UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Meadville will look for its second PIAA Class 2A boys’ volleyball title since 2019 when it takes on Manheim Central in the title game at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 15, Penn State University’s Rec Hall.
The Bulldogs (20-0), the District 10 champions, are in the title game for the fourth time in five played seasons (no season in 2020) having finished second in 2021 and 2022.
Manheim Central (21-1), the second-place team out of District 3, is in the title game for the second time having finished second in 2018.
Meadville reached the title contest with wins over WPIAL runner-up Armstrong (3-0), two-time defending champion Lower Dauphin, the D3 third-place finisher (3-1), and WPIAL champion Mars (3-0).
Manheim Central, which beat Lower Dauphin (3-1) in the D3 semifinals, got past District 12 champion Lansdale Catholic (3-0), District 2 runner-up Holy Redeemer (3-0), and D3 champion Exteter (3-2).
Meadville is paced by sophomore Luc Soerensen, who has 258 kills and is hitting at a .397 clip. That despite missing about three weeks of the season playing with the United States men’s U19 team that won the gold medal at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championship.
Soerensen had 19 kills in the win over Lower Dauphin and 15 vs. Mars.
Parker Gosnell adds 166 kills with Tymir Phillips chipping in 148 kills and a team-best 36 blocks from the middle.
Gosnell is also the leading server for the Bulldogs with 54 aces while Kellen Ball adds 31 blocks, 24 digs, and 87 kills.
Leading the way on defense for Meadville is Gosnell with 117 digs while Jacon Graham has 113 and Luca White 108.
Regan Miller led three Barrons in double-digit kills with 17 in the win over rival Exeter, which beat Manheim Central 3-0 in the D3 title match. Landon Mattiace had 11 kills and Jason Moyer chipped in 10 kills.
This is Meadville’s eighth trip to the PIAA championship match. The Bulldogs are 2-5 all-time in championship matches losing to Homestead (2-0) in 1962, beating Peabody (2-0) in 1964, losing to Penn Hills (3-1) in 1965, losing to Northeastern (3-1) in 2010, beating York Suburban (3-2) in 2019, losing to Lower Dauphin (3-1) in 2021, and losing to Lower Dauphin (3-2) in 2022. The first three trips were in a single-class system while the last five, including this year, have all been in Class 2A in a two-class system.
This is the fifth straight season District 10 will be represented in the Class 2A title game. After Meadville won in 2019 and lost in 2021 and 2022, Cochranton lost to Lower Dauphin last season. There was no season in 2020 because of COVID-19. Saegertown also lost in Class 2A in 2011 and 2015 while Maplewood lost in 2010 meaning District 10 has been represented in the 2A title match in eight of the past 15 seasons.
