South Carroll, Liberty advance to state finals; Crofton falls
South Carroll came from two sets down Monday to win a five-set thriller over Patterson Mill in a Class 1A state semifinal.
The Cavaliers dropped the first two sets, 21-25, 18-25, but roared back to win the next three, 25-23, 25-20, 15-7, at Thomas Johnson High in Frederick.
The Cavaliers (14-4) will meet Clear Spring at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 1A state final at Harford Community College.
“Coming in, I knew it was going to be a challenging game for us, but with the mindset on the entire team this year, I knew that the game was theirs from the get-go,” South Carroll coach Brad Kutzler said. “We started off slow and then I said a few things to get them back in the right mindset, the mindset we’ve had all year.”
In the deciding fifth set, Patterson Mill went up 2-0 on a pair of Jeana Harrison kills, but South Carroll scored the next four points, the last on Jamie Knight’s kill.
The Huskies (14-5) tied the set at 4, but the Cavaliers pulled away a short time later. Emily Trail’s kill pushed South Carroll ahead, 7-6, and she then served five points for an 11-6 lead.
Patterson Mill’s final point ended the run, but two errant hits by the Huskies gave the Cavaliers a 13-7 lead. Huskies coach Brandon Jones called a timeout, but it just delayed the win. Rylee Taylor served the final two points with Patterson Mill unable to return the volley after several hits between the teams.
“It’s been our goal since the beginning of the season; we’re going to states this year,” senior Lindsey Willie said. “Our team has never been like this in my entire four years of being on the team. I don’t think we’ve had this much passion to win, ever.”
Trailing by two sets and facing elimination, the Cavaliers battled back. The third set was locked at 15 and Patterson Mill led 20-17 on a Josie Otremba kill. South Carroll scored five straight points to jump ahead, 22-20.
Tied at 23, South Carroll scored the final two points to win and stay alive.
In the fourth set, Patterson Mill led 8-4 and then 12-6, but the Cavaliers came back, tying the set at 13.
Freshman Elaina Murphy’s kill put South Carroll ahead, 16-15, and it never trailed again. A Trail ace and Murphy kill made it 18-15. Lili White’s block had the Cavaliers ahead, 22-17, and another Murphy kill gave the Cavaliers set point.
Patterson Mill was hitting on all cylinders in the first two sets. Junior Grace Bonhoff (13 kills) and Otremba (11 kills) both had three kills in the first set win, but a Murphy kill for South Carroll had the set locked at 19 and the Huskies calling a timeout.
Out of it, the Huskies rode another Bonhoff kill to get ahead and then outscored the Cavaliers 5-2 to end the set.
“Coming in today I talked to the girls about this being a big stage for them,” Jones said. “None of them had ever been to the state championship for a volleyball team. Even if you think you’re prepared, the nerves get the best of you.”
The Huskies’ best set came in the second, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. The Cavaliers cut the lead to 10-5 and then got as close four at 22-18, but the Huskies closed it out with three points.
“I’m so happy that I got to play with them and I’m so proud of them,” Otremba, a senior said. “I honestly didn’t expect us to get this far, but I’m so tremendously proud.”
No. 6 Liberty edges No. 11 Hereford in 2A
Liberty has relied upon seniors Sarah Hart and Paige Coulson all year to lead its offense. Usually, it’s Hart who provides most of the power, while Coulson is adept at finding holes in the defense. On Monday night at Watkins Mill High in a Class 2A state semifinal, it was the other way around.
The No. 6 Lions held off a stubborn No. 11 Hereford team in four sets, 25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, to keep their undefeated season alive and advance to Thursday’s 2A state championship game at Harford Community College at 5 p.m. They will face Middletown of Frederick County.
“I think we set really hits goals at the beginning of the season, and we just keep achieving them,” said Hagen. “They leaned on their outsides most of the evening, and they were
full swing, and I think we did a better job of finding holes.”
Coulson agreed with her coach.
“Me and Sarah, we’ve been playing together for so long,” said Coulson, who had 18 kills. “We know each other’s game so well. I think it really showed tonight.”
Liberty (18-0) took the lead midway through the first set, using kills by five kills by Hart (27 kills), some of them on tips over the net, to turn a 12-12 tie into a 20-15 lead. From that point on it was all Lions, as Liberty got kills from Grace Maerten, Coulson and Savannah Craven and an ace by Erin Gossard to close out the set for a 10-point victory.
The Bulls (18-2) played their best volleyball in the second set. Led by the serving of sophomore Grace Perry, Hereford went on a 10-0 run, turning a 17-11 deficit into a 21-17 lead. The Bulls won the set, 25-22, on a tip kill by Rebecca Fetterolf to even the match at one set apiece.
Liberty dominated the third set. The Lions roared out to a 14-7 lead and were never seriously threatened. The tip kills that Liberty kept dropping in were beginning to frustrate the Bulls. The Lions finished off Hereford in the fourth set, but the Bulls put up a fight. At one point, Hereford had a 15-12 lead. That’s when Coulson and Hart went to work, with Hart providing four kills down the stretch and Coulson three to take the set, 25-22.
The Lions will face an epic rematch with Middletown, a team they trailed by two sets before rallying to win in five a few weeks ago.
“We’re really excited [for Thursday night],” Coulson said. “We won counties, then the regional and now this is the next step. I think we’re ready.”
For Hereford, the Bulls extend their streak of futility in the state semifinals. The Bulls had lost eight of the last nine years in the state playoffs. Still, coach Dave Schreiner was proud of his team’s effort.
“I think this is probably the best team we’ve ever had,” he said. “We competed right until the end and we just had a few lapses. Give credit to Liberty, we made some mistakes and they made us pay for them.”
Washington County’s Clear Spring advanced in Class 1A with a 25-9, 25-6, 25-14 win over Forest Park. The Foresters played their best set in the third but were no match for the Blazers, who last won the state championship in 2018. “I’m a junior, so just being here was a great experience for me,” said Forest Park’s Chaniayah Taylor. “Now we know what we need to work on next year to get back here and play better.”
The Blazers will face South Carroll in the final..
No. 10 Crofton falls in 3A
Three years ago, Crofton coach Greg LeGrand hoped his new players didn’t show up wearing T-shirts from their former schools, Arundel and South River. His fears were unfounded.
From that first practice, those pioneers — those then-sophomores who are today’s seniors, especially — showed him just how good Crofton could be.
In the second set on Monday night, the No. 10 Cardinals exemplified what it had become in just three short years. The Cardinals pulled out the stops on offense and defense to rally and tie Northern-Calvert at a set apiece.
However, that’s where Crofton peaked. The Cardinals fell off in the third set and collapsed midway in the fourth, bowing to the Patriots, 25-14, 25-27, 25-20, 25-15, in a Class 3A state semifinal at Arundel.
Earlier in the fall, LeGrand already saw improvement in the team that didn’t make it this far in 2021. This year, the Cardinals beat Severna Park on the road. They took a set against Broadneck. They were the only team to defeat No. 2 Centennial this season, a stunning upset in the state quarterfinals. A state finals appearance, however, wasn’t in the cards.
“We set real, small incremental goals,” LeGrand said. “We wanted to be in the top three. We wanted to be two of the top four. We wanted to be region champs. We wanted to get past where we got last year.
“Of course, we wanted to win a state title. But we did what we set out to do in a lot of our goals this year.”