Athletics News

Women's Volleyball

CSM ends ’Jacks’ season with dominating effort
Chesapeake College swept out of Division I Region XX net semifinals

WYE MILLS – Two regular-season women’s volleyball losses to the College of Southern Maryland turned on a few pivotal plays that the Skipjacks didn’t convert.

That wasn’t the case Sunday in the NJCAA Division I Region XX tournament semifinals.

Second-seeded CSM dominated almost from the start, sweeping fourth-seeded Chesapeake College, 25-13, 25-9, and 25-14. The Hawks finished the first set with a 12-2 surge, started the second set with a 16-3 run, and took command of the third set with an 11-1 spree after the teams split the opening eight points.

"They are a very good team, and we also made a whole lot more mistakes today than we did the last two times," said Chesapeake head coach Jay Covey. "I don’t think we had a block until the last game, and against a team with that many weapons, you had better be able to block."

CSM head coach Michelle Ruble said her Hawks worked hard at running their offense at a faster clip.

"We controlled the ball a lot better than the last time," said Ruble, whose team was swept by top-seeded host Hagerstown Community College in Sunday afternoon’s Region XX title match. "We’ve been working on quickening our offense, hopefully allowing for a single block instead of double blocks on our hitters."

Taneé Holly, the Hawks’ sophomore setter, brilliantly executed an offense predicated on quick sets, regularly setting up 5-foot-9 outside hitter Chantal Hebron and 6-0 middle blocker Ashley Wolfe throughout the match.

"I just think our heads were all in the game," Holly said. "Everybody was just leaving it all out on the court like every point was our last point. We didn’t want this to be our last match."

The match began as if it would be just as tightly contested as last week’s four-set slugfest in Wye Mills. Chesapeake had 2-0, 4-3, 5-4 and 7-6 leads in the first set, which was tied, 8-8, before the Hawks reeled off four straight points. CSM (32-12) took the lead for good on a long hit by Verushka Perez before Hebron served three straight points, two on aces, for a 12-8 lead.

The Skipjacks (12-10) twice pulled within two points, the last time on an O’Sha Adams kill that made it 13-11. Wolfe responded with a kill and consecutive aces to start CSM’s game-ending, 12-2 run.

CSM blew out to 4-0 and 6-1 leads in the second set before the Skipjacks pulled within 6-3 on a Kyra Ringgold hit and a miss-hit by CSM’s Liberty McLean. The Hawks then reeled off 10 straight points, including three kills by Hebron and three aces by Holly.

Chesapeake took its only lead of the final two sets on a Perez ace that made it 3-2 early in the final set. The set was tied, 4-4, before CSM hitter Katlin Gardiner’s kill started an 8-0 run that all but locked up the win.

The Skipjacks never stopped hustling, pulling within 20-13 on another Perez ace and 21-14 on a Lexie Holder floater. CSM scored the final four points, finishing the match fittingly as Holly set up McLean for a kill in the middle.

While hoping his team would extend its season at least one match longer, Covey said he was pleased that the squad accomplished two team goals of having a winning season and making it to the regional semifinals.

"Hopefully it (the winning season) will help with recruiting," said Covey, whose team won three times as many matches as they did in last year’s inaugural season. "Ultimately, the goal is to get better as individuals and as a team, and I saw a lot of that."

Notes: Five sophomores – Diana Dieter (Easton High), Jordan Glessner (Colonel Richardson), Perez (Westside, Ga. High), Kyra Ringgold (North Caroline), and Tiara Whye (Kent County) – were participating in their final match for the Skipjacks. . . . Freshman setter Lexie Holder (Colonel Richardson), named to the NJCAA Division I Region XX all-tournament team, is one of four freshmen expected to return next season. The others are Adams (North Caroline), Sara Bailey (Kent Island), and Lindsey Farinholt (Chesapeake Christian).

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