The Woodland Warriors volleyball team came onto its home court with a lot of energy and hard hitting Tuesday evening in its Class 1A Woodland Regional quarterfinal against Fieldcrest.

As a result, the Knights fell behind early before eventually finding the answer – energy and hard hitting of their own leading to a straight-sets, 25-19, 25-16 win over the Warriors to advance on to face Flanagan-Cornell in Wednesday’s semifinals back at the Warrior Dome.

“I think [Woodland] had some good, hard hits that we weren’t really expecting to happen,” said Fieldcrest senior outside hitter Pru Mangan, who finished with match-highs in kills (11) and aces (four). “Once we picked each other up, we got each other back in it, got our own good hits, and we thought to take over from that point.

“We wanted it to be our game, and so we fought for that. Every little good thing that happened, we tried to celebrate it – bring our energy up and shut theirs down."

Woodland won seven of the match’s opening 10 rallies to build a 7-3 advantage in the first set – senior Sydney Wright providing a long service run highlighted by an ace as well as kills from sophomore Addy Ewing and junior Grace Longmire.

“We were on fire,” Warriors coach Michelle Pitte said. “We really wanted it tonight. We wanted to leave everything out there for the seniors. I just think we got tired.”

The Knights caught the Warriors at 12-12 and took control on back-to-back stuff blocks from junior Kelani Armstrong. Armstrong would go on to add a late kill and the successful service on set point.

After the short break between sets, Fieldcrest picked up right where it left off. After Woodland went up 2-0 on a Ewing ace, the Knights responded with a 9-2 run powered by seven Mangan kills over a nine-rally stretch. Mangan went on to add match point on her fourth ace of the night.

“Yeah, she got into her groove and saw what was working and was really smart about it,” Fieldcrest coach Cathy Sanders said of Mangan. “That’s what’s fun to watch about Pru. She’s a smart player, she’s aggressive, and when she’s on, she can make a lot of good things happen.

“We started out a little flat and had to adjust to not only it being their home gym, but they also run a different defense. Once our girls adjusted to that, I think that made a big difference, kind of realizing we had to be a little more aggressive.”

The Warriors fought point-for-point – including repeated, long, scrappy rallies – but never managed to draw back even with the Knights, Woodland’s season ending with a record of 7-18.

“I think the leadership of Jaylei [Leininger], wanting it for the seniors, and just wanting to play hard,” Pitte said of what carried her team this season. “They wanted to play hard, and there’s nothing you can do but play hard.

“Do what you can do and go have fun, and they did for the most part.”

Longmire finished with nine kills to lead Woodland. Ewing added four to go with her eight digs, Leininger totaled a match-best 19 digs, Gracie Milligan had 12 assists, and Wright closed out her high school career with a dozen digs and two kills.

For Fieldcrest – now 15-16-2 – in addition to Mangan’s dominating performance, TeriLynn Timmerman put down three kills, Armstrong had two kills and the aforementioned two blocks, and Macy Gochanour finished with a double-double of 13 assists and 10 digs.

Flanagan-Cornell d. Hoopeston Area 25-12, 25-17: In Tuesday’s early quarterfinal, the fourth-seeded Falcons – now 17-14 on the season – advanced past the No. 13 Cornjerkers in straight sets to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

Marley Highland served up six aces, Abbi Armstrong put down six kills, Kora Edens had five kills, Kaylee Delheimer pushed 11 assists, and Carleigh Pfaff finished with a team-best nine digs.