Untimely defeat
With Widener hobbled, Owls’ unbeaten season ends in 3A semifinals
COLLEGE PARK — Frustration isn’t a word Westminster’s volleyball team has associated with in recent years, with Carroll County championships and regional trophies and state tournament appearances in tow.
Ritchie Coliseum, site of the state tourney, hasn’t been a harbinger of good times for the Owls, however. They played in a state final two years ago and lost, and followed that up with a setback in the semifinals in 2018. Thursday night, Westminster made its return to Ritchie in the Class 3A semifinals to face Northern, the team that clipped the Owls in the 2017 title match.
Once again, the Patriots ended Westminster’s season short of its goal. And the frustration set in.
Jilienne Widener sported a brace on her left knee and wasn’t quite herself toward the end of the Owls’ 26-24, 23-25, 25-11, 25-20 loss.
Westminster’s 6-foot senior hitter said she injured it last week and played through the pain, but her ability to elevate waned a bit in the third and fourth sets. Northern (20-0) capitalized, led by hitters Allie Droneberger and Allie Timbario.
Droneberger, a junior, tallied a matchhigh 20 kills. Timbario added 15, and sealed the match with a kill late in the fourth set.
Widener collected 16 kills to lead the Owls (17-1), and her teammates did their best to fill in at times. But it wasn’t enough to fend off Northern, which is one win away from its 11th state championship.
“I was having some knee trouble,” Widener said. “I went down in the second set, and it just was not getting better. I definitely couldn’t do what I normally could do, and that’s so frustrating.”
Added first-year coach Evan Frock: “You guys didn’t see Jilienne Widener at her true power today.”
Owls junior hitter Sabina Rinda had nine kills and fellow junior Emily Riesner added seven, while sophomore middle Cassi Shields posted five kills.
Shields landed a kill during the second set that gave Westminster a 17-11 lead, which it extended to 21-14 moments later. The Patriots didn’t go away, however, and pushed the score to 24-23 before Widener ended the set with a solid strike.
Northern turned things around in the third set and raced to a 13-6 lead. Droneberger’s fifth kill of the set gave the Pats a16-7 lead, and they rolled from there.
Westminster fell behind 20-9 in the decisive set, and Northern closed out the match by scoring the final five points.
“I love my team,” Frock said. “These girls are amazing every day.
“They come to the gym every day and work their butts off, and make each other better. And you can see they care about the sport so much.”
Westminster dealt with some serving errors and miscommunication at times, and when the Owls found their rhythm their scoring runs were halted by a nimble Northern defense.
Droneberger had 16 kills and junior libero Mackenzie Detoto had a team-high 17 for the Patriots. Kasey Thomas, Westminster’s senior libero, countered with 14 digs and Widener chipped in with 12.
Westminster senior setter Emily Stauder had 16 assists and junior Alexis Troy posted 18.
Magruder 3, Bel Air 0: The power and precision of undefeated Magruder sent the Bobcats to defeat in a Class 3A state semifinal.
The Colonels (24-0) swept the Bobcats (16-2) at Maryland’s Ritchie Coliseum, 25-17, 25-17, 25-5.
“We faced a great team tonight,” Bobcats coach Dave Simon said. “They passed super well. I don’t think their setter moved much. The balls were always right to her and so she could run whatever she wanted.
“They’ve got some big guns, so when you can pass that well, you can set them up and they terminated. They were a great team.
Magruder seniors Maya Scott and Kaliyah Moss had 15 and 13 kills, respectively.
Lexi Couch (two blocks) and McKenna Reiswig had five kills apiece for the Bobcats. Maddie Reagan added four kills.
“This game did not portray how good of a team we are,” Reagan said. “We did not play like we usually do, this is not our best game at all.”