Twenty-three down. One more to go. The undefeated Rising Sun volleyball team advanced to the state finals with a sweep of Hereford Thursday night at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Tigers (23-0) triumphed 25-21, 25-13, 25-19. Rising Sun will face Oakdale in Monday's state title match at 6 p.m. The Tigers are seeking a third state title in program history, having won in 2006 and 2007. It is the school's first trip to the finals since losing in 2008.
Last year's state semifinal loss to Poolesville never seemed to be a major source of motivation for the Tigers but it did provide several lessons and a heavy dose of experience. That experience paid off against a feisty but overmatched Hereford squad. The Tigers' top outside hitters, sophomores Lacey Swartout and Breanne Haley, each had seven kills to lead the way. "Early on, obviously both sides were very, very nervous so that showed," Rising Sun coach Rich Wilson said. "And early on we tended to be feeding our middles more than our outsides. I think, at least my impression of what their coach was trying to do the second and third games is they were worried more about our middles than our outsides. We wound up having more firepower than they did. The two middles are hitting. The two outsides are hitting … Overall it may just be an experience issue. We've been here before. We were here last year. I think coming here for the first time is difficult and winning (is difficult). It's probably a bigger crowd than they're used to, a bigger gym. There's a lot on the line for these kids and I think we just handled the overall pressure better than they did." Wilson said he didn't do anything special to prepare his team for Thursday's match. "One of the things that I like about this year's team is that they don't take themselves all that seriously," he said. "Practice is really like trying to herd cats." That comment provoked laughter from Mackenzie Blevins, Swartout, and Haley who were seated alongside their coach at the post-match press conference. "Right? You guys would agree with that wouldn't you?," Wilson asked his players. "Once I can get them focused on something then 'bang, bang, bang'," the coach said. "But in between drills they're laughing and carrying on. They're trying to make me laugh and smile. I've broken down. I've actually smiled more this year than I have in the past. But, no, we didn't do anything special other than talk about the perspective in the gym. It's a longer gym so the walls are farther away. And I thought, by and large, they handled it real well." Swartout and Haley both said they learned from last year's state semis loss to Poolesville. "I think last year we were a little over-excited and anxious to actually make it here," Swartout said. "But this year, since most of the girls (with the exception of the freshman Blevins) had a little bit more experience I feel like we just weren't as nervous." Added Haley: "It's kind of easier when you know what the gym looks like and how big it is because you know it is longer." Haley credited setter Sarah Williams (19 assists) with keying the offense. "As the game went on, Sarah's sets improved a lot and they got tighter so you can swing harder and you can hit them down," said Haley. "If they're off, then you kind of have to work with it. I struggle with that. Her sets were on so you get pumped up and play." As you would expect in a state final, Oakdale is expected to provide the Tigers with their stiffest test of the year. Oakdale downed Marriotts Ridge 25-10, 36-34(!), 21-15 in the first semifinal match Thursday. Explosive outside hitter Liz Twilley, who will play at the University of Maryland, recorded 16 kills and teammate Abbie Harry had 18. "That's going to be fun," Wilson said. "Hopefully I have videotape of that and we'll figure out what we're going to do against them. They look to be a very good squad. They've got a very good player (Twilley). She's a big hitter. But I've got two pretty good hitters on the outside (Swartout and Haley). I've got two pretty good hitters in the middle (Blevins and Maddy Eckerd). And even though she didn't show it, I've got a real good hitter on the outside (Anna Prodoehl). So we can come at them from a lot of different angles. So from my perspective as a coach, what I have to figure out is are we going to try to play matchup with (Twilley), in other words put our best blockers on her and try to slow her down or do we just want to play our game and make them try to matchup with us which they'll have a tough time doing. If you're looking for a prediction I don't have one at this point. I have to sit down and look at the game tapes and try to figure out how Marriotts Ridge stretched them as much as they did. But I think it has the potential to be a great match. Hopefully we'll play better. I won't say we played our best (against Hereford). I thought we played well off of what we're capable of doing. So it will be interesting to say if with two days of practice I can get them turned around a little bit. Maybe I can get them to focus a little more. Rather than cats maybe we'll be like dogs."
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