CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – Lincoln and Hagerstown’s volleyball teams advanced on Thursday in the opening round of the Class 2A sectional hosted by the Golden Eagles.
The No. 9 Golden Eagles beat Winchester 25-14, 25-14, 25-22 to begin the action, while No. 2 Hagerstown defeated Northeastern 25-11, 25-10, 25-15.
Hagerstown (32-1) and Lincoln (25-7) meet on Saturday at 11 a.m. Defending champ Union County (14-19) plays Centerville (15-12) in the other semifinal at 12:30 p.m. The championship is at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, Lincoln Head Coach Greg Seidner wanted his team to play well from the beginning of the match.
“We really focused on getting off to a good start,” he said. “We lost the first couple of points, but then we got on a roll.”
After winning the first set, Winchester took a 6-1 lead in the second before the Golden Eagles rallied to tie it at 7-7.
“Our serving controlled the game a lot,” Seidner said. “When we’re serving tough it keeps their big hitters from hitting.”
The Golden Eagles never trailed in the third set, but Winchester (6-22) remained within striking distance.
“We kind of stayed ahead of them the whole time, but we couldn’t get that safe zone away from them,” Seidner said.
Kylei Klein led the Golden Eagles with 10 kills, while Lauren Weston and Laynie Russell added seven kills each. Allie Owens finished with six kills and Emmie Pugh had four.
Rachel Merida had 32 assists and led the way for Lincoln with five aces. Cheyenne Hedrick had 13 digs and Weston and Russell contributed 10 each.
For the Golden Falcons, Shelby Miller led the way with five kills and three blocks. Kirkland Keener finished with four kills, seven digs and a pair of aces.
Morgan Friend had 19 digs and Leah Wren added nine assists.
In Thursday’s other match, Hagerstown was led by Regan Tinkle with eight kills, while Taylor Kelley added seven.
“I thought we played with a lack of intensity,” Hagerstown Head Coach Brian Dale said. “I expected more from my team being the first game in a sectional.”
“We got the win and we’re going to hit it hard tomorrow,” Dale continued.
The opening set was tied at 6-6 before the Tigers gained control with six straight points. In the second, the Tigers scored the final 10 points to take a 2-0 advantage.
Hagerstown led 11-10 in the third before the Tigers were able to end the contest.
Brytni Dale led the Tigers with 19 digs and Victoria Pierson added 18. Beth Jenkins finished with 18 assists and Hannah Rogers contributed a dozen
Northeastern (8-25) was led by Tatum Jordan with three kills. Kasey Andrews had two kills and two aces. Morghan Foust also had two kills.
Alexis Middleton topped the Knights with 12 digs. Sasha Middleton had nine assists and eight digs. Dayna Newman ended with eight digs.