Lady Maples fall to Frazier in 5-set battle
Mapletown鈥檚 Ella Menear tips the ball over the net in Tuesday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal match against Frazier at Peters Township High School鈥檚 AHN Arena. Menear had 16 kills and 19 digs but the Lady Commodores won, 3-2. (Photo by Mark Marietta)
Mapletown鈥檚 Krista Wilson (24) works to preserve a slim lead for the Lady Maples in the fourth set of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal match against Frazier. Wilson had 26 kills, 11 digs and three aces but the Lady Commodores won, 3-2. (Photo by Mark Marietta)
McMURRAY 鈥� Frazier had just lost an epic fourth game in its WPIAL Class A girls volleyball battle with Section 2-A foe Mapletown and now faced a fifth-and-deciding fifth game.
A trip to the district championship was on the line in the third meeting of the season between the two. The Lady Commodores needed someone to provide a spark. Not surprisingly, that player who gave it to them was senior Jensyn Hartman.
Frazier dropped the first three points of the final game but Hartman ignited a 7-1 run with four kills that turned the tide and led to a 15-7 win that clinched a 3-2 victory on Nov. 1 at Peters Township High School鈥檚 AHN Arena.
鈥淛ensyn struggled at times tonight,鈥� Lady Commodores coach Mandy Hartman said of her senior daughter. 鈥淏ut whenever it was clutch time, she certainly came through.鈥�
Mapletown coach Christy Menear admitted Hartman was the difference at the end.
鈥淪he definitely came alive in the fifth set,鈥� said Menear whose team is 18-3 with all three losses coming to Frazier. 鈥淪he put the ball down at the most important times for Frazier to win that game.鈥�
Mandy Hartman has watched her players compete in high-stakes situations before and felt that had an impact on the outcome.
鈥淚 think our experience was a factor, especially in that fifth set,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese girls have won section titles and most of them just played in a WPIAL championship in the spring in softball. So this stage isn鈥檛 unfamiliar to them and I think that helped.鈥�
The second-seeded and undefeated Lady Commodores (21-0) advanced to their third WPIAL final where they swept top-seeded Serra Catholic, 3-0, to win their second district title Saturday at Robert Morris University鈥檚 UPMC Events Center.
鈥淭his is a big scene here and the stage just keeps getting bigger,鈥� Mandy Hartman said. 鈥淔or them to be playing for a WPIAL championship on Saturday is a coach鈥檚 dream. They deserve it. They worked hard all year. This team has been a process and I just love the way they play together.鈥�
The sixth-seeded Lady Maples (18-3), who reached the WPIAL semifinals for the first time, came up short of their first trip to the PIAA playoffs when they went on to fall to fifth-seeded Bishop Canevin in the third-place consolation match at Bethel Park High School on Nov. 3.
鈥淚 think we surprised a lot of people,鈥� Mapletown coach Christy Menear said. 鈥淭hese girls understand that they鈥檝e put Mapletown on the map.鈥�
There were strong performances across the board for both teams in the semifinal clash.
Jensyn Hartman hammered 31 kills and Grace Vaughn added 12 along with 20 service points for the Lady Commodores.
鈥淭he player who I have to give an enormous amount of credit to is Grace Vaughn,鈥� Mandy Hartman said. 鈥淲hen Jensyn went to the back row, she stepped up and won a lot of points for us. We鈥檝e been talking about that. We have to have somebody else to step up. She did that tonight.鈥�
Gracen Hartman, Jensyn鈥檚 sophomore sister, accumulated 55 assists, Molly Yauch came up with 22 digs, Braylin Salisbury delivered 22 service points and Addison Schultz was strong at the net with eight blocks for Frazier.
Mapletown鈥檚 one-two offensive punch of Krista Wilson and Ella Menear 鈥� the coach鈥檚 daughter 鈥� came up big as well.
Wilson rang up 26 kills, 11 digs and six aces, and Menear contributed 16 kills and 19 digs. Bailey Rafferty racked up 38 assists, 11 digs and two aces while also putting all 16 of her jump serves in play.
Mapletown also got 14 digs and two aces from Brianna Athton and 11 digs from Riley Pekar.
Jensyn Hartman came out on fire in the first set, which Frazier won 25-16, but Mapletown answered emphatically to take the second set, 25-17.
鈥淭he first set, I was disappointed in how we played,鈥� Christy Menear said. 鈥淚 told them they have to have a killer instinct to win that second set. We regrouped, went back out and played much better.鈥�
The Lady Maples opened up an early 6-2 lead in the third set but Frazier battled back to tie it six times before finally taking a 20-19 lead on a Hartman kill down the line. The Lady Commodores won five of the last seven points for a 25-21 win and a 2-1 advantage. The final two points came on a block by Maddie Salisbury and a kill by Jensyn Hartman.
Mapletown, which lost its first two matches to Frazier 3-1, was determined not to go done in four sets again.
It a roller-coaster, hard-fought fifth set that featured seven lead changes and 11 ties, the gallant Lady Maples came out on top, 25-23. The score was tied 23-23 when a Frazier service error was followed by a set-ending solo block by Miranda Fox to force the fifth set.
鈥淚 thought that fourth set spoke volumes of my girls for not giving in, pushing through and playing tough,鈥� Christy Menear said.
With the momentum on the Lady Maples鈥� side, Mandy Hartman tried to get her squad to refocus and reset.
鈥淚 told them we can鈥檛 play afraid to lose,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 be timid on serve-receive, we can鈥檛 be afraid to be aggressive.
鈥淚 feel like at times tonight we were really on our heels because we didn鈥檛 want to make a mistake. They played to win that last set.鈥�
Mapletown trailed 11-7 when Frazier reeled off the final four points with one coming on a kill by Vaughn and one on an ace by Maddie Stefancik just inside the line. A Lady Maples error ended it and the Lady Commodores celebrated.
Mandy Hartman commended the Lady Maples.
鈥淎s soon as I saw the bracket I knew we were going to play them again,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur section is so tough. They鈥檙e a great team. They鈥檙e tough. I knew this was not going to be easy.
鈥淓verybody always tells you it鈥檚 hard to beat a good team three times and there鈥檚 something to that. Luckily we came out on top tonight.鈥�