CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – Second-ranked Hagerstown and Centerville are set to meet in the finale of Class 2A Sectional 41 at Lincoln on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Hagerstown (33-1) reached the finals with a 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 win over ninth-ranked Lincoln (25-8) to begin play in the morning.
“They’re playing very well and they are so tough to defend,” Lincoln Head Coach Greg Seidner said. “We couldn’t afford to have any lapses and we did a few times. They had some great shots and some great plays, it was just tough.”
Jessica Swimm led the Tigers with nine kills, while Brytni Dale added seven kills. Beth Jenkins finished with six kills with Aimee Hoodlebrink and Taylor Kelley contributed five kills each.
Hannah Rogers and Beth Jenkins paced the Tigers on offense with 14 assists apiece. Brytni Dale and Victoria Pierson both had 15 digs and Lacee Dale had 13 digs.
“We missed one serve the entire match,” Brian Dale said. “We weren’t going for aces. We were going to keep the ball in play and let our offense do the work. Everybody made a big play down the stretch.”
Kylei Klein led the Golden Eagles with 10 kills.
“When she went out of the game, we had to keep the throttle down,” the Hagerstown coach said of his team’s approach in the semifinal affair.
Allie Owens and Emmie Pugh both had five kills for Lincoln with Lauren Weston adding three kills and 13 digs. Rachel Merida led the way with 22 assists as she finished with 11 digs. Cheyenne Hedrick topped Lincoln with 17 digs.
Centerville (16-12) advanced with a 25-23, 25-17, 25-22 victory over defending champion Union County.
“I was really proud of the girls,” Centerville Head Coach Stephanie Hornak said. “They worked hard all week in practice.”
After missing the regular season match with the Patriots, the return of Kelsee Troutwine aided the Bulldogs as she contributed five kills and a pair of blocks.
“That helped and I think we had a little more intensity,” Hornak said.
Addie Walther had eight kills and 10 digs for Centerville, while Lizzy Walther had eight assists and 20 digs. Logan Jackson added six kills and seven digs.
Morgan Toschlog led the Bulldogs with 19 digs and Staton added 15 assists and three aces.
The Patriots finished the season at 14-20.
“We made too many mistakes,” Union County coach Frank Spurlock said. “With the errors and mistakes we made, you’re not going to beat anybody let alone a team in a sectional semifinal.”
“We’ve got to play at a high level to advance,” he added. “A lot of it was Centerville. They executed their game plan.”