MCCONNELLSBURG ADVANCES TO DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP – DEFEATS CHESTNUT RIDGE
Girls Volleyball: McConnellsburg 3, Chestnut Ridge 1: On October 28th, the McConnellsburg Lady Spartans hosted the Chestnut Ridge Lady Lions in the semi-final round of the District 5 Class 2A playoffs. The Lady Spartans stayed strong down the stretch, earning a 3–1 win over the Lady Lions to improve to 14-8-2 on the season.
The Lady Spartans advance to the D5 AA championship vs. Everett Lady Warriors on October 31st at 3 p.m. at the Windber High School.
The first set was close at 7-7 before the Spartans pulled ahead to 10-7. The Lions narrowed the gap to 12-11 but lost momentum after a long serve. The Spartans then built a six-point lead at 17-11, reaching their biggest advantage at 20-12, and secured the set 25-18.
In the second set, the Lions started strong at 5-1, but the Spartans quickly closed the gap. Ridge soon led 10-5, then after a fault and serve, the score was 10-8. The Lions extended their lead to 16-8 before a Spartan timeout. Although the Spartans narrowed it to 18-13, the Lions pulled away, missing their first game point at 24-14 but winning 25-17 after a Spartan kill shot went out of bounds.
The Lions started the third set with possession and quickly scored four points before faulting. The Spartans responded by tying the score, then surged ahead to 10-5 with strong serves from Kendall Earley. Ridge closed the gap to 13-11, prompting a Spartans timeout. Afterward, Ella Pistner served four straight points, and a Ridge fault extended the Spartans’ lead to 18-12. A serving ace by the Spartans brought them within reach of game point at 24-16, and they secured victory on their first attempt, winning 25-16.
In a tightly contested fourth set, the teams traded points until Ella Yablonski’s serving run put the Spartans up 12-8. Ridge narrowed the gap to 19-17, but after several timeouts and tied scores, the Spartans regained momentum. Earley’s serves pushed the lead to 22-19; despite missing three set points, the Spartans eventually secured the set and match 25-22 with Elainia Yablonski’s kill spike.
Game Summary:
S1 S2 S3 S4 Win
Ches. Ridge 18 25 16 22 1
McCnlsbg 25 17 25 25 3
——————————–
MCCONNELLSBURG ADVANCES TO DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP – SHUTS OUT FANNETT-METAL
Boys Soccer: McConnellsburg 4, Fannett-Metal 0: On October 28th, the #2 seed McConnellsburg Spartans hosted the #3 seed Fannett-Metal Tigers in the semi-final round of PIAA District 5 Class A playoffs and, with a shutout win, secured a shot at the championship.
The Spartans (21-0) will play #1 seed Conemaugh Township (18-1) for the championship on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. at Windber Stadium.
The first goal at over seven minutes in the first half came on a short unassisted shot from Ethan Lang on a midfield pass from Hoyt Glenn. In the same minute, on a Shaffer Earley pass, Glenn juked and jived then launched an arcing kick from nearly 30 yards out to the back of the net over the goalie’s hands. With under a minute, in the Tiger’s backfield, Jace Fletcher passed to Grady Shives to passed to Glenn who broke free of the defender and from just over 6 yards out scored past the goalie to close halftime with the Spartans leading 3-0.
In the second half, with under five minutes to go, Tucker Hedge at left wing passed the ball to center sweeper/striker Noah Jefferson who fired a kick at the goalie who deflected it. Then Jefferson struck back at the free ball for the fourth goal.
Stats: MHS Shots 14, Shots On Goal (SOG) 15, Corner Kicks 5, Goals 4. FM Shots 11, SOG 3, Corners 2, Goals 0. Ratios: Spartans led 5:1 in SOG and 2.5:1 in corner kicks with a slight edge in shots. Spartans led 5:1 in SOG and 2.5:1 in corner kicks and held a slight edge in shots. Spartan goalkeeper Reese Alexander earned his 16th shutout of the season — a program record. McConnellsburg has gone a perfect 3-0 this season against Fannett-Metal. McConnellsburg has won 17 matchups by three goals or more this season and averaging over seven goals per game.
Game Summary:
1 2 F
F-M 0 0 — 0
MCNL 3 1 — 4