CUMBERLAND: Northern easily defeated Fort Hill on Tuesday, taking on a squad that was tied for second place in the local poll.25-19, 25-14, and 25-18 were the Huskies’ three victories (6-1, 5-1 Western Maryland Athletic Conference).Jamie Bailey, the head coach of Northern, commented, “Our new lineup looked good.”
They had a solid rhythm for the most part. They were occasionally stomped, but other than that, they didn’t look too bad tonight.The first two sets went pretty much the same way.In response, the Sentinels (6-2, 3-2 WestMAC) pulled even after Northern took an early lead.Fort Hill persisted, but in the end, the Huskies produced enough plays to gain the upper hand.
“Congrats to Northern; I think they played with a lot of grit tonight. We may have been tired after our lengthy five-set battle with Mountain Ridge last night, but it is not an acceptable justification. Simply put, we didn’t arrive and perform as we ought to have.
Scoring ten points straight
With a kill by Marisa Perez off an assist from Natalie Reed, Northern seized a 4-3 lead in the opening set. The Huskies, led by Reed and Demi Ross, scored ten straight points to establish a 13-3 lead.In the run, Reed had five assists, four of which were used to set up Ross for kills.Ross ended with 19 digs, 14 kills, and two aces for a double-double.The Sentinels responded with a 9–4 run, driven by four assists from Kamryn Rice.
But we have to stop waiting now.Northern won the set 8–7 after outscoring Fort Hill 17–12.The Huskies’ first set finished with a kill from Reed to Perez.Perez, who had two assists and two aces in a row, drove Northern to a 12–4 start in the second set.Nine assists, four kills, and four aces were her final totals.
Bailey remarked, “Marisa is really good about staying cool and collected on that second ball.” She’s incredibly skilled at arriving quickly without creating a scene, even when it’s out of system. precisely where the batter finds their sweet spot.Sentinels capitalized on five mistakes made by the Husky defense to reply with a 12–4 run of their own.
“Just to remind them to get back into their rhythm and play their game.” We became sloppy, our settings weren’t where the hitters wanted them, and we started playing too conservative once they allowed Fort Hill to take over the tempo.
Northern, ahead 16–12 at this point, scored seven straight points, helped by five assists and an ace from Reed, to increase their lead to 23–12.In the end, Reed had two aces and 26 assists.Game point was created by a kill by Reed to Callie Pudlak, and the set was won by a Fort Hill mistake.Pudlak scored three blocks and ten kills.Brooklyn Bowman’s ace gave the Huskies an early 2-1 lead in the last set, which they maintained throughout.
Four kills and three blocks
“Last night, we lost 0-2 in five sets after defeating them in five sets up there. We’ve done it before, so I believe it was a last-minute effort and they knew they could pull it off. We simply failed to meet our expectations.
The Huskies embarked on an 11-2 run to set up match point after two Northern mistakes and a kill by Kamryn Rice to MaeLeigh Plummer reduced the Sentinel deficit to 16-13.Rice had 11 digs and 21 assists for a double-double. During the run, Allahna Lacy contributed two blocks and two kills.Perez and Ross combined for a kill at the net to win the game when they faced match point.”
In three sets, Fort Hill prevailed in the junior varsity match, winning 25-16, 23-25, and 15-10.Caiti Wilson led the Sentinels with 16 digs, Summer Welsh with 14 assists and Corrine Spriggs had four kills and three blocks. For the Huskies, Cali Butler added seven digs and an ace, while Molly Schroyer contributed seven digs and two kills.