). That’s the next step. Let’s be 1-0 on Saturday. … We’ll watch a lot of film, have them prepared and ready to go.”
Last season the Trojans beat the Bulldogs by game scores of 25-22, 25-11 and 25-16.
“We feel pretty confident,” Kline said. “We’ve got loads of practice. So that gives us a little bit to get ourselves together and get ready.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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