Bigger foes defeat Eagles

GIRARD -- A pair of bigger schools defeated Uniontown here Tuesday night in non-league volleyball action.

Class 4A-Division II Girard downed the Class 2A Eagles (6-2) in three sets, 25-15, 16-25, 25-21. Holly Shinn had 10 kills for the Eagles. Jimme Keller had 9 assists while Kate Coll had 8.

"Girard has a 6'4" player, which we don't see a lot of," Uniontown head coach Jackie Hall said. "But we made adjustments and played hard and smart to take advantage of opportunities when she wasn't on the front row.

"Taking Girard to three sets, that says a lot about this team. They fought and played hard, and it came down to the deciding set, last 4 points. We just couldn't put it away, but I am extremely proud of the team."

Haley O'Neal suffered a shoulder injury during the match, so Maddie Ard moved to middle hitter and Hall said she filled the role well.

Erie, a Class 3A school, posted a 25-8, 25-14 sweep of the Eagles.

"I don't know what happened," Hall said. "We struggled in serve receive right off the bat. We were down 8-1 in the first set, and just really couldn't recover. Things that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong in that match, missed substitutions, libero exchanges, out of service order. We just couldn't seem to get back on the right track for whatever reason.

Uniontown's junior varsity team played its first matches of the season, also losing both. Girard had a 25-21, 25-17 sweep and Erie posted a 25-14, 25-15 sweep.

The Eagles will play their first Three Rivers League matches Thursday night. They will travel to Oswego with Altoona-Midway also in attendance. Both the varsity and JV will be in action.