Bel Air and Fallston each advanced closer to a region title in girls volleyball Monday with quarterfinal wins in their regions. Patterson Mill, North Harford and Havre de Grace all lost, ending their seasons.
FALLSTON beats Rising Sun
In Fallston, the Cougars continued their march back toward the state semifinals with a 3-0 win over Rising Sun in Class 2A, East Region, District VII section semifinal play. The scores were 25-24, 25-15 and 25-19.
Rachael Holehouse led the attack with 23 kills and 10 points scored on her serve. Abby Claborn and Emily Letke led the assists with 15 and 12 respectively and Anna Holehouse led the defense with 12 digs.
The Cougars will host North East at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the section championship. The winner will advance to the regional championship game Friday or Saturday against the District VII champ.
BEL AIR beats Hereford
Bel Air traveled to Hereford for its Class 3A North quarterfinal and returned with a five-set win. The Bobcats won the opening game, 27-25, but dropped the next two, 18-25 and 20-25. The Bobcats, however, rallied to win game four, 25-18, and then won the deciding fifth game, 15-9.
Bel Air's Celeste Roland had a big night offensively with 19 kills, while Alex Williams added nine kills and six aces.
Tia Williams finished with six kills, eight aces and two blocks and Kendall Daley contributed four kills, two aces and five digs. Also, Amanda Rodriguez had two kills, 37 assists and three aces.
Outstanding back row defense was played by Consuelo Ezcurra, according to Tim Markland, Bel Air's head coach.
Bel Air travels to Towson Wednesday for a regional semifinal match. Time is TBA.
PATTERSON MILL loses to North East
Patterson Mill had its season end in 2A East, District VII section play at North East. The Huskies fell in straight sets by the scores of 19-25, 17-25 and 19-25.
Morgan Golec led the Huskies with six kills, seven perfect passes and two digs. Angela Zalesak added 13 assists and five aces and Sam Herman had three kills, four digs and 10 perfect passes. Qalea Ismail contributed five digs and two kills.
NORTH HARFORD loses to Towson
North Harford's season ended at Towson in the 3A North Region. The Hawks fell, 3-0, by scores of 10-25, 7-25 and 8-25.
Leading the Hawks were Emily Cunningham, two kills; Alexis Lyttle, one kill, five blocks; and Kristen Eyler, two kills and two assists.
HAVRE DE GRACE loses to Bo Manor
Havre de Grace finished its season without a win, losing at Bo Manor, 3-0, in 1A East Region, District VII section semifinal play. The Eagles winning scores were 25-11, 25-15 and 25-17.
"The girls played competitively and never gave up, playing hard until the very end," Christy Callahan, the Havre de Grace coach, wrote in an email. "The girls record does not match the heart of the team, for these girls played like winners and were close to victory in mostly every game they played. The team is very young, with two dedicated seniors who will leave behind strength for next year's season."
First round winners
Fallston and Patterson Mill each advanced to Monday night's round with straight set victories in Class 2A, District VII section first round matches Friday.
At Fallston, the Cougars swept Harford Tech by scores of 25-8, 25-5 and 25-4.
The Cougars were led by Rachael Holehouse who had 10 kills and four aces. Abby Claborn put up 20 assists and contributed five aces with 15 points scored on her serve. Sierra Offutt also had stellar serving with 15 points.
The Cougars will take on Rising Sun Monday at 5 p.m. in quarterfinal action.
At Joppatowne, Patterson Mill defeated Joppatowne 3-0 by scores of 25-12, 27-25 and 25-18.
Qalea Ismail led the Huskies with six kills and eight perfect passes, while Morgan Golec had five kills and five assists. Angela Zalesak added seven assists, seven aces, four perfect passes and three kills.
The Huskies will play at North East Monday in quarterfinal action.
Bel Air, Patterson Mill advance
The girls volleyball region playoffs got off to a good start Thursday for a couple of other Harford County teams as Bel Air and North Harford each picked up Class 3A North Region wins.
Bel Air swept visiting Woodlawn, 3-0, and North Harford blanked visiting Milford Mill, 3-0, as well.
Bel Air's winning scores were 25-17, 25-11 and 25-11, while the Hawks won scores of 25-11, 25-14 and 25-10.
In Bel Air's win, Jackie Deluise led with 12 kills, while Tia Williams added five kills and three aces. Amanda Rodriguez added four aces and 17 assists, and Taylor Cole chipped in four kills and one ace. Also, Celeste Roland had three kills and 10 aces, and Jen Schofield finished with 11 assists.
Great back row defense was provided for the Bobcats by Consuelo Ezcurra and Samantha Liberto, according to Bel Air coach Tim Markland.
Bel Air will play Monday at Hereford or home to Eastern Tech.
Hawks top Millers
In North Harford's win, Britney Fleming had nine aces and two kills, while Kristen Eyler had five aces and one kill. Alexis Lyttle contributed three kills and Emily Cunningham added seven aces and five kills.
The Hawks will be back in action Monday either at Towson or home against Franklin.