GREENCASTLE — Greencastle-Antrim welcomed local rival James Buchanan in a District 3 Class 3A girls volleyball match, and gave the Rockets a 3-0 defeat for the third time this season.

But JB made the Blue Devils work for it, falling 25-21 and 25-23 in the first two games before G-A wrapped it up with a 25-16 clincher in game 3 of the quarterfinal match Thursday night.

Kaitlyn Alvey

“Because we’d seen this team twice already this year, we wanted to make sure we came out prepared and ready,” Greencastle coach Madee Goodwin said.

The No. 1-seeded Blue Devils, now 19-0, will host No. 4 Garden Spot (15-5), a 3-1 winner over Northern Lebanon, in a semifinal match on Tuesday at 7 p.m. James Buchanan finishes with an 11-9 record.

In the previous two matches these teams had played, JB had scored more than 18 points only once in any of the six games, a 29-27 loss in the first match’s game 3.

But they made it tough for G-A in the first two sets.

Rocket coach Erica Piper said, “I thought for the first two sets, we were right there with them. Greencastle is tough, but I am proud of the way our girls played.”

Goodwin said, “We know JB is a scrappy team and they will go all out for every ball. We had to be ready for long rallies. Our girls got behind a few times and let JB go on some long runs, but we were able to dig deep and get out of it.”

Abby Eagler was her usual self, leading Greencastle in kills with 18, serving strong (11 points, including 5 aces) and making 10 digs.

“Abby again was a key player,” Goodwin said. “No matter where she is on the court we were able to find her and she found a way to score.”

Kaitlyn Alvey was also a tough server, with 13 points and 2 aces, plus 18 assists. Kylie Kerns had 16 assists, 5 digs and 9 kills.

Also for G-A, Wren Roberts put up 6 points and 6 digs, Jordyn Wagner hit for 7 kills, Kinzee Hudson led with 17 digs and Hayden Baer made 2 blocks.

As a team, the Blue Devils made only 2 serve receive errors and totaled 9 aces.

Not only did JB qualify for the playoffs, it won a first-round match on Tuesday.

“We really started to peak at the end of the season and we got some girls healthy at the right time,” Piper said. “We played very well Tuesday and we have a bright future.”

Kendyl Stoner led the Rockets in kills with 13, followed by Shelby Crider (9), Lexi Martin (8) and Ainsley Green (6). Martin produced 6 blocks and Green added 4.

Kyleigh Stoner put up 21 assists and Brynleigh McCracken served for 14 points. On defense, Avery Brindle was credited with 16 digs and Madison Rice added 9.

Piper said, “I am so proud of our senior group (Brindle, Kyleigh Stoner, Rice and Green). They did a great job leading us to the playoffs.”