GLENELG, MD — The Glenelg volleyball team has been on a roll in its home gym lately. After defeating visiting Mt. Hebron for the 3A East regional championship Friday evening, the Gladiators (14-2) have won nine in a row in front of their boisterous home crowd.
The Gladiators' four-set victory, 25-22, 25-12, 23-25, 25-22, gave them their second straight regional title.
"It's always hard to win in someone else's building. I don't care how good you are," Glenelg coach Jason Monjes said. "When you have a crowd like that, and the support that the school has given this team over the last two years, I told the girls you have got to take advantage of this."
Monjes is hoping that the home crowd travels to the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum, where the Gladiators will take on 3A North champion Westminster in the state semifinals Monday night at 8.
"Westminster is a decent-size team and we played them in a tournament and we did pretty well," Monjes said. "I'm hoping that the experience factor will come into play."
Senior Sarah Girard led the Howard County champion Gladiators to victory Friday night with 30 kills and 24 digs.
Mt. Hebron (11-6) also lost to Glenelg in the 2013 regional finals. The Vikings were led by senior Reeana Richardson, who had nine kills in their third set victory on Friday.
"She's one of the best players I've coached in a long time. Her heart, her desire, her overall skill-set from back row to front row. Her leadership as a captain. Unparalelled," Mt. Hebron coach Michael Moynihan said. "We just didn't cover their tips. Offense to offense I think we had them, but their tip game, we talked about it, we practiced it, we just didn't get it."
Glenelg junior setter Rachael Girard had 40 assists and five aces in the win. Junior Corinne Conover had seven kills, and junior Kristen Thesing (17) and senior Elissa Dorsey (11) combined for 28 digs and added two aces each.
"Our momentum is really high and I think we're going to do really well (at states) this year," Rachael Girard said. "We really wanted to go back to Maryland and prove what we have."
Glenelg lost to eventual state champion Damascus in last year's state semifinals.
Marriotts Ridge will visit Southern of Anne Arundel for the 2A South regional championship match on Saturday at 1 p.m.