In recent years, Howard County volleyball teams have not fared particularly well in the state tournament.
In 2010, Centennial lost in five sets after leading 2-0. River Hill in the 2008 state semifinals and Reservoir in the 2006 state championship match suffered the same fate.
But River Hill's five-set loss to North Hagerstown, 20-25, 25-22, 25-14, 23-25, 11-15, in the 3A state championship match Saturday night at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum was different from those tales of heartbreak.
In short, the Hawks were not heartbroken.
"What can you say? It was a great match, I'm sorry that it didn't go our way, but I'm … proud of my kids, they worked hard," said River Hill coach Lynn Paynter, whose daughter Becky was a senior setter for River Hill in 2008. "We came back and we battled and battled and battled all the way through the entire five games."
Throughout the course of the match there were 23 tie scores and nine lead changes. River Hill finished with 103 total points while North Hagerstown had 101.
Whereas tears marked the faces of Howard County's recent hard luck stories, the Hawks were able to laugh and smile shortly after their loss.
"I don't think there was much more that we could have done, we tried our best so there are definitely no regrets," said senior Marta Roman (16 digs), who was on the bench for River Hill's 2008 state semifinal loss. "This year was great because I actually got to participate."
Junior Cassidy Davis (12 kills), the only non-senior to start for the Hawks, agreed.
"Even though it didn't go our way, it was the best game of the season," she said. "We all played really well and it was really fun to play."
Setter Caitlin Davis had 44 assists and 14 digs, while Kristin Lee had nine kills.
North Hagerstown was led by a pair of powerful 5-foot-11 middle hitters: junior Peyton Wallech and senior Autumn Fisher, who each had 21 kills and two blocks. River Hill's 6-foot-2 middle, Amber Wiswell, battled back and forth with the Hubs duo all through the match, finishing with 19 kills and four blocks of her own.
"It was like, you killed it? OK, I'm going to kill it. Block? All right, here we go, get a block," said Wiswell, who transferred to River Hill from southern California this fall. "It was fun going back and forth. I love playing against good middles."
North Hagerstown never trailed in the first set as Fisher and Wallech combined for ten kills. The two teams battled to a 19-19 tie in the second set before the Hawks eventually won on a Wiswell kill.
In the third set, things fell apart a bit for the Hubs, as they made eight hitting errors, and allowed a six-point service run to Cassidy Davis ending with a Wiswell block for game-point.
"Serve receive broke down, therefore we weren't able to run an offense," North Hagerstown coach Megan Crawford said. "A lot of back row attacks, just putting the ball over in play, a lot of free ball passes we sent over and then they would just pound the ball on us."
The fourth set was another back-and-forth affair, but this time, Wiswell's five kills weren't enough to clinch River Hill's first state title. Instead the match went to a tie-breaking fifth set.
The Hawks had played their first fifth set of the season in last Thursday's state semifinal win over LaPlata. They won that tiebreaker, 15-2. But things were different on Saturday.
Neither team made a move until North Hagerstown went on a four-point run to take a commanding 12-9 lead. That run was powered by two kills and a point block by Fisher. River Hill never recovered, and the Hubs clinched their first volleyball state title on a block and a kill by Wallech.
North Hagerstown had been to the state finals four times (1993, 1997, 1998, 2007) without winning.
"It's such a great feeling, especially to be the very first team at North High to have a volleyball state championship," Fisher said. "That's insane, there are really no words for this, it's incredible."
This was River Hill's third trip to the state finals (1999, 2009). And while the Hawks didn't come home with the ultimate prize, they still completed the best volleyball season in school history. This year River Hill (17-2) completed its first undefeated league season, won the Gator Invitational and represented Howard County in the District V title game.
"We all felt like we played our best and they happened to come out on top," said Cassidy Davis. "It was a good game and something I will remember for the rest of my life."