When it comes to power in the middle, No. 1 Towson hasn't met a team yet that can stop the senior duo of 5-foot-10 Stephanie Kines and 6-1 Emily Berman.
In last night's state Class 2A volleyball semifinals at CCBC-Essex, Kines had 15 kills and Berman added 13 to overpower Bethesda-Chevy Chase and give the defending champs a 15-9, 15-5, 15-1 victory. The match took just 50 minutes and boosted Towson's record to 18-0.
Up next - a much-anticipated No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with Glenelg in a repeat of last year's state title match. The two will square off at noon Saturday at CCBC-Catonsville.
Last night, however, the Generals were not looking ahead. After struggling with nerves and some frustration in the first game, they blew away the Barons with their powerful middle hitting.
Towson ran up a 10-1 lead in the second game and rolled through a third game in which Kines pounded down seven kills.
"We figured they had a single block, and Stephanie and I do pretty well with single blocks," said Berman. "We only got blocked hard-core once on a slide. Other than that, our setter mixed it up really well."
Junior setter Emily Williams had 30 assists.
"Stephanie and Emily really picked it up offensively," said Towson coach Jayne Lacy. "Almost every ball they touched was either a kill or led to a sideout."
Bethesda-Chevy Chase coach Rita Pascale said her team hadn't seen strong middles since early in the season, when it faced the Montgomery County 4A teams and started off 0-6. The Barons (10-8) came into their first state tournament riding a nine-match winning streak.
"Even with a double block, I have the shortest team around," said Pascale. "My tallest player is 5-9, and that's one of their shortest minus their setter, so that was really hard. We started moving the back row up, making a ring around her, but it's kind of hard to defeat that."
The Generals also got a stellar game from senior defensive specialist Stephanie Heard, who kept her teammates organized in the back court. That defense limited the Barons to seven kills despite 33 good attacks.
However, the Baltimore County champions know they won't be able to get off to a slow start Saturday if they are to retain the crown against Glenelg, Howard County's best.
"I think they're on a mission," Lacy said of her players. "What they really want to do is use this as a warm-up for Saturday. This is the best competition we've had in a long time, since we played Owings Mills on Friday and Dulaney before that. They really want to win it bad and they know Glenelg is a very tough team. We've got to have our A game on Saturday."