Michael Love stories, Page 123
A-K Valley Campus Clippings: Freeport grads making splash at Allegheny
Freeport graduate Zoe Soilis, a 5-foot-7 senior guard for the Allegheny women’s basketball team, she scored a career-best 34 points Thursday to lead the Gators past Penn State-Behrend, 91-82. She hit 10 of 19 field goals, including six 3-pointers. Through five games, Solis is averaging 18.3 points and 5.5 rebounds....
Schlegel leads Plum hockey team back to playoff contentionVideo
The Plum hockey team edged Hampton in a PIHL Class AA contest Nov. 11 for its fourth win in its opening six games. The Mustangs won three games last season. Senior co-captain Logan Schlegel scored twice against the Talbots. A power-play tally early in the third period broke a 2-2...
Opportunity knocks for underclassmen on Deer Lakes girls rosterVideo
Reese Hasley is confident and focused forward. On the cusp of a new season for the Deer Lakes girls basketball team, the sophomore guard said she sees a group of players who can contend for a WPIAL playoff spot despite losing four multiyear starters to graduation. “We’re a young team,...
After a season to remember, Deer Lakes boys trying to plan an encoreVideo
The Deer Lakes boys basketball team made history last year during its school-record run to and through the postseason. The Lancers captured an outright section championship for the first time since 1992. They also won a WPIAL playoff game and qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the first time since...
Gannon hires veteran football coach to lead Knights
Gannon University has its man. Erik Raeburn, a northeast Ohio native, is the new head coach for the Knights football team. The school announced the hire at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Raeburn is no stranger to the Gannon program as he served as the program’s offensive coordinator for the...
With new coach, veteran roster, Apollo-Ridge girls eye return trip to playoffsVideo
Mike Monstrola served as a coach for the Apollo-Ridge junior high boys basketball program last year, but he often made it a point to take in games involving the Vikings boys and girls varsity teams. So when he was hired as the new girls coach over the summer, he was...
Apollo-Ridge boys basketball looks to take one more step forward
The Apollo-Ridge boys basketball team made a leap back to prominence last year, improving by seven wins, both overall and in section play, from the year before. The Vikings were in the playoff mix until the final week of the regular season. But a pair of section losses, including one...
Freeport, Knoch volleyball teams reflect on PIAA runs
Only 16 high school girls volleyball teams were left standing last Tuesday as the four classifications moved to the semifinal round of the PIAA playoffs. Freeport and Knoch were in the mix and hoped to return to the finals where they captured gold in 2017. However, their postseason runs were...
PIAA Class AA volleyball finals primer: North Catholic vs. North Penn-Liberty
North Penn-Liberty (22-0) vs. North Catholic (22-1) 1 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg Coaches: Jennifer Nawri, North Penn-Liberty; Amanda Fetter, North Catholic Players to watch: Maddison Minyo, senior, middle hitter/outside hitter, North Penn-Liberty; Dominique Felix, senior, outside hitter, North Catholic. How they got here: District 4 champion North...
PIAA Class AAAA volleyball finals primer: North Allegheny vs. Bishop Shanahan
Bishop Shanahan (23-0) vs. North Allegheny (22-1) 6 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg Coaches: Greg Ashman, Bishop Shanahan; Heidi Miller, North Allegheny Players to watch: Abby Miller, senior, setter/opposite, North Allegheny; Cara Shultz, senior, outside hitter, Bishop Shanahan. How they got here: District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan defeated...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Plum’s Peyton Kondis excels for Houston
Peyton Kondis is off to another strong start with the Houston women’s swim team. The Plum resident and Oakland Catholic graduate was named American Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week after winning the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and helping the 200 and 400 medley relays win in a dual meet...
Fox Chapel’s Fitch, Sisson named A-K Valley cross country runners of year
Fox Chapel seniors Christian Fitch and Grace Sisson were selected as the Alle-Kiski cross country runners of the year as a part of the 2019 All-Star teams. The all-star recognition, which includes teams and coaches of the year, as well as first-team, second-team and honorable mention-selections, is a collaborative effort...
Tarentum’s James 5:16 Boxing Center to host amateur bouts
The James 5:16 Boxing Center in Tarentum will host amateur boxing Saturday. Chris Archer, a trainer at the facility, said there will be 13-15 bouts between fighters from local gyms throughout the area and region who continue to prepare for the Golden Gloves and USA Boxing tournaments early next year....
Kiski Area wrestlers, other A-K Valley athletes sign letters of intent
Last year at this time, Nick Delp saw Kiski Area graduates Cam Connor and Darren Miller sign Division I National Letters of Intent to wrestle at Penn and Bucknell, respectively. On Wednesday, it was Delp’s turn to celebrate the finality of his college decision. The Bucknell wrestling commit joined a...
Plum grad Crossey maintains stout defensive play for Case Western Reserve
The Case Western Reserve football team edged Waynesburg on Saturday to clinch the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Throughout the matchup with the Yellow Jackets, Patrick Crossey was making a difference for the Spartans defense. The Plum graduate and senior...
North Allegheny keeps hopes of PIAA volleyball 3-peat alive
The North Allegheny girls volleyball team captured PIAA gold the past two seasons, and the Tigers will go after their third consecutive crown and sixth in program history after defeating Landisville Hempfield 3-1 in a Class AAAA semifinal match Tuesday at Altoona High School. The Tigers improved to 21-1 overall...
Palmyra ends Knoch’s volleyball season in state semifinals
Things started well for the Knoch girls volleyball team in Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA semifinal against Palmyra at Altoona High School. The Knights outlasted the Cougars 27-25 in a competitive first game and hoped to build on the gained momentum. But the District 3 champion didn’t waver. Palmyra, undefeated in...
Freeport volleyball set for high-stakes rematch with North Catholic
As the Freeport girls volleyball team was taking care of Beaver on Saturday in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal at Shaler, North Catholic and defending PIAA champion Bald Eagle Area squared off for another spot in the state semifinals. The Yellowjackets’ sweep of the Bobcats propelled them into the PIAA...
Standout Freeport pitcher Jarrett Heilman gives verbal commitment to Mercyhurst
Jarrett Heilman is busy preparing for his final high school baseball season with a Freeport, which returns numerous starters and key contributors from last spring’s run to a Section 1-3A title and the PIAA playoffs. But when the senior pitcher hangs up his Yellowjackets uniform for the final time, he...
Knoch volleyball sweeps Franklin Regional to move into state semifinals
The Knoch girls volleyball team swept Franklin Regional when the teams met in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals last week. The Panthers hoped to turn the tables on the Knights as they faced off again Saturday, this time with a berth in the PIAA semifinals on the line. But Knoch,...
Freeport volleyball sweeps Beaver, moves into PIAA semifinalsVideo
The Freeport girls volleyball team is returning to a familiar place. The Yellowjackets fired on all cylinders Saturday in a 3-0 sweep of Beaver in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal at Shaler, and they will play in the state semifinals for the third year in a row. “We always talk...
Chase Balla does it all for Allegheny’s football team
Chase Balla is a jack-of-all-trades for the Allegheny College football team. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound junior has served as an anchor of the defense as a linebacker/defensive back hybrid since his freshman season, when he earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honorable-mention honors. Balla, a Valley High School graduate, has been a...
Knoch block party frustrates volleyball foesVideo
In last week’s WPIAL Class AAA semifinal victory over Franklin Regional, Knoch girls volleyball players recorded more than two dozen blocks, with four players leading the way with six apiece. Senior Hannah Rowe tallied 14 blocks in Saturday’s WPIAL title game victory, and fellow senior Skylar Burkett added five. On...
Freeport refocuses, gets set for PIAA volleyball quarterfinals
After two emotional and physically draining five-set matches to cap the WPIAL playoffs, senior outside hitter Lauren Lampus and the other Freeport girls volleyball team members were happy to take care of business in straightforward fashion Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA tournament. The WPIAL champion Yellowjackets took...
Nation’s best martial artists flock to Alle-Kiski Valley tournament
The Pennsylvania Karate Championships is the second-longest running event of its type in the United States, and Saturday’s 47th annual event at Valley High School again is expected to attract the top martial arts competitors from the Alle-Kiski Valley as well as the region, state and country. “It was one...
