Girls volleyball: St. Bede, Henry best higher seeds to advance to 1A regional semis

SPRING VALLEY — Tuesday was only the second night of the second season at the Class 1A St. Bede Regional, but already it was not a good night to be a higher seed.

No. 12 seed St. Bede survived a high-energy challenge from No. 4 seed Woodland that put the tourney hosts down a set, but rallied behind five-point service bursts by Emily Robbins and Ella Hermes in the third set to slip past the Warriors for a 22-25, 25-18, 25-17 victory and a spot in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal against Henry-Senachwine.

The No. 11-seeded Mallards are there thanks to a decisive service run by Gabriella Garcia to win the first set and two clutch plays from Abbie Stanbary at the end of the second for a 25-20, 25-23 win over No. 6 seed Serena.

The first semifinal on Wednesday will pit No. 1 seed Newark vs. No. 8 Putnam County at 6 p.m.

The opening match Tuesday saw Woodland (25-5) come out and play like the scrappy, dig-everything defensive team it always seems to be. Their energy helped Emma Highland serve up five points for an 8-3 lead, but with the set tied at 16 an error and four points by Highland kept them in control.

The second game was tied 8-8 when six points in a row by Robbins and later three by Sadie Koehler sent it to a third set. There, a Warriors service error and five points from Robbins opened up a 16-9 lead for the Bruins (13-20).

Woodland got as close as 16-13, but a kill by Johnna Bogatitus and seven points by Hermes – three on kills by Ali Bosnich – made it an insurmountable 24-13 St. Bede edge.

“I felt in the first set, we kind of didn’t play hard. We played safe while Woodland was playing hard,” St. Bede coach Abbi Bosnich said, “but we got some momentum back at the end of the first and felt better going into the second set. In the second and third sets, we played to win instead of letting the game come to them, and I could see the energy and confidence in their faces.

“I can’t say I was ever nervous, because I could see that confidence in their faces, and that’s what every coach wants.”

In fairness to Woodland, three of its starters began feeling “unwell” in the first set and were not themselves, but they battled through it. Cloee Johnston led all with 13 kills, while Highland added eight.

“Once we got that first set down, we were positive and ready to go again,” Warriors coach Michelle Pitte said, “but it seemed like we were struggling and pulling from behind. They knew that even though we were struggling, we weren’t going to give in, and the girls didn’t and we kept pulling. It came down to those last couple of serves. We didn’t get those good passes from the back, we made some errors that were not like us, and it is what it is.

“We went down fighting.”

Henry’s win in the second match of the night was just as intense. The Mallards led just 13-11 in the opening game when Serena’s serve-receive started to repeatedly fail them. Garcia reeled off nine straight points, five of those on aces, before the Huskers could stop the bleeding down 23-11.

Game two was nearly as one sided. Serena star hitter Paige Sexton continued to struggle, either hitting long or having Henry’s defense bring her spikes back.

A kill by Talur Holman set the Mallards lead at 14-7 before Serena battled back, getting as close as 17-16 on a Sexton ace, then taking a 20-19 lead on a trio of Sophie Thompson points. But with the set tied at 23, Stanbary slammed home a kill, then blocked Sexton for match point.

“If this were a regular-season match, we might not have done as well based on how we’ve played teams of that caliber,” Henry-Senachwine coach Rita Self said. “We usually don’t win those, so tonight it felt good to finish what we started. Unforced errors usually kill us, but we didn’t have them.

“This was one of those games where the girls just worked together, and they put it together. The block was getting good touches, the defense was there when they didn’t, we served really well, and they struggled in serve-receive, so that was one advantage for us. … We played more relaxed. We were calm and composed tonight.”

Despite seven kills by Sexton, the Huskers see their season end at a standout 24-9.

“Henry brought everything up. They’re a good defensive team, and they definitely outscrapped us tonight,” Serena coach Chris Bjork said. “Paige got some hits down, and they brought a few of them up, but she hit a few that were too long tonight, and that’s not like her. Maybe she was a little too amped up, being a senior and knowing this was her last regional that she overswung on a few, but she’s had a phenomenal season.

“It was a tough match defensively for us. Our feet weren’t moving, and we can’t bring a ball up if we don’t move our feet first, so we were having issues with that.”