Central Catholic sweeps Pleasant Valley in volleyball

ALLENTOWN — Allentown Central Catholic flexed it muscles on the volleyball court Tuesday night, sweeping Pleasant Valley in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinal match, 25-11, 25-20, 25-10.

The state-ranked Vikettes were in top form against Pleasant Valley.

“We had to work on a few things since last week, fixing our defense up a little bit, and making sure we were staying low. We did a great job of that tonight,” said Central Catholic coach Laurie Corcoran.

Game No. 1 started off as a back-and-forth skirmish until ACC senior Megan Nelson began the start of her successful night. Nelson slammed down six kills in the opening game, including three in a row during a seven-point run.

Teammate Rachel Hess also showed her value to the team in the first game on the serving end. The Vikettes scored 10 straight points with Hess at the service line in Game One, allowing Central Catholic to open an 18-6 lead and propel them to the easy first-game win.

The Bears did battle back in Game Two — a game that offered nine lead changes.

With momentum-gaining kills from Renee Mapa and Katie Frankunas, Pleasant Valley led the game 14-13.

The Vikettes then took control before Pleasant Valley battled back again, scoring five straight points to tie the game at 20-20.

But once again, Allentown Central Catholic showed its power, scoring the next five points to close out the game.

With momentum on their side, the Vikettes dominated Game Three. Another impressive serving stretch from Hess, that was accompanied by 10 team kills, closed out the sweep.

SPREADING THE LOVE ... “I had an opportunity to get a lot of players in tonight, it’s always nice to get all of the players involved in big games,” said Corcoran.

PERFECT TIMING ... ACC senior Megan Nelson had the timing of her kills down, jumping and spiking at all the right moments. Nelson racked up 11 total on the night.

THE BEARS ... Arianna Weaver and Des Powell both had four kills for Pleasant Valley, while Mapa and Frankunas added three each. Mapa also had a team-high six blocks. Cameron Caffrey dished out 11 assists, while Deslyn Beade led the defense with 11 digs.