Mon. Pa. roundup: Liu tied for second at state golf

Lower Merion's Alex Liu was tied for second among individuals, and Mount St. Joseph ranked second as a team Monday on the first day of the two-day PIAA State Championships at Heritage Hills.

Masterman collected another volleyball championship when it dumped visiting W.B. Saul, 25-9, 25-13, 25-8, for the Public League Class AA title.

Vincensa Mucha led the way with 30 assists and five aces against Saul. Gabby Connor added 16 kills and two blocks and Helen Levins had 10 kills and 19 digs.

Class A. Palumbo took the title with a 19-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-12 win over Freire Charter in a match at Southern. Liz Herezi led the way with 15 kills and 10 service points.

Class AAA. In the title game, Girls High got seven kills from Dominique Bayard in a 27-25, 25-22, 25-21 win over visiting Frankford. Bayard added five blocks and six aces for Girls High. Yamaris Clemente had 12 kills to lead the Pioneers.

Girls High will now face Palumbo tomorrow for the right to meet Masterman in Friday's overall league championship.

Masterman got the bye into the championship match by virtue of its better overall league record during the regular season.

Council Rock North's Plappert sisters combined to help the Indians to a 2-0 District 1 Class AAA first-round win over visiting West Chester Rustin.

Elly Plappert scored a goal in the first half, assisted by sister Hannah Plappert. Elly then returned the favor in the second half, assisting Hannah.

The ninth-seeded Indians (14-1-1) won their 12th straight thanks to the Plapperts and goalie Amanda Krause, who had six saves.

In other first-round games:

Stef Pirri scored five goals for host Downingtown West in a 6-1 win over Boyertown.

Downingtown East also won, scoring all three goals in an eight-minute stretch of the second half, in a 3-1 win over visiting North Penn.

Kelsey LeBlanc's second-half goal gave host Haverford High some breathing room in a 3-1 win over Methacton.

The Warriors had just cut the lead in half, thanks to a second-half goal from Brit Grzywacz but LeBlanca thrwarted that momentum with her goal. Jessica McCarthy and Kellie Vetter also scored for the Fords (14-5), who advanced to a second-round date tomorrow at Great Valley.

Amy Cross scored twice for host Upper Dublin in a 3-2 overtime win against visiting Central Bucks East.

The Cardinals (12-6-1), the No. 15 seed, needed those goals, plus one by Brooke Callahan, to pull the game out. Cross scored her second goal in overtime to send the fans for both teams home.

Samantha Bartow scored off a corner to give host Ridley a 2-1 win over Avon Grove.

The Green Raiders (16-2-1) also got a goal from Becky Donkin. Bartow's goal came in the second half off a corner started by Maura Flynee. The Red Devils got a second-half goal from Charlotte Mabon.

Helene Caniglia's first-half goal stood up for host Radnor in a 1-0 win over Neshaminy.

Maddy Ostrander assisted on the goal with 3 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half. The Red Raiders (16-2-1) got a pair of saves from goalie Madi Shutt.

Strath Haven got first-half goals from Megan Duffy and Emily Michael to earn a 2-1 win at Souderton. The Panthers led, 2-0, before Alex Atiyeh cut the lead in half with a goal, but Strath Haven goalie Kylie deGrouchey was more than up to the task by turning away 15 of the 16 shots she faced.

Pennsbury beat visiting Academy Park, 7-0, as Jenna Allen and Mia Reed each scored twice.

The Falcons face Strath Haven tomorrow.

Strath Haven advances to a date at Suburban One National co-champion Pennsbury tomorrow (3:30).

Friends schools. Brooke Truskey scored three goals as Shipley earned a 5-0 win at Germantown Friends and clinched first place.

With the win, the Gators (13-0 overall, 7-0 league) also finished the regular season unbeaten and earned the No. 1 seed in Saturday's league playoffs.

Avery Safford and Ilana Wolfson also scored for the Gators, who used two goalies (Lily Turchi and Sara Blank) who combined for the shutout by turning away a total of seven shots.

BOYS' ROUNDUPArchbishop Ryan has been to the Catholic League soccer playoffs for every season for the last 19 years.

But that impressive streak was in jeopardy yesterday in a pre-playoff game at Archbishop Carroll until Brandon Beaumont found an opening and scored the game-tying goal with 20 seconds remaining in regulation of a 3-2 overtime win.

Ryan Stevens scored the game-winning goal for the Raiders (11-6-2), who have made the playoffs 32 times since 1976. Ryan advances to a playoff date at North Catholic tomorrow.

In other pre-playoff games:

Both Roman Catholic and visiting Lansdale Catholic played scoreless through four quarters and two overtimes before the Cahillites won, 3-1, on penalty kicks.

Tommy Bottoms took the fourth penalty kick for Roman and his shot ended the game.

Tolani Ibikunle and Rob Poli each scored twice as host St. Joseph's Prep overwhelmed Kennedy-Kenrick, 7-2. The Hawks (10-5-2), who also got goals from Johnny Gregitis, Alex Littleton, and Fran Smith, now travel to Archbishop Wood for a first-round playoff date tomorrow (3 p.m.).

Conwell-Egan overwhelmed Neumann-Goretti, 7-0, behind a pair of goals from Matt DiLiegro and a pair of assists from Ian Monagle.

Public. In a league quarterfinal game at Northeast, Washington scored three second-half goals to break open a close game and beat Franklin Towne Charter, 4-1. The Eagles led, 1-0, but scored the first three goals of the second half to take a 4-0 lead. Sultan Isakur, Tim McCrossen, Santiago Tabores and Kwame Wilson scored for the Eagles, who also got a pair of assists from Guy Sipka.

The Eagles advance to a semifinal date with Lincoln, also at Northeast.

The Railsplitters earned their berth with a 1-0 win at Southern as Oliver Quispe scored off a free kick with one minute left in the first overtime.

Ed Tomaszewski had nine saves in goal for the Railsplitters, who beat Southern, 7-1, in the first meeting between the teams.

At Simon Gratz, Bartram advanced with a 4-0 win over Prep Charter as Joe Sandi scored twice. Ansu Dolley and Anthony Dunor also scored for the Maroon Wave, and Eric Slueue had a pair of assists.

Tri-County. In a regular-season game, Yazan Muasher scored all three goals for Del-Val Friends in a 3-0 win at Kimberton Waldorf.

Lower Merion's Greg Jarmas put himself in a nice position to win the PIAA state championship individual medal with a 2-under-par 70 on the first day of the two-day individual event at the Heritage Hills Golf Club yesterday.

Jarmas was only a stroke behind the leaders, Palmerton's Mike Englert and West Allegheny's Garrett Browning.

The top team going into the final day of competition is Greater Latrobe, whose 310 is 3 strokes better than second-place Erie Cathedral Prep.