Central Mountain Volleyball – District 6 4A Runner-Up
By Tom Elling
WINGATE, PA – The ladies of Central Mountain went in as the underdog to a well-balanced and talented State College volleyball team.
Coach Chip McCann knew his team had to play as well as they did against Altoona to beat the Lady Little Lions. In set #1 it was nip-and-tuck as it took a late run by State to overtake the Lady Wildcats, 25-21.
It was a similar script in set #2, but this time State jumped out early. Central Mountain came back but State had built up too much of a cushion for the locals to overcome, taking that series by an identical 25-21 contest.
Set three State had all the momentum, and even though was more dominant, the Wildcats fought back hard but were just too far back and dropped the set, 25-12.
The 3-0 loss set the CM final record at 10-7. Coach McCann lauded his seniors and acknowledged he would miss their leadership and talent, but he also pointed out that he will return a strong nucleus with some solid potential coming up from the JV and JH teams.
Each and every player made contributions to the team effort. Seniors Kyleigh McDermit, Emilee Heverly, Tori Marquardt and Olivia Rockey had brilliant moments and contributed greatly to the success of this team.
“We had a good season. Finishing second to a team like State College is no shame. We thought we had a chance, but it wasn’t to be tonight. We avenged losses to Bellefonte, and Altoona and other losses we suffered were to District 9 champion DuBois and two outstanding District teams in West Branch and Philipsburg-Osceola.”
State College will next play the WPIAL runner-up, and if they win that would next likely face the District Three Champion.
