PENN HILLS - Jamie Montini received an emphatic hug from her daughter, Zakeira, in the middle of a swarming crowd.

Zakeira made a beeline for her mom, who was sitting in the front row, after scoring the point that snapped a 14-game section losing streak in section play Tuesday night in home. It was a night of high emotions for Zakeira, who also earned a bouquet of flowers and an invitation to homecoming after the match.

"That's the one thing I was thinking about after I scored that point," said Montini, a senior outsider hitter for the Indians. "'Cause I knew she was watching. I saw her screaming and I ran right to her and everybody started coming in. She was the main focus."

Penn Hills had to use every bit of creativity it had to beat Woodland Hills, 3-1. The Indians (2-7, 1-4) don't have a powerful offensive attack and rely on tips and misdirection to score points.

Penn Hills coach Raymond Ager III was happy to pick up his first Section 4-4A win since he took over the program in 2024.

​"It feels great, especially finding out it's been since 2023," Ager said. "It feels great to beat a rival who was trolling us on social media all week."

The Wolverines (0-8, 0-5) got off to a solid start behind the serving of senior setter/right-side Becca Busch. Woodland Hills scored the first three points and were in control for the entire first set.

Wolverines assistant coach Joey Cunningham said they were able to effectively utilize their serve.

"Honestly, I feel like with our team right now, we are good at utilizing our utility players," Cunningham said. "We have a lot of utility players right now that we could just very easily move around and pop around. I would say when we get it ruts, we can move someone up a little bit. they do very well with that."

Ager said that Penn Hills made a tactical change by switching liberos. The Indians leaned on Layla Smedley after the first set.

"She's an all-around athlete," Ager said. "She's like a ninja on the court. She really flies around and brings big energy."

The Indians won the second set, 25-14. In the third set, Penn Hills built a 23-9 lead before allowing Woodland Hills to roll off seven consecutive points.

"I feel like we like to into a little bit of a rollercoaster where we do really good and then it just kind of drops," Cunningham said. "I think we're getting used to and getting really good at getting ourselves out of that rollercoaster."

The Wolverines rallied in the fourth set to even things at 19 points. Woodland Hills leaned on Niyah Brown and Jayla Brown to help carry the attack. The Wolverines couldn't maintain the momentum, dropping three consecutive points that allowed Penn Hills to get some seperation and close out the match.

The Indians won the final set 25-21. Montini said she believed Penn Hills would find a way to break through this season.

"I was thinking about the ending, like I knew we were going to win and I felt that in my heart and God's presence," Montini said. "I felt that in the whole game that we were going to win and the student section carried us through that with our energy."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

PENN HILLS - Fox Chapel girls volleyball coach Diana Andreyko isn't afraid to take chances. When the Foxes' coach didn't feel their attack was effective enough, she called 5-foot-6 freshman outsider hitter Sasha Pechersky up to varsity to add punch.

Fox Chapel played an imperfect match Tuesday night at Penn Hills High School, but was able to walk away with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-5 sweep in Section 4-4A action. Andreyko said that her team, which reached the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs last season, is still trying to determine what kind of team they will be.

"Right now, unfortunately, we are struggling with girls stepping into their roles." Andreyko said. "We have a lot of inexperienced players and youth. Last week against Woodland Hills, I had a JV player who I have on my varsity roster come up and step in. If it comes to that, the ninth graders will have to step in. I will pull the ninth graders to come up and do the job."

Fox Chapel (2-3, 2-1) leaned on the DiRocco sisters against Penn Hills. Emma DiRocco, who finished with eight kills and seven service aces, led the Foxes attack. Lucy DiRocco had a team-high nine kills.

Andreyko said she would like to see the Foxes developed a consistent second option to support Emma, who has committed to play at Old Dominion.

"A second offensive player that's consistent would be a God send," Andreyko said.

Penn Hills (1-4, 0-2) appeared it may take a set for the first time in section play. The Indians leaned on setter KJ McGee's energy to take an 18-13 lead.

"We played tough," Penn Hills coach Raymond Ager III said. "They stuck together. We've been trying to learn how to sticker together and play more. Cohesively, it's something that we're getting used to."

Lucy DiRocco smashed a kill to halt the Indians' momentum in the second set. When Emma DiRocco took over serving not much later, Penn Hills had a hard time regaining its footing. The Foxes surged past Penn Hills 25-22.

McGee said that the Foxes did a good job of cutting off where the Indians hoped to push the ball.

"We were hoping to find those spots again," McGee said. "We found them in the second set and I guess we got a little bit unlucky in the third because they were able to hide those sets or those spots."

Andreyko was happy with her team didn't allow a lapse to drop a seat.

"Having them step up in the third set showed a lot of resilience," Andreyko said. "So I am happy with the fact that, you know, they didn't go down to the level of a play that obviously we don't wanna be at. I was proud of them for that, but certainly it's stressful."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

SHALER TWP - The Shaler girls volleyball team didn't need to do anything dynamic Tuesday night at home against Fox Chapel. The Titans needed to be mindful of what was happening. 

The Foxes have a young team and would have unorthodox moments where they were out of system. Shaler didn't get flustered and found ways to score points during a 3-0 sweep.

​"That was actually our focus of the match was out of system play," Shaler coach Annie Carter said. "We had to make sure we're playing good defense when it is wonky like that. Those were our two focuses and I think they did a great job."

Titans middle blocker Sophie Spynda said she felt Shaler handled Fox Chapel's approach well.

"I think we did pretty good," Spynda said. "They gave us a lot of opportunities with balls that we could put down. We were able to kill the ball."

Fox Chapel, which is 0-1 in section, had a hard time delivering on the attack. The Foxes finished with 13 attack errors and 12 kills, hitting -.026 percent. Fox Chapel coach Diana Andreyko said the Foxes only have one returning starter, Emma DiRocco, who recently committed to play at Old Dominion University.

DiRocco finished with a team-high six kills and added three blocks. Addy Quimby also had four kills for Fox Chapel.

​"We have to have a lot of patience," Andreyko said. "We have the understanding outside of one returning players, these kids haven't had the exposure and the experience. Most of them do not play club volleyball where they are playing the sport all year round. We want to stay patient and stay encouraging."

The Titans (2-3, 1-0) were encouraged that they were were able to stop a three-match slide. After opening the season with a win over Mt. Lebanon, Shaler had to face-off against the defending state champion North Allegheny, defending WPIAL Class 3A champion Mars and perennial power Pine-Richland.

"We started our season off with some harder games," Titans senior setter Bella Hoffman said. "It's been a little bit more laid back, but we've been able to run more plays and work on fine-tuning some things."​

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

The Pennsylvania girls volleyball season is underway and there will be plenty of WPIAL teams with high aspirations for this season. North Allegheny was voted the top team in the Class 4A preseason rankings, while Greensburg Central Catholic is the top-ranked team in Class A.

A pair of WPIAL teams, Mars and Beaver, were ranked second and third in the 3A preseason rankings, respectively. Quaker Valley was the only 2A squad to appear in the rankings, popping in at No. 9.

The WPIAL players selected as players to watch included: Ashlyn Black, Greensburg Central Catholic, right side; Julia Cernich, Avonworth, outside hitter; Kailyn Connelly, Beaver, middle hitter/outside hitter; Cecilia Christy, Mars, middle hitter; Molly Robertson, North Allegheny, outside hitter and Alex Knox, Peters Township, setter.

​Check out the PVCA's full rankings here.

​Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Pine-Richland 5-foot-8 setter Isabelle Hoppe got exposed to a different level of competition during the 2025 Girls U19 World Championship in Oseijek, Croatia. Hoppe helped Team USA reach the gold medal match before falling to Bulgaria 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 29-27). The Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association reached out to Hoppe, a Pitt commit, for comment.

"I'm always grateful for opportunities with the national team, whether it's a tryout, training or world championship, but this year was special," said Hoppe in a statement to the PVCA. "The level of competition was obviously high, as we were among the best volleyball players in the world. That in itself was incredible to experience."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.