JOHNSTOWN — Greencastle-Antrim’s storied girls volleyball season came to a close Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal match.
Kylie Kerns
The Blue Devils could not handle the front line of the Bobcats, dropping a 3-0 verdict, with scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-19.
“They were definitely a good team,” G-A coach Madee Goodwin said. “They had two girls (6-foot-3 Kaitlyn Connelly and 6-1 Alaina Malobabic) who were much taller than us that stood out. They were a head taller than the rest of the girls.”
Greencastle finishes its season with a fine 20-3 record. The Blue Devils won their first District 3 championship and their first PIAA victory in program history.
Goodwin said, “I’m very happy. It was not great to lose, but I told the girls even before we got there that they should be proud of what we’ve done. All they could do was give it their best.”
Kylie Kerns put up stats across the board for G-A, putting up 6 kills, 2 aces, 5 service points, 8 digs and 12 assists. Alaina Garling had 4 points, 2 blocks, 2 digs and 12 assists.
Alaina Garling
Goodwin said, “We knew their big girls were good and we tried to work around it, but there’s only so much you can do. I thought we did well adjusting to them . Even if we didn’t get a perfect dig, I was proud of them for just getting a touch on the ball.
“We struggled to get our block set up, so Wren (Roberts) stepped up and filled in. They were just very tough to defense. We could have had better serve receive, too — too many of our passes were put too close to the net.”
Roberts picked up 6 kills, 2 aces, 6 points and 7 digs, while Abby Eagler put up 11 kills, 9 digs and 2 points.
Beaver (20-4) will now face Mars (20-4) in the semifinals on Tuesday. Mars beat the Bobcats in the District 7 final. Big Spring, a team the Blue Devils beat three times this season, advanced to the semifinals on the other side of the bracket.
Greencastle statistics: Kills — Abby Eagler 11, Kylie Kerns 6, Wren Roberts 6, Alaina Garling 1, Jordyn Wagner 1, Emma Pool 1. Blocks — Garling 2, Wagner 2. Service points — Roberts 6, Kerns 5, Garling 4, Kinzee Hudson 3, Eagler 2. Aces — Roberts 2, Kerns 2. Digs — Eagler 9, Kerns 8, Roberts 7, Hudson 6, Pool 3, Morgan Kline 2, Garling 2, Wagner 1. Assists — Garling 12, Kerns 12.
District 3 All-Stars: Greencastle had 3 players named to the District 3 Coaches All-Star Teams — Abby Eagler and Kylie Kerns were picked for the first team in Class 3A, while Alaina Garling was chosen for the third team.