The 3A East regional semifinal match between Centennial and River Hill Wednesday night may have generated more hype harkening back to last year's epic battle, if not for the vast differences between the teams' 2010 and 2011 rosters.
Gone are Centennial's Liz Brown and Sam Brostroml, and River Hill's Sarah Okey, Megan Rosburg and Melody Nazari. All five of those players were named first team all-county.
What River Hill does have going for it this year, though, is a trio of Davis'.
The Hawks defeated Centennial, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-12, at River Hill Wednesday night as Cassidy Davis, a junior middle hitter, Caitlin Davis, a senior setter, and Kelly Davis, a senior outside hitter, led the way to victory.
"Its been really fun. I kind of describe us as a mini team inside our own team because there's a rotation where we all three play front row," said Cassidy Davis, who had 13 digs and six kills. "It's really fun to have my sisters to go home and talk about the game and talk strategy with because we all play different positions, there's really no competition, it's just all positive."
Caitlin Davis ran the offense with 23 assists and had 16 digs, and Kelly Davis had 11 kills.
In last year's much anticapated regional championship showdown, the same two teams battled point-for-point, with Centennial eventually prevailing, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23.
"We all really moved past that because we don't have a lot of the same girls we had last year, so it was very helpful knowing that we're not the same team," Cassidy Davis said. "We really believed in ourselves and didn't want this season to be over, we all really like each other on the team and we just want it to keep on going, so we really came in with a lot of confidence knowing that we could win and move on."
River Hill (15-1) defeated Mt. Hebron in the regional quarterfinals, but lost its first match of the season — to Arundel in the District V title match — before that.
"Having that experience of losing a game helped us grow as a team and become better team players," Cassidy Davis said. "Staying calm and relaxed and just pushing through the hard times and celebrating the good ones."
Amber Wiswell led the Hawks with 16 kills and Kristin Lee had 10 kills and 12 digs. Sydni Horner (15 digs) and Marta Roman (11 digs) also helped River Hill to a strong defensive performance.
River Hill allowed only three aces in the match.
"It was an old Centennial-River Hill match," River Hill coach Lynn Paynter said. "They're relentless, they always come back."
Centennial delivered an inspired performance, hoping to give coach Larry Schofield a playoff victory on his birthday, but the Eagles' plans fell apart in the fourth set.
"We were in every set until that last one when they just kind of lost their focus," Schofield said. "I was able to get some of the younger kids in and give them a little taste of experience for next year."
The Eagles were led by Kristen Ritchie (24 digs, 14-14 serving, 8 kills), Lexi White-Torruellas (23 assists, 10 digs, 13-for-13 serving), Trisha Mockapetris (11 kills, 9 digs, 2 blocks), Cici White Torruellas (7 kills, 2 blocks) and Anna Kearns (9 digs).
River Hill will host Reservoir Friday at 5:30 p.m. for the 3A East regional championship match. Reservoir advanced on Wednesday by sweeping Howard, 25-22, 25-23, 25-16.
The Gators were led by Rachel Smith (9 kills, 5 aces, 15 digs), Kelsea Belt (15 kills, 2 blocks), Iulia Tath (30 assists) and Amanda Gross (13 digs).