Varsity Volleyball: Knights face adversity, take down Winters Mill

By Ben Spector

Winning After MidKnight

 

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (M.P.S.S.A.A) 2A West region is extremely difficult for the sport of volleyball. Any team who wants to make a good run will have to be pretty much perfect throughout the championship.

The Middletown High School Knights would get a taste of that difficulty on October 21^st when they defeated the Winters Mill High School Falcons, by a score of 3-1.

The match would be a back-and-forth affair with the momentum swinging quite rapidly throughout all four sets, in a game that had a playoff atmosphere.

Middletown would have to dig in early as the Falcons would take them right up to the very end in both of the first two sets as Middletown won Set 1, 25-22, and Set 2, 25-21.

Winters Mill, in a position to roll over and let Middletown take the straight sets victory, fought back instead in the third set-a see-saw affair that would go well past the minimum 25 points.

Both Middletown and Winters Mill had their runs in the third set, witht eh Falcons and Knights both evenly matched during the third set.

Winters Mill would take a lead late in Set 3, 31-30 and add one more point to give themselves the Set 3 win by a score of 32-30.

That win make the match much more interesting for the Falcons, as it seemed Winters Mill could pull off a late rally to try and stun the Knight.

Middletown would maintain control throughout the rest of the match taking Set 4 from the Falcons, rather anti-climactically, by a score of 25-17.

The Knights were especially strong up front where seniors Ellie Collins, Ashley Catania, and Paige Bussard had impressive games for the Knights.

Catania would rack up 38 assists on the night, while Bussard and Collins would pair Catania’s finesse with some power, with the two girls recording 12 and 9 kills respectively for Middletown.

Also helping up front for Middletown was sophomore Erika Pritchard who had 17 kills for the Knights.

Middletown will now turn their focus toward South Carroll High School as they will take on the Cavaliers in their regular season finale on October 23^rd at 7 p.m.

The Cavaliers (1-11) another 2A West region opponent have struggled mightily in past years with this year being no exception as they look to turnover a new leaf as they head into playoffs.

Notes: The draw for the 2014 MPSSAA 2A Volleyball Championship will take place on October 29^th. If the current standings were to hold, Middletown would receive the #3 seed in their section.