from the Tribune Democrat

BELLWOOD – Richland coach Don Civis wasn’t worried about being the No. 11 seed in the District 6 Class AA tournament or having to travel to face No. 11 Bellwood-Antis.

“The Laurel Highlands is a tough conference,” Civis said. “We were competitive in that. We figured we should be competitive with the teams that we’re playing.”

The Rams were more than that, as they beat the Blue Devils 25-18, 25-10, 25-16. 

“The team came together and played a nice match,” Civis said. “A lot of different people contributed.”

Outside hitter Mikayla Ball had 17 kills and three aces for the Rams (10-8). Setter Nicole Firm had 30 assists and libero Cassidy DiPaola added 18 digs. Middle hitter Kaitlyn Townsend contributed 12 kills and three blocks while Shannon DeMatteis had seven digs. Lauren Dick served up three aces.

“Any time you have a nice victory like we had today, it builds a lot of good feelings with the young ladies,” Civis said. “The better they feel about themselves, the better they’ll play.”

Richland will play at third-seeded Penn Cambria on Tuesday. The Panthers beat the Rams 3-1 on Oct. 6.

“We were competitive,” Civis said. “Hopefully we’ve improved a little bit, and we’ll see what we can do against them tomorrow.”