No. 2 Mount Hebron sweeps No. 13 Reservoir in 3A East
Century defeats Liberty; Howard beats Mervo
The No. 2 Mount Hebron volleyball team entered the postseason riding a 13-game winning streak, but it also knows that streak is irrelevant in a Class 3A East Section I semifinal.
The Howard County co-champion Vikings do, however, know that an 18th straight victory would mean they had finished the season as state champions for the first time since 1995.
“It’s kind of that little light at the end of the tunnel, I’d say,” Mount Hebron senior Elayna Williams said after leading her team to a straight-set, 25-20, 25-8, 25-20, home win over No. 13 Reservoir on Monday. “We’re looking at it, but we still want to focus on one game at a time so we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Williams finished with 19 kills and six aces, but the Vikings (14-1) got multiple contributions to win. Rylee Kinsella had six kills, Amanda Ross had five and Kaitlin Donovan added four, while Maya Takashima dominated defensively. Mount Hebron served 15 aces and notched its 14th straight win to advance to Wednesday’s 3A East region semifinal Century’s Sarah Riggin, left, and Melissa Bonzelet celebrate a point during the Knights’ victory over Liberty, their first in seven tries. against Centennial.
“To win 18 in a row, which is what we need to do to be state champions, you have to win14 in a row. Now we have to win15 in a row,” said Mount Hebron coach Michael Moynihan. “We’re not looking at Friday or talking about Monday or next Saturday — our focus tomorrow at practice will be getting ready to play the Eagles, who are an incredibly strong team who spreads the ball as well as we do. It’s going to be a fun match either way and this place is going to be rocking.”
Against the Gators (11-5), the Vikings had