Home cooking: Lady Falcons defeat guests from Uniontown 3-0

CONNELLSVILLE – Uniontown got off to a strong start, but the Connellsville girls finished even stronger Wednesday, earning a 3-0 non-sectional home victory.

The Lady Raiders held the lead for most of the first set, trailing 15-13, until Connellsville finally pulled away 20-19.

The Lady Falcons scored five of the last six points and won 25:20.

“We played Charleroi on Tuesday night. In both situations, we didn’t deliver what we’re capable of. We need to be able to channel our athleticism all the time, not just sometimes,” noted Uniontown coach Joshua Scully. “We’ve had our highlights. We need to be able to put those pieces together.”

Connellsville led from start to finish in the second set. The Lady Falcons led 8-2, 12-4, 15-7 and 20-12 before winning the second set 25-19.

Uniontown held on to its first lead since the first set at 5-4 in the third set. However, it didn’t last long as Connellsville regained the lead at 6-5. The Lady Falcons closed out the win with a 25-14 victory.

Connellsville coach Stacie Firestone noticed the difference between the way the Lady Falcons played when they were behind in the first set and the run they made to take the lead.

“Our passing was good. We executed our shots,” Firestone said. “The energy was completely different. Towards the end of the first set, we wanted to have fun.”

Lily Show (6 kills, 3 blocks), Whitney Bobish (9 kills) and Maddie Nicholson (8 kills) were a strong presence in goal for Connellsville. Laila Geary (13 assists) and Ella Detwiler (11 assists) supported the three players throughout the game.

This was Connellsville’s first win of the season and Firestone believes the home victory could give the team new momentum.

“Absolutely, it’s great to start with a win in our first home game. It’s a confidence booster,” Firestone noted.

Scully said he noticed an improvement compared to last year’s two games against Connellsville.

“We showed what we learned last year. We had problems against Connellsville last year,” said Scully. “Our weakness is block coverage. We’ll work on that in training.”

Maggie Campbell delivered a solid all-around performance for Uniontown with 10 assists, three aces and four kills. Lexi Humberston (5 digs), Ava Livingood (2 digs, 4 kills), Ryleigh Jose (2 aces, 7 kills), Lyric McLee (6 digs), Khloe Burnworth (4 digs) and Layla Fitzgerald (2 kills) also contributed for the Lady Raiders.

The two teams will meet this weekend and play in the same bracket at the FCCA tournament in Brownsville on Saturday.