Greencastle-Antrim captured its first District 3 Class 3A girls volleyball championship on Thursday night with a 3-2 win over Middletown after going behind 2-0 (photo by Ed Gotwals).
GREENCASTLE — About an hour into the District 3 Class 3A girls volleyball championship match Thursday night in its home gym, the Greencastle-Antrim girls volleyball team found itself with a long, tough hill to climb.
Middletown, unbeaten and the defending district champion, held a 2-0 lead after wins of 25-19 and 25-20 in the first two games, and seemed to have all the answers.
Alaina Garling
But the Blue Devils stuck together, kept playing their game and worked their way back into the match, taking the third and fourth games (25-21 and 25-20) and then finishing their huge comeback with a 15-8 verdict in Game 5.
It was the first time Greencastle has claimed a District 3 title in volleyball.
“Our mindset was, hey, we have nothing to lose,” G-A first-year coach Madee Goodwin said. “We’re down two sets, but we knew we’re already going to states, so let’s have some fun. Our motto this year has been ‘effort, enthusiasm and love,’ and that’s what got us through.”
Junior Kylie Kerns said, “I think our energy picked up and we played together as a team. This is just amazing after being down 2-0.”
“I don’t think it was any change in strategy so much as our energy was better,” said junior Abby Eagler. “We were down, but we played our hearts out.”
In the decisive Game 5, the Blue Raiders (18-1) went ahead 8-5 when Kenadee Hileman pounded down an errant pass.
And that’s the last time Middletown scored. Alaina Garling knocked down a kill from the right side, then dropped back to the serving line and never left, serving for the final nine points of the game. That included two aces by Garling, three kills by Eagler, one by Jordyn Wagner and two for Kerns, including a no-doubter for the final point.
Jordyn Wagner
“That was awesome hitting that last one,” Kerns said.
Garling, a senior who led G-A with 17 service points, said, “I take a lot of pride in my serving; I make it kind of a priority. I try to take a deep breath, make sure I get the first one in, and then after that I go for it. It was about the second or third point (in that run) that I thought we might be able to go the whole way.”
Goodwin said, “I started breaking down even at the start of that fifth set, just because we had come back to force it. I felt pretty good about having Alaina serving, and when we got to 14 points, I started to lose it.”
The Blue Raiders looked very strong from the start, with Hileman, the setter, feeding Lena Jones and Addison Huber in the middle and Katelyn Wagner on the wing. They rolled to a 20-8 lead before Greencastle picked up the pace a little, but the closest G-A could get was at 23-19 on a kill by Jordyn Wagner.
Game 2 started in the Blue Devils’ favor, with a 7-2 lead. But once Middletown tied it up at 8-8, it was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way, with 11 more ties. Two G-A hitting errors and a kill by Jones put the Blue Raiders up 22-19 and they closed it out.
Game 3 also had 10 ties, until Wagner’s block gave Greencastle a 16-14 lead, which it never relinquished.
Wagner, a sophomore, was able to help neutralize the power of Jones in the middle of the net.
“It wasn’t anything major we changed,” Wagner said. “We starting turning our hands a different (on blocks) and put more of our people in position. And we started to get a feel for when she was going to tip the ball — sometimes if she shrugged her shoulders, we knew a tip was coming.”
Game 4 was similar to the ones before it, with eight ties, until Greencastle broke a 16-16 score with six consecutive points. Eagler, who led everybody with 27 kills (.365 hitting), contributed a kill and two aces in that quick run, while Morgan Rennekamp had a kill and Wagner a block.
Eagler was potent while attacking from the left side and on plenty of 10-foot kills down the middle.
“I just tried to see a spot that was open, and if not just hit it hard,” Eagler said.
Goodwin said, “We adjusted a little against their middle hitter, and our back line shifted over a little. But that Game 5 is nerve-wracking — there’s not much room for error.
“Middletown is a solid team. But I don’t know that they played anybody this year who wanted it as bad as we did.”
NOTES: The Blue Devils will play in the first round of the PIAA Tournament on Tuesday at home against the No. 3 team from District 12 (Philadelphia area) … Last year, G-A lost in the first round of states to Bald Eagle Area, 3-1 … G-A made 12 service errors and had 11 aces.
Greencastle statistics: Kills — Eagler 27, Kerns 11, Garling 6, Rennekamp 5, Wagner 4, Emma Pool 2. Blocks — Wagner 4, Garling 3, Rennekamp 2, Kerns 1, Pool 1. Service points — Garling 17, Kerns 10, Morgan Kline 9, Eagler 7, Kinzee Hudson 2, Wagner 2. Aces — Garling 4, Eagler 3, Kerns 1, Wagner 1. Assists — Kerns 27, Garling 20. Digs — Kerns 17, Eagler 16, Hudson 14, Kline 13, Garling 13, Rennekamp 4, Wagner 3.