Fashion Garments

The medal ceremony after Saturday’s WPIAL Class AAA volleyball title match at Chartiers Valley High School brought back memories for Mt. Lebanon seniors Rebecca Riemer and Kate Begor.

Both were starters for the Blue Devils’ WPIAL championship team in 2007. And both received a second gold medal after taking a roller coaster ride against Pine-Richland in Saturday’s title match.

“It’s amazing. Anytime you win WPIALs, it’s awesome,” said Riemer, a 5-foot-11 senior middle hitter. “I’m a lot older now and with a totally different group of girls, except for Kate [Begor]. It’s so awesome to experience a WPIAL title with the younger girls.

“I was in their position when we won in 2007 and it’s amazing to win again as a senior.”

Begor, a 5-11 senior setter, had similar feelings.

“The first time we won was my first year as a setter, so that was pretty awesome,” said Begor, a four-year starter who moved from right-side hitter to setter during her sophomore year. “But this is my senior year. Winning as a senior has special meaning.”

Mt. Lebanon claimed its second title in three years with a hard-fought 3-2 win against Seneca Valley.

“The experience of playing in a championship match before really helped,” Riemer said. “I was better prepared to deal with the big crowd and the pressure of playing in such a big match.”

Mt. Lebanon jumped out to a commanding two-game lead with wins of 25-20 and 27-25 in the opening two sets.

“We were very confident after the second game,” Riemer said. “We weren’t prepared for them to come back.”

But that’s just what Seneca Valley did. The No. 2-seeded Raiders roared back with wins of 26-24 and 25-16 in the next two games, thus sending the match to a fifth set.

“I’ve never been nervous for a game in my life, but my stomach started jumping before that game a little bit,” Begor said.

Reimer felt the same way: “We had not played a game five all year. I was really nervous. We really had to work together in that game. We really battled. We didn’t want it to slip away.”

Mt. Lebanon rebounded in game five with a 15-10 victory.

“We knew we deserved it. We all wanted it. And we weren’t going to let them take it from us,” Begor said.

Mt. Lebanon also beat Seneca Valley during the regular season, 3-1, in a non-section match.

“Seneca Valley has a very explosive team, so it didn’t surprise me that they fought back to tie the match,” said Mt. Lebanon coach Dawn Begor, who is Kate’s mother. “We knew if they got into a rhythm, we would be in trouble. We didn’t serve aggressively in those games and [Seneca Valley] took advantage.”

The title allowed Mt. Lebanon to live up to its preseason billing. The Blue Devils have been ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL and PIAA the entire season.

“There was a lot of pressure being the No. 1 team all season,” Riemer said. “That was a big thing. We were undefeated the whole season and didn’t want to go out losing. It took a lot to stay on the top of our game.”

Mt. Lebanon is only the fifth team in WPIAL history to win at least five WPIAL girls’ volleyball titles. In addition to 2007 and this year, the program also claimed titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000.

Farrell ranks first on the all-time WPIAL list with 20 titles, while Norwin is second with 15. Baldwin has won nine titles and Hopewell is tied with Mt. Lebanon for fourth place with five.

Mt. Lebanon entered the PIAA Class AAA tournament with hopes of claiming a third title. The Blue Devils won titles in 1997 and 2000 during a stretch of four consecutive appearances in the PIAA title match.

“I’m so excited about states. We all are,” said Riemer, prior to Tuesday’s PIAA opener. “[Winning the WPIAL title] gives us a lot of confidence. I think we’re going to do real well at states.”

Mt. Lebanon opened play in the PIAA tournament with a 3-0 sweep of City League champion Schenley on Tuesday. The state tournament resumes tomorrow at Central York High School with the quarterfinal round robin.

“We didn’t make it past the first day,” said Riemer, when asked about Mt. Lebanon’s performance in the 2007 PIAA tournament. “We didn’t do very well. I hope we’re a lot more prepared this time.”