On Tuesday, November 12 the Lady Beavers traveled to McDowell to face Cathedral Prep Ramblers for the third and final time this season for the State Semi-Finals.
The Ramblers got the first point of the first set from a judgement error by the Beavers. Prep was the first to five off of Corry errors, but a Prep service error allowed Corry on the score board. Cathedral Prep got a large lead on the Beavers before Corry began fighting back (13-2). The Ramblers were up 17-4 when the Beavers called their second time out of the first set. The Beavers started to make a slight comeback, still trailing by twelve (18-6). An ace by Senior Sydney Woods brings the Beavers up to 7, Prep continues their run as they gain a twelve point lead (22-9). It was set point (24-10) with Prep’s Mackenzie Moore up to serve, the Beavers kept battling from a Prep error until the set ended from a tip by Olivia Hutchinson. The final score of the first set was 25-11.
The Beavers got the first point of the second set from an out of bounds hit by Prep, but Prep got in the lead quickly as they were up by two (3-1) when they beavers got the ball back. An impressive save by Senior Aubrey Chase keeps the rally going for the Beavers. A dump by Senior setter Payton McCray ended the rally and tied the game at 3-3. The game stayed close, tying at 7-7 and 8-8 before the lady Beavers climbed to the lead. A long hit in response to McCray’s serve gave Corry another point. A Prep error brought Corry to 11-8, which caused the Ramblers to call their first time out. The Ramblers began to make a comeback, an ace by Caroline Krahe brought Prep up to 10-11. An Ace by Senior Halle Albers allowed Corry to get the lead back, followed by a hard kill by Chase, A kill by Sophomore Grace Allen, and an ace by Halle Albers brought the Beavers up to 10-17. This run caused Prep to call their first time out of the set, once the game resumed Prep ended the Beavers run with a kill. A block by Prep’s Olivia Hutchinson brought the score to 17-12, the Beavers up by five. Errors from both teams allowed the scores to fluctuate, a judgment error by Prep brought Corry to 23, the score being 23-18. A double touch by Cathedral Prep brought the Beavers to set point, the Beavers secured the win with a powerful shot by Halle Albers.
The third set started in favor of the Beavers with an over-serve by Prep giving Corry the first point. Prep soon took back the lead, the Beavers trailed by four (8-4). Corry began to made a comeback when Prep made a service error, which brought the team ace leader, Halle Albers to the service line. Albers serve started a rally which Payton McCray saved with a dig, McCrays dig caused a stir upon the Ramblers which gave Corry the point, only being down by four (12-8). Another intense rally ended from a Grace Allen kill, this brought Senior libero Makenna Moore to the service line. Back to back Hutchinson blocks gave the Ramblers a five point lead (16-11). Corry called their first time out of the set when the score was 17-11, each team tied with one set won. Prep was the first to twenty from an error made by the Beavers (20-12). A roll shot by Senior Emmalee Carr, followed by a spike by Senior Sadye Dyne brought the score to (21-16), Prep still in the lead. Aubrey Chase’s serve scored off of a Ramblers error that brought the Beavers to 17. A Corry error followed by two Prep hits brought the Ramblers to 23 (23-17). A block by Sadye Dyne started a rally, which was ended by a hit from Grace Allen. A shot by Prep’s Ellen Hutchinson brought the Ramblers to set point, two error’s by Prep allowed Corry two more point’s (20-24). A kill by Olivia Hutchinson ended the third set with a final score on 20-25.
Halle Albers started the fourth set on the service line for the Beavers. A missed hit from the Ramblers gave Corry the first set point. A roll shot by Prep gave them a two point lead (5-3). A free ball out by Prep gave the Beavers a free point, which made them trail by only one point. A hit by Senior Sadye Dyne tied the game 6-6, followed by a Woods ace, which allowed Corry to secure the lead. The Beavers and the Ramblers went back and fourth with the lead, but Corry soon took control. A block by Carr and a serve by Moore brought the score to 10-7. The Ramblers did not let Corry gain a large lead, as an ace by Prep’s Caroline Krahe tied the game at 11-11. A kill by Albers followed by another one of her aces brought the Beavers up by two, followed by a service error by the Ramblers which allowed Corry to gain another point. A Sadye Dyne kill gave Corry a three point lead, but a misjudgment by the Beavers allowed Cathedral Prep to gain one point, which Grace Allen soon corrected with a powerful kill. Prep soon took the lead until another Dyne block tied the game back up at 17-17, then followed by an error from Prep which put the Beavers back into the lead. A rally started, but was quickly ended by a block by duo Sadye Dyne and Halle Albers, making the score 19-17. Corry calls a time out when Prep started to take the lead (21-19), a kill by Aubrey Chase followed by a Makenna Moore ace which took back the lead for Corry. This caused Prep to call a time out (23-21). A Krahe kill gave Prep a point, followed by a Halle Albers kill which brought the Beavers to set point. A Beaver service error gave the Ramblers a point making the score close at 23-24. The fourth set was ended by a Halle Albers hit, the final score being (25-23) both teams tied with two wins each as they headed into the fifth and final set.
The last set of the night started off strong for the Beavers, a kill by Aubrey Chase gave Corry the first set point. A tip out of play gave the Beavers another point, followed by a Chase ace, and an error by Prep which all added up to give the lady Beavers a three point lead. A Grace Allen kill and an ace from Sawyer stirred the Ramblers as they called their first time out of the set (6-2). The game resumed with Cathedral Prep being out of rotation which gave Corry a free point, Prep began to make a comeback when they got called for being in the net which then made the score (8-5). Corry was the first to ten, needing only five more points when Prep called their second time out of the set. The game resumed with Woods on the service line, an Halle Albers kill and Prep’s Nixon into the net when attempting to play a Sadye Dyne tip which gave the Beavers a six point lead (12-6). Another Halle Albers kill followed by an Albers hit brought Corry up to game point. Payton McCray was on the service line, the ball came back to the Beavers court where McCray set the ball to Aubrey Chase where she hit the game winning kill. the final score of the fifth set was 15-8.
The Beavers will advance into the 2A PIAA State Finals on Saturday, November 16, in Mechanicsburg Pa at 1 p.m.
The stat leaders of the night:
Halle Albers: 14 kills, 14 digs, 3 aces and 1 block.
Grace Allen: 13 kills and 4 digs.
Sadye Dyne: 8 kills and 2 blocks.
Aubrey Chase: 7 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces and 1 block.
Payton McCray: 1 kill, 25 assists, and 9 digs.
Makenna Moore: 24 digs and 2 aces.
Haley Mumau: 25 digs and 5 aces.
Sydney Woods: 12 digs and 2 aces.
Emmalee Carr: 3 kills, 1 dig and 1 block.
Allison Sawyer: 1 kill, 1 assists, 6 digs, and 2 aces.
