Fayette Volleyball prepares for USCAA nationals
Lemont Furnace, PA - The last time Penn State Fayette took part in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) volleyball championships, the Nittany Lions took home the 2019 national championship in Virginia Beach, VA.
Fayette is back "home" at the USCAA's, and in more than one way.
Starting Thursday, the volleyball national championships are taking place at Penn State Fayette, and first-year coach Anna Tale shared her thoughts.
"Fayette has not been to the USCAA since we won nationals in 2019, and it is an honor in my first year of being head coach to be able to bring this team back to nationals, which just happens to be here (at Fayette)," she said. "Besides Pasepa (Driso-Buwawa), everyone else is new to nationals, so hopefully being able to play at home will give (us) the boost that they need to carry out strong throughout the weekend."
Driso-Buwawa (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands High School) was a freshman on Fayette's 2019 national championship team.
Fayette Director of Athletics Steve Oberly is excited for the team to be one of six teams still playing.
"This is a special group of young ladies under the leadership of Anna," he said. "We are extremely proud of our Lady Nittany Lions as they strive to win a national championship in front of their hometown friends and family."
Pool play begins Thursday, and it continues Friday. At its conclusion, bracket play begins later in the day, and the championship will take place Saturday.
Thursday, Fayette (14-9) opens play against Cincinnati Clermont (13-13) at 4:30 p.m., and it is the last match of the day. Penn State Mont Alto (22-8) faces Kent St.-Tuscarawas (15-3) at 9:00 a.m. in the pool play opener, while Penn State York (22-5) plays Cincinnati Clermont at 11:30 a.m. In the other match Thursday, Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) champion Penn State Mont Alto plays Central Maine CC (12-1) at 2 p.m.
The Fayette vs. Clermont contest is a rematch from a September 23 match won by Clermont on its home court, 3-1. Fayette won the opening set, 25-22, before Clermont took the next three sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-13) to earn the win.
Tale spoke about the match.
"When we played (Clermont), we had a couple of girls missing," she said. "I'm excited to see how we will do with our whole team on the court. Communication on the court is going to be a big element if we want to turn the tide around in this tournament."
The two pool play matches on Friday consist of Fayette hosting York and Central Maine CC taking on Kent St.-Tuscarawas. Both take place at 11:30 a.m. with the Fayette vs. York match on the main court while the Central Maine CC and Kent St.-Tuscarawas match taking place in the ARC gym.
In a PSUAC semifinal on October 30, York swept Fayette, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19), and Tale spoke about what the team will have to do differently.
"We will have to communicate better, for sure, and have better energy," she said. "It wasn't until the end of the third set (in the PSUAC semifinal) where our energy started to pick up. By that point, it was a little too late. We need to have that energy from the beginning of the first set all the way until the end."
The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals Friday at 4:30. The Pool A winner takes on the Pool B runner-up in the ARC gym while the winner of Pool B takes on the Pool A runner-up.
The national championship match will take place Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the main gym while the third-place consolation match will take place at 10 a.m. in the ARC gym.
Tale spoke about how the team has improved as the season progressed and how it could make a difference this weekend.
"Throughout the season, multiple individuals have improved offensively and defensively bringing together a good mix of skills when they are all on the court, she said."
For more on the Penn State Fayette volleyball team, go to https://psfathletics.com/sports/sball/index.
For more on all of the USCAA fall championships, go to https://uscaafallchampionships.com/landing/index.
Written by Bill Hughes