Oct 27, 2015 4 min read

McMURRAY – Ashley Shoemaker, the head girls volleyball coach at Carmichaels High School, didn’t hesitate when giving her answer. There was no pondering, no extra time spent contemplating her response, no time overthinking what she was about to say.

“Never,” Shoemaker replied quickly and confidently when asked when the last time was that Carmichaels last won a WPIAL playoff match.

Tuesday was a bad night for never, as it came to a sudden and emphatic end.

Carmichaels, the third-place team in Section 5, won the first postseason match in school history in convincing fashion, defeating playoff-regular Bentworth in three games, 25-10, 25-17, 25-22, in a Class A preliminary round match at Peters Township High School.

The win advances Carmichaels (10-5) to the first round against third-seeded Shenango Thursday night (6 p.m.) at Chartiers Valley.

“This was a goal the team set at the beginning of the season,” Shoemaker said. “To them, it’s just one more step toward getting the program to where we’ve wanted it to be.”

That would be as a postseason regular that can contend for WPIAL championships and make the PIAA tournament. That was the level Bentworth (6-8) was playing at not very long ago, which made this a significant win for Carmichaels. The Mikes are definitely headed in the right direction.

Carmichaels took advantage of a rugged start by Bentworth to win the opening game, overcame an early six-point deficit to win the second game and held off a late charge by Bentworth to complete the sweep.

“Our kids were mentally prepared,” Shoemaker said. “We focused every day on what we need to do.”

Bentworth, on the other hand, self-destructed. The Bearcats could do nothing right in the opening game, including lining up properly. When Bentworth made its first substitution, it was discovered that the Bearcats were out of rotation. Following a delay of more than five minutes, Carmichaels was awarded a penalty point, giving the Mikes a 7-3 lead. The rest of the game went downhill from there for Bentworth, which was called for five double-hits and one carry.

“You shouldn’t have more than two or three of those in a whole match. We had more than that in a game,” Bentworth coach Hayley Wilson said. “We couldn’t recover from those mistakes, no matter how much we say play in the present and forget the past.”

Bentworth started fast in the second game, building a 6-1 lead with Chase Watson serving. The Bearcats led 9-3 when Carmichaels called a timeout that stopped Bentworth’s momentum. The Mikes began getting strong overall play from senior Katelynn Schooley and dominating play at the net from sophomore Kristina Aeschbacher. Carmichaels tied the score at 13-13, then took its first lead of the game when senior Emma Lowry hit a laser beam of a shot from the back row that landed just inside the out-of-bounds line.

Schooley finished the match with 16 service points and Lowry had 10. Aeschbacher contributed 8 kills and two blocks. Emily Lewis had four kills.

“Our defense has been super strong all year,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve come a long way. Katelynn knows who to get the ball to and where to get it to them. She’s been our most consistent player and been a real leader.”

The Mikes closed the second game on a 7-0 run, then scored the first 10 points of the third game with Schooley serving. Bentworth rallied and pulled to within 24-22 but could get no closer.

“We are two different teams,” Wilson said. “When we show that we want to play with heart, then we’re a dominating team. We did that against Beth-Center for a win that got us here. In this one, we made too many unforced errors. That team beat us with desire.”