DUKE CENTER — After a perfect regular season and a North Tier League title, the Otto-Eldred volleyball team wanted to get off on the right foot with the playoffs beginning.
The Lady Terrors did just that on Tuesday night, defeating Cranberry in straight sets (25-8, 25-18, 25-11) in their District 9 Class A quarterfinals match.
Otto-Eldred was in complete control of the first set, striking the ball well and looking more assured and organized than their opposition.
The second set was a bit closer due to some sloppy play from both teams, but Cranberry was never able to close the gap enough to threaten the Terrors.
In the third set, Cranberry was able to take an early lead, but it didn’t last. O-E won most of its points in a short amount of time, capitalizing on good passing and coming up with strikes that the visitors simply weren’t able to handle.
While he was obviously pleased with the victory, O-E coach Jame Thomas was quick to let his team know that things will only get more difficult the rest of the way.
“That was the first thing that came out of my mouth when we got back to the locker room,” he said. “The girls had a few dips there, but for the most part they hustled the whole match and I was proud of them. They did a nice job.”
Thomas pointed to his team’s ability to set up the hitters with good chances as a key factor in the victory.
“We were passing the ball well,” he said. “Anytime we pass the ball well, usually our setter Emily Smith can get the ball to our hitters pretty quick. That’s hard for the blockers to get to. That’s a big plus for us.”
Smith notched 27 assists in the victory to go along with two kills, two blocks, and four digs.
Thomas praised the work of all of his hitters; among the contributors were Camryn Thomas (10 kills, four blocks, four digs), Ali Cousins (eight kills, 11 digs), Alyssa Shelander (eight kills, three digs), and Harlee Vanscoter (five kills, four digs).
The Lady Terrors will be back at it again on Thursday when they host Clarion in a semifinal contest to determine which team will advance to the District 9 title game.
Coudersport 3, Ridgway 1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18)
RIDGWAY — The Lady Falcons gutted out a tough four-set victory to advance to the D-9 Class A semifinals.
After a convincing first set, Coudersport ran into trouble in the second. But the Lady Falcons regrouped and won the final two sets to seal the deal.
The four-set match led to some gaudy individual numbers for Coudersport. Joplin Osgood had 41 digs and Adrian Page had 28, while Page also added 10 kills and three aces. Haley Keck provided 35 assists to go along with two blocks. EmmaRae Easton finished with nine kills and three aces, while Jillian Updegraff had seven kills.
“It was a total team effort,” Coudy coach Patty Wilson said. “Everybody did a great job tonight. They played well together.”
Coudersport will travel to face A-C Valley on Thursday with a trip to the district title game on the line.
