{"id":49203,"date":"2025-11-12T05:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T05:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/49203\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T05:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T05:15:13","slug":"oakland-catholic-avenges-wpial-loss-to-beaver-earns-1st-trip-to-state-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/49203\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland Catholic avenges WPIAL loss to Beaver, earns 1st trip to state final"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: <\/p>\n

Antonio Rossetti<\/p>\n

Tuesday, November 11, 2025 | 9:21 PM<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic players celebrate a set point during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Beaver on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver’s Kailyn Connelly hits as Oakland Catholic’s Rory O’Connell defends in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver’s Jaedyn Brown hits against Oakland Catholic during the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver huddles up during its PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Oakland Catholic on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic\u2019s Josie Fontana and Raegan Mascaro celebrate a point during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal against Beaver on tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic’s Josie Fontana serves against Beaver in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic players line up during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Beaver on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver’s Anna Vinopal hits as Oakland Catholic’s Rory O’Connell defends in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver players line up during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Oakland Catholic on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic’s Michayla Booth (left) hits for set point during a PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Beaver on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic huddles up during its PIAA Class 3A semifinal matchup with Beaver on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver’s Aubrey Bumblis (7) awaits the ball as teammates Alaina Malobabich (17) and Jaedyn Brown look on during the PIAA Class 3A semifinals against Oakland Catholic on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Beaver’s Jaedyn Brown hits as Oakland Catholic’s Michayla Booth (33) and Rory O’Connell (16) defend during the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Oakland Catholic is making its first trip to the state finals in girls volleyball.<\/p>\n

The Eagles defeated Beaver in five games, 26-24, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19, 15-8, in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Tuesday night at North Allegheny in a rematch of the WPIAL championship game.<\/p>\n

The Bobcats swept Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL finals.<\/p>\n

This time, with each team having won two sets, tension was high for the fifth set. Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s \u201cCrazy Train\u201d was queued up and the entire venue rose to its feet as the set began.<\/p>\n

Both teams seemed to carry the energy, and it was as even as it gets, but only one team could go to Cumberland Valley for the PIAA final.<\/p>\n

The Eagles flew out to a 7-2 lead and pulled away, taking the final set thanks to strong defense.<\/p>\n

Middle blocker Josie Fontana led the match with 27 kills, including three late in the final set.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur defense was lights out,\u201d Fontana said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a tribute to how good our defense does. Our offense got to feed off of our defense and do just as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking the lead in the final set, Fontana, middle blocker Rory O\u2019Connell and opposite hitter Michayla Booth stepped up on hot-hitting Kailyn Connelly and Alaina Malobabich.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell tallied 10 blocks and 10 kills. She was motivated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we would have lost, that would have been our last game, so we were really just talking about lights-out defense,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cLeave it all out there. We have nothing to lose going into the last set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fontana and the team brought the energy and was motivated to take this one after falling to Beaver in the WPIAL final.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could have been our last game ever, so you got to leave it all out there, with no regrets no matter what,\u201d Fontana said. \u201cThankfully, we know what our last game is going to be, and you know, that\u2019s a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booth, who recorded the final point of all three sets the Eagles won, finished with 15 kills, six coming in the first set.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, I just try my best to come out with the most energy,\u201d Booth said. \u201cI always uplift my teammates. \u2026 I really just try to bring the spark to the team needs all the time. Energy is my huge thing. You will always catch me screaming, doing whatever, but energy fuels us. I bring that and everyone else brings it. It\u2019s a team thing. We\u2019re really a good team. We work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booth and Fontana\u2019s chemistry helped lead them to the state final.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is so, so good,\u201d Booth said. \u201cWe worked on spots and we nitpicked where we needed to hit and we realized certain things. As soon as she got three kills automatically in the fifth set by doing the same thing over and over again, we realized as a team that worked for her. She\u2019s a very good listener, very good overall player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beaver\u2019s Connelly racked up 22 kills and Malobabich posted 19. O\u2019Connell knew what she was going up against and was ready for the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good as an undersized middle,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely shorter than pretty much every middle, so it\u2019s really cool to be able to get up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oakland Catholic took the first as Fontana delivered seven kills.<\/p>\n

At 7-5, Zephaniah Troxler-Scott lit a spark, notching two straight kills. She finished with three for the set.<\/p>\n

Fontana helped put the Eagles up 17-10.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back service aces from Connelly cut it to 17-13 as Beaver rallied back. Connelly fueled the Bobcats as they tied it at 24-24. Nevertheless, Fontana mustered a kill and Booth finished off the set, 26-24.<\/p>\n

Set 2 was as even as it gets. The Eagles held a 24-23 lead before Anna Vinopal had a crucial kill to tie it up.<\/p>\n

At 24, Beaver\u2019s Malobabich notched a kill to take a 25-24 lead.<\/p>\n

An unforced error earned the Bobcats the set, 26-24.<\/p>\n

Fontana continued to deliver. With 18 kills through three sets, she and the Eagles offense found themselves up 20-16 in Set 3.<\/p>\n

Still, Connelly and the Bobcats rallied to tie it at 21-21.<\/p>\n

Up 23-22, the Eagles needed Fontana and Booth, and both stepped up with Fontana crushing one to take a 24-22 lead. Booth finished the Bobcats, 25-22, to go up 2-1.<\/p>\n

The Bobcats came out firing, jumping out to a 9-4 lead in Set 4, with Malobabich and Connelly leading the way.<\/p>\n

Beaver still carried some momentum, but an insane return from Eliza Jesionowki and then a Fontana kill on the next play cut it to 14-10.<\/p>\n

At 17-13, Connelly and Malobabich began to take over as the Bobcats went on a 7-3 run to make it 24-16.<\/p>\n

Oakland Catholic didn\u2019t go away when Fontana notched a kill, an Elena Krummert ace and a Beaver error put it at 24-19.<\/p>\n

Malobabich rose up and spiked it down to take the set 25-19.<\/p>\n

Set 5, however, was all Oakland Catholic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have at least two to three recruits that are Division I athletes,\u201d Fontana said. \u201cI think it just proves that you really need to be a team, and we\u2019re so connected on and off the court. I think to beat a team like that is a testament to how hard we played and how well we cheer for each other. We celebrate everyone else\u2019s wins just as if they were yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booth is proud of the team and program and is ready for the final game.<\/p>\n

\u201cOakland Catholic has never even made it past the first round of states, so we knew we didn\u2019t come to this point for no reason, so we needed to push,\u201d Booth said. That was our moment. Even coming off what happened in the fourth set, we knew we had the fifth set in us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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