Trending
WINGATE--The Central Mountain Wildcats faced off against State College in a high intensity the district six volleyball championship on Thursday night at Bald Eagle Area High School. The Wildcats fell, 3-0, in a match that was a battle for both teams for the duration of the match. But State College brought a little more firepower and edge tonight to defeat the Wildcats for a second time this season.
"We were in it," Central Mountain coach Chipp McCann said following the loss. "If we limit our unforced errors in the first couple sets it could be in our favor. Hats off to State College, they're a well-oiled machine in district six volleyball. They have a great program and that's where we're shooting, so hopefully we can get back here in the next few years."
Both teams got off to a rather quick start, as no team got any advantage early. Libero Reese Walizer dug out many balls and Kyleigh McDermit had three spikes early on to give the Wildcats some edge with a 7-5 advantage. With a few tips at the net and spikes from their outside hitters, the Lions kept the Wildcats on their heels.
As the set continued, both the Lions and Wildcats made a few service errors, which forced a Central Mountain timeout. With the deficit cut to 16-15 in favor of the Wildcats, State College began to shift the momentum their way. With a 22-19 lead, Tori Marquardt's push pass kept Central Mountain from losing their edge and stopped State College's run.
As the set moved on, State College continued adding more points to the scoreboard. Kate Lilly made some nice digs for the Lions and outside hitter Sarah Tate spiked balls that were out of Central Mountain's reach. The Lions took the first set 25-21.
In set two, both teams began similarly to how the first set started--each team battling to gain momentum. When it seemed like one team got an advantage, the other team countered and tied the set back up.
When it looked like the Wildcats were losing an edge, they made countless second and third effort plays to keep them in the set. Central Mountain's Olivia Rockey made crucial blocks, Sophia Hardy made some nice digs and McDermit continued her onslaught of spikes to help the Wildcats take a 12-10 lead.
But the Lions would not go away. State College came back with their own slue of spikes and took advantage of a few errors by the Wildcats to take an 18-15 lead. Following a Central Mountain timeout, the Wildcats added some more points to keep pressure on State College.
Wildcat outside hitters continued spiking balls and making some nice digs to keep the Lions honest. But as State College added a few more points, their aggressiveness and assertiveness when hitting the ball carried them to a 25-21 win in set two.
"Just limit the unforced errors (and) be a little bit more aggressive when we were putting the ball back over the net," coach McCann said when asked what he wishes would have gone differently in the match.
In the third set, the Wildcats started strong, matching any point State College scored. Then, the Lions rattled off three straight points to take a 7-4 lead, which led to a Central Mountain timeout. But the Wildcats would not back down as they cut the lead to 9-8. Later in the set, the Lions knew they had the Wildcats right where they wanted them.
State College's hard hitting and blocking at the net started to play a factor against the Wildcats. Although Central Mountain hit some great balls, the height of the Lions front line was able to make tips and blocks on a lot of Central Mountain's spikes. The Lions were also able to spike balls over the heads of Central Mountain's size. State College then rattled off six consecutive points, going up 22-11. The Wildcats added one more point before the Lions won the set 25-12, winning the match and capturing the district six title.
"We shouldn't really take many steps backwards," coach McCann concluded. "We have some pretty good young girls coming up as long as they put the time in and develop. We should be back here next year at this time and hopefully with a different result."
State College 3, Central Mountain 0
25-21, 25-21, 25-12.