Forest Hills in 'uncharted territory' heading into PIAA volleyball quarterfinal match against Notre Dame-Green Pond
Nov. 10—The thrill of Tuesday's first PIAA tournament victory in program history will be remembered by anyone on the Forest Hills girls volleyball team for years to come.
Facing Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference foe Somerset, the Rangers won in four sets for the second time this season over the District 5-8 champion Golden Eagles (25-12, 25-22, 22-25, 25-13 on Tuesday).
A complete performance on Tuesday has the squad excited for Saturday's PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal match against District 11 champion Notre Dame-Green Pond at Boiling Springs High School in Cumberland County, hoping to advance to the semifinals for the first time.
"It's definitely been some uncharted territory for us," Forest Hills coach Cassie Layman said. "Coming off of the win over Somerset was a great high. It was that first state playoff win. We're preparing now to play Notre Dame-Green Pond.
"We're going over specific practice techniques — working on rotations, figuring out where our weaknesses are, specifically really breaking down things at practices and figuring out how to make them better moving forward."
On Tuesday, District 6 runner-up Forest Hills (18-4) received a balanced offense from three players netting 12 or more kills. Senior Alexa Papcunik provided 13 kills and five blocks.
Junior outside hitter and two-time all-state selection Mya Colosimo, with 1,219 career kills, compiled 12 kills, 13 digs and three aces. Sophomore Paxtyn Pcola amassed 12 kills, 10 digs and six aces for the seventh-ranked team in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association's latest Class 2A poll.
"I really think that's what is beginning to set us apart from some other teams is that when one of our big hitters goes to the back row, we have an equally good hitter coming up to the front row," Layman said. "A lot of teams are keying on Mya.
"They're expecting her to get the ball. They're overplaying us that way, but when Mya goes back to serve, we have Paxtyn Pcola coming up to the front row. Against Somerset, she had the same amount of kills as Mya, and that's huge."
Forest Hills junior setter Julia Chunta, already with 2,723 career assists, dished out 45 helpers against Somerset.
Senior Lia Konchan, a 2022 all-state selection, contributed 11 digs and three aces.
Up next is Notre Dame-Green Pond (17-4), ranked No. 6. The Crusaders, from Easton, swept District 12 runner-up Parkway Center City Middle College 25-12, 25-14, 25-5. Notre Dame-Green Pond advanced to the 2022 PIAA semifinals.
Forest Hills is wary of Notre Dame-Green Pond senior Carly Campbell, a 6-foot setter and middle blocker who will play at NCAA Division III Franklin & Marshall in College next year. The Rangers hope to dictate their preferred pace during Saturday's match that starts at noon.
"We know they have a setter who's pretty dominant, so we've been working on some different things," Layman said. "We're really focusing on our game. We want to run our fast offense.
"We really want to just make them play our speed of volleyball.
"We're going to try to contain them and make them play Ranger volleyball."
Campbell provided 11 kills and six aces in the PIAA opener. Seniors Denali Cintron (five aces) and Brooke Scalley (four) were strong at the service line.
Senior left-hander Alyssa Eilenberger notched four kills.
The winner of Saturday's game will face either District 2 champ Holy Redeemer (PVCA's No. 5 team) or District 3 winner Trinity (PVCA's No. 1 squad) on Tuesday.
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
