Lady Falcons’ season ends with playoff loss to Burrell
WAYNESBURG 鈥� Brownsville got off to a good start but couldn鈥檛 sustain its early momentum and fell to Burrell, 3-0, in a WPIAL Class 2A girls volleyball first-round playoff match at Waynesburg Central on Tuesday night.
The No. 8 Lady Falcons built a 16-10 lead in the opening set that forced the No. 9 Lady Buccaneers to call a timeout. Burrell responded by out-scoring Brownsville 15-5 the rest of the set for a 25-21 win and controlled the match the rest of the way, taking sets two and three by scores of 25-9 and 25-20.
Brownsville, which finished second to Waynesburg in Section 5, ends its season with a 14-3 overall record.
鈥淚鈥檓 always happy and grateful when we can make the playoffs but obviously I would like for us to advance,鈥� Lady Falcons coach Rachael Salvucci said. 鈥淲e just still have a lot of things we have to work on and I hope they do that and carry it on into next year.
鈥淲e just struggled with passing and serving today. Usually our serves are on and we won鈥檛 miss as many as we did. We missed four serves in that first set and we lost by four.鈥�
It was the last match for Brownsville senior and University of Virginia recruit Skyler Gates who helped the Lady Falcons take an early 7-3 lead with three kills, two on blocks. Abigayle Thomas contributed a block among three kills to help Brownsville build its six-point lead.
The tide shifted with Delaney Ploskunak serving for Burrell (15-2) during a six-point run that tied the score. A block kill by Gates put Brownsville back in front but the Lady Buccaneers went ahead to stay with a point on an unforced error for a 19-18 advantage.
Burrell dominated the second set, reeling off 11 points in a row at one point to increase a 9-6 lead into an insurmountable 20-6 advantage and went on to win by 16.
鈥淏urrell moved at a very fast speed that unfortunately we couldn鈥檛 keep up with all the time,鈥� Salvucci said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e definitely comparable to Waynesburg with their quickness and being smart. They had some strong hitters and we were delayed in our reactions tonight for some reason.鈥�
Burrell rushed out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and built the margin up to as much as seven. Brownsville continued to battle and whittled the gap to three twice, 17-14 on back-to-back service aces by Gates and 22-19 on a kill by Gates.
The Lady Buccaneers took three of the final four points to close out the match.
Gates had 10 kills, five blocks and two service aces to lead the Lady Falcons. Abigayle Thomas had five kills and Aijanae Foster added four kills.
Salvucci looked on the bright side for her team after the defeat.
鈥淲e had a lot of things we accomplished,鈥� Salvucci said. 鈥淲e ended up with only three losses, we won the FCCA tournament, we won the Beth-Center tournament, Skyler got to 1,000 kills. We had a great season as a team in that everybody got along and meshed well and it felt like a family.
鈥淚 told them I鈥檓 proud of them for making the postseason. Not every team gets to experience this. But they have to try to realize what they have to do to get better for next season. I want to be able to take us to the next level.鈥�
It was the last match for Brownsville鈥檚 Gates and senior Cyan Eilam. Gates leaves a big hole to fill but the Lady Falcons will have plenty of experience returning next season.
鈥淲e have some juniors that with some more work over the summer have the ability to really pound the ball,鈥� Salvucci said. 鈥淲e have a lot of rising sophomores and we had a great, talented freshmen class.
鈥淎s for Skyler, oh my gosh we鈥檙e going to miss not only her talent but what a great teammate she was. We are her No. 1 fans and we鈥檙e so looking forward to support her in her future endeavors. Everyone loves Skyler and we enjoyed our time with her.鈥�