A nearly season-long 13-match winning streak is over for the No. 12 Havre de Grace girls volleyball team, but the loss hasn't dampened the Warriors' optimism heading into the state playoffs.
North East-Cecil showed Havre de Grace a faster game than the Warriors had been used to seeing all season on the way to a 3-0 victory in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship match Monday night.
Now the top-seeded Warriors (13-2) begin their quest for a Class 1A state championship with a South regional second-round game after receiving a bye in the first round.
"Our team hustles, and we work as a team," Havre de Grace coach Angie Taddia said. "I believe we've been successful because of the intensity we bring to practice whether or not they're having a good day or bad day."
Taddia said her team passes well and serves well, reaching 92 percent serving as a team.
"We also work around our mistakes," the fifth-year coach said. "We pick each other up when there are mistakes made. They're willing to learn every single day in practice."
Taddia said the 13-match streak has been fairly uncomplicated, with 12 of the victories coming in three-game sweeps and the 13th coming in four games against North Harford.
The one loss before last Monday came in the season opener in four games to Bel Air, when Taddia believes that her squad "let down a little."
Leading the Warriors during the regular season was senior setter Jill Umetin who averaged a team-leading 8.81 assists a game, and senior outside hitter Claire Sheldon, who was tops in kills - with 2.94 a game.
Other top players are senior outside hitter Logan Pierpont, sophomore libero Mariah Ripken and middle hitters Emily Hall and Lindsey Gilhooly.
Although the 13-match win streak was special, Taddia said she wasn't surprised by the string of victories.
"I was expecting to have a successful season this year," she said. "We were 14-3 last year, and I returned all of my starting lineup except for one player."
Cross country crowns
The No. 3 John Carroll girls won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference cross country title last Tuesday at Oregon Ridge Park.
Erika Stasakova sparked John Carroll by winning the race in 19 minutes, 25 seconds, topping teammate Nicole Clarke (19:33). The Patriots put four runners in the top 10 to finish with 32 points and beat No. 5 Seton Keough (49).
That was the school's first championship meet victory in 23 years. John Carroll won the regular-season IAAM B Conference title last year before ending up second in the title meet.
The Harford Tech cross country program continued pulling off surprises at Thursday's Class 1A East regional meet.
Despite having only 10 runners, the Cobras won the school's initial regional title in the race at Kent County. Tyler Hora finished eighth and J.B. Brandonisio took ninth place to help the Cobras (74 points) edge Bohemia Manor (76).
Bohemia Manor handed the Cobras their only two regular-season losses before Harford Tech bounced back to win the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Susquehanna Division title two weeks ago.
Harford Tech's girls won the division title that day despite having only five runners, but they finished fourth in Thursday's regional meet.
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Jeff Seidel contributed to this article.