Volleyball: Mt. Hebron rallies to beat Wilde Lake, 3-1

Mt. Hebron defeated Wilde Lake, 3-1, Thursday night in a battle between teams that have been nicked up by difficult early schedules. Each team has sustained three game sweeps at the hands of perennial powerhouses Centennial and River Hill during the first week of league competition.

"Against Centennial on Tuesday we had moments when we were at their level, or maybe even above, where we took leads against them, but we roller coastered into a pit and emotionally got down, then we'd come back up," Mt. Hebron coach Michael Moynihan said. "Unfortunately Centennial played at that high plane the whole time."

The Vikings (2-2) dropped the first set to the visiting Wildecats, 25-22, but rallied to win the match, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15.

Seniors Shelley Hynson and Paige Coolahan, and juniors Erin and Morgan Walter, among others, led the Vikings to victory.

"The seniors showed great leadership and everybody played great the last three sets," Moynihan said.

Wilde Lake coach Caitlin Williams was not disappointed in her team's effort.

"I'm not down about it, obviously you always want to win, but let's face it, we're preparing for something that comes later in the season," she said. "The scores aren't really what I'm watching, I'm watching the little things that we're working on … we ran plays for the first time tonight."

The Wildecats have several very promising young players on their roster, including junior Michaela Tummings and Krista Pecenka (11 kills), and freshman Kelly Surkovich (7).

"Kelly is a nice little player, and she doesn't get too frazzled at this level either, she's cool headed," Williams said. "She's confident."

Senior libero Azita Nejaddehghan, the defensive anchor, had 25 digs.

"She really goes all out, and she's one of those players, that I'm like 'Hey take it easy,' but she doesn't know how, she only has one gear and that's full throttle," Williams said. "She plays with a lot of heart, she's definitely our leader."

Around the league

Centennial 3, Howard 2

The Lions gave the 2010 state finalists a scare on Thursday, but the Eagles held off a furious comeback attempt to pull out the narrow victory, 25-12, 25-22, 24-26, 17-25, 15-8.

Marriotts Ridge 3, Hammond 0

Atholton 3, Oakland Mills 1 (25-12, 24-26, 25-18, 25-14)

Allie Cable had 17 digs, and three aces for Oakland Mills in a losing effort. Hannah Scott (6 kills) and Toneah Bryant (9 assists) led the offense.

Glenelg Country 3, Baltimore Lutheran 2

Chapelgate 3, St. Mary's 0