Staff photo / Dan Hiner McDonald’s Ava Salomone (7) sets up an attack for Halle Kuntz during a Division VI regional semifinal against Independence on Thursday at Uniontown Lake High School.

UNIONTOWN — Thursday’s Division VI volleyball regional semifinal featured a battle of Blue Devils, as McDonald and Independence faced off at Lake High School.

Unfortunately for McDonald, Independence came away the winner in straight sets. Independence won 25-15, 25-16, 25-19 to advance to the next round.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match going into this one,” McDonald head coach Mike Klockner said. “Our serve-receive was a little bit off. They had pretty strong serving, got us out of our system a lot, and we had to play defense a lot against a great offensive team. Kinda got us in trouble a little bit.”

McDonald (21-4) found itself in an early hole in the opening frame, trailing 10-5. That deficit quickly became 14-6, and the local Blue Devils were forced to call a timeout.

McDonald tried making a late push, but Independence took the first set 25-15.

The second set was more competitive, as the teams traded points and were tied at 6.

“We made a few adjustments,” Klockner said. “I don’t know if it was nerves or something, but they started playing better as the match went on, just not enough to get a win.”

Independence (19-6) went on a run and held a 14-8 lead. McDonald cut the lead to four, but Independence strung together another series of points and took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-16 win in the second.

McDonald got a couple points to start the third, but Independence eventually took a 4-3 lead. It was a lead that Independence wouldn’t relinquish.

Independence’s lead grew to 16-10, and then it was 20-14. But McDonald fought back to cut the lead to 20-19.

However, coming out of a timeout, Independence got the next five points to win the third set 25-19 and take the match.

“I’m proud of my girls, kept fighting,” Klockner said. “Each set got a little better, but it’s not enough.”

McDonald will graduate two seniors from this season’s squad in Ava Salomone and Miley Titus. They had three district championships on their athletic resume and provided leadership for a very young team in 2025.

“They set the tone,” Klockner said. “Great leaders. I’m proud of them. They’ll be missed next year. Great two seniors, Ava and Miley. Definitely will miss them.”

The majority of this year’s McDonald team consisted of underclassmen, so the future is still bright for the program in the coming years. And Klockner believes Thursday’s loss could drive the girls to be better, especially since they got a look at what it takes to get to the regional round.

“They know what it takes to get this far, they know the work that is required,” Klockner said. “Hopefully, we come back next year even hungrier.”