Lady Wildcat Volleyball Ends Season with 3-1 Playoff Loss to Altoona

AdminOctober 30, 2019Last Updated: October 30, 2019

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BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – It was an exciting night at for the Lady Wildcat volleyball team as they hosted Altoona in a first round District 6 4A playoff game before an near capacity crowd in the Central Mountain gym, though, the Lady ‘Cat would come up short, falling the the Lady Mountain Lions, 3-1.

Central Mountain hoped to pick up where they last left off on their last regular season victory over Altoona, but the guests jumped out in front 5-0 in the first set, then the Lady ‘Cats battled back to knot the score at 5-all. The Lady Mountain Lions would pull away once more to take a 10-5 lead and rolled on to take the set 25-19.

The lady Wildcats had a tendency this season to play well in the first set, then lose a step in the second stanza. For a brief period tonight, that seemed to be the case. When Altoona was leading 5-1 in the second set, CM head coach, Scott Garman, called for a timeout to rally the troops. After the break, the Lady ‘Cats did regroup and slowly asserted their will, then a few key plays later, the score was tied 10-10. Now it was Central Mountain that would slowly advance ahead of Altoona to take the second set, 25-16.

The worm turned again in the third set with Altoona staying just ahead of their hosts, this time picking up a 25-20 win. The lady Wildcats battled valiantly in the second set, but could not overcome the deficit.

It was more of the same in the fourth set as the Lady Mountain Lions would not be denied, taking the final set, 25-10 for the 3-1 win.

Loni Duck had 2 aces, 4 kills and 10 assists on the night with Evie Rembold adding 3 kills and 3 blocks. McKenzie Hanna paced the offense with 5 kills while Felicia Baney contributed 3 kills for the statistical leaders pacing Central Mountain.

“A lot of growth from last year to this year,” said coach Garman art the game about his second season as skipper of the Lady Wildcats, “We always challenge the girls whatever happens the previous year, that’s the base minimum for the following year,” he added about the positive strides the team accomplished in 2019.

“I’m incredibly proud … not just in the physical way these girls have evolved, but also in the mental and emotional capacity,” Garman shared, “They really, really got a lot further than I expected them to in that area,”

“They are such a great recoup of kids,” Garman said of his team, “It’s also what they do off the court serving in the community and friends to their teammates and their fellow students in school.”

The Lady Wildcats close out the 2019 season 10-8 highlighted by their first-ever regular season program wins over Altoona, West Branch and Wellsboro.

Altoona will advance to the District 6 4A championship game set for Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in Bellefonte where they will face No. 1 seed, State College who was a 3-0 winner over Williamsport tonight.