The Lady Wildcats defeated Bishop Donahue and Parkersburg Catholic volleyball teams Sept. 30 at Bob Burton Gymnasium in straight sets.

Against the Lady Bishops, ‘Cat senior attacker Ali Bertozzi used her all-state talent to blast 12 kills, harassed the back line with seven digs and showed her front line strength with two blocked shots. She also had two service winners to go along with five points, to lead Paden City to a 25-15 and 25-20 victories.

Beside Bertozzi’s outstanding performance, Amanda Tallman persevered with eight kills and five digs. Amanda Sellers was steady with six digs and seven points, including three service aces. Amber Palmer chipped in with five digs and scored a team-high 11 points.

Against Parkersburg Catholic, the ‘Cats valiantly fought off the Crusaderettes, winning in straight sets, 25-22 and 25-17. Bertozzi continued her dominance at the net. She pounded the Crusaderettes with 16 kills and seven digs to lead the Wildcat charge. Tallman had six kills to give Paden City a nice one-two punch at the net. Sellers and Dominique Craft evenly split 16 points and four service aces. Sellers also added five digs, while Palmer contributed seven digs in the two-set victory.

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October brought more than another Lady Wildcat shot at OVAC and Mason-Dixon conference championships. It brought a complete volleyball team effort in a thrilling three-set victory over the talented Linsly School on Oct. 1, in Wheeling.

Paden City started the opening set with a 25-22 win and the pushed the star-studded Lady Cadets to the brink of elimination with a hard-fought 25-21 verdict in set two. However, Linsly came out smokin’ and fought the hard fight, only to see the Lady Wildcats put the game away, 25-19, with power, finesse and outstanding teamwork.

The ‘Cats’ senior setter, Amanda Sellers, finessed 26 assists out of 40 sets, while the team tallied 50 digs, including 11 by Sellers. She also scored five points and had one service ace.

In the power game, Bertozzi landed 20 kills, while freshman Megan Cutlip and sophomore Amanda Heasley each contributed four kills.

Sellers and Amber Palmer each had 20 assists to set up the front line attackers. Bertozzi led the ‘Cats with 15 of 50 team digs. Craft sponsored two service aces, while Bertozzi, Palmer, Sellers and Heasley contributed one each to give the visiting Wildcats a humble victory.

After dropping the first set of an 18-25 volleyball match with the Cameron Dragons, the Paden City Wildcats came out smoking and defeated the Lady Dragons 25-14 and 25-20 to claim the victory Sept. 28 at Bob Burton Gymnasium.

Ali Bertozzi had a game-high 21 kills and seven digs to pace the highly talented Lady ‘Cats. Sophomore sensation Dominique Craft led the scoring with a team-high 11 points that included a service ace. Senior setter Amanda Sellers contributed eight points and six digs, while Amanda Tallman – the 2009 Homecoming Queen – was her quiet self, adding five kills and marking up five points.

In the second match of the tri, the Wildcats won a close 25-22 decision to the Frontier Cougars, but lost set two,10-25. The ‘Cats got it together in set three and won the match with a 25-20 set victory.

Bertozzi surpassed by two her kill total in the previous contest and rang up 16 points that included 12 services aces. In addition, she blocked two Cougar shots and had seven digs. Tallman contributed seven kills, five points and had one service ace. Sellers scored 10 points and had six digs, while Craft totaled six points and Megan Cutlip four digs for the Wildcats.

The next night, the Lady ‘Cats traveled to Glen Dale for a tri with the John Marshall Lady Monarchs and Wheeling Central’s Lady Maroon Knights.

In two very exciting sets with the Marshall County Girls, Paden City was on the lower side of a 25-23 and 25-21 score in its two sets, but kicked Central to the curb in a three-set victory nightcap, 25-20, 18-25 and 25-22.

In the two set defeat against John Marshall, Amber Palmer broke out of a mini slump and scored a team-high 13 points and nine digs. Bertozzi was a little quiet, but added four points, one ace, seven kills and seven digs. Craft and Tallman shared 12 points and eight digs.

The Lady ‘Cays out-dueled Central by a 25-20 margin, but dropped an 18-25 second set before getting the nod in the third set, 25-22, to win the match.

Bertozzi picked up her game and silenced the Lady Knights with 24 kills and eight digs to lead the ‘Cat charge. Craft scored a team-high 12 points, including three service aces. She also decked the Maroon back line with six kills. Palmer and Cutlip shared 12 points and 16 digs, while Sellers and Tallman equally split six points. Sellers also added eight digs, while Tallman dropped in six kills.