Rising Sun volleyball completes undefeated regular season

    Trailing 14-12 in the fifth and decisive game, the Rising Sun volleyball team was a point away from doing something it hadn't done all season – lose a match.
    But the Tigers won the next four points to finish off a dramatic victory over Bel Air and complete the first undefeated regular season in the program's storied history.

    In the battle of UCBAC heavyweights, Rising Sun out-slugged the Bobcats 25-15, 24-26, 27-25, 22-25, 16-14.
    With a 14-12 edge, Bel Air committed hitting errors on both of their match point chances. Lacey Swartout served an ace to make it 15-14 Rising Sun as the Bobcats did not communicate properly. After a Bel Air timeout, Bailey Hook came up with a kill to end the match.
    "I felt a huge weight come off my shoulders," Hook said. "I knew it was going to be a struggle going into this game. I knew we deserved it. I knew we could do it. It was just a matter of if we played to our potential or not and we did. The last point just felt so good."
    Rising Sun coach Rich Wilson was proud of his squad, but when asked if finishing the regular season undefeated was a huge deal for him, he simply responded, 'No."
    "It was more for the girls," Wilson added. "It's the first (undefeated season) for the program. But my philosophy has always been if you're playing a tough enough schedule, you won't go undefeated. Since we play most of our games in the UCBAC, it's a balancing act. It's nice for the girls. It's nice for the program. But as I told them coming in, 'You've already won the UCBAC (Chesapeake) division. You're already the number one seed in the region. The only reason to do this is for you, for themselves.' It was a struggle. It was a struggle."
    After splitting the first two games, Bel Air had an opportunity to go ahead before the Tigers stormed back to win game three. Down 25-24, Rising Sun tied it on a lefty kill by Hook. The Tigers took a 26-25 edge when Swartout put the ball away after a Bel Air pass floated over the net. Hook served an ace to the short middle of the court to end the game.
    Bel Air won the fourth game to set the stage for the dramatic ending.
    Rising Sun had to overcome some adversity when starting setter Anna Caldwell became ill during the match and was replaced by Sarah Williams.
    "I put a freshman setter on the court," said Wilson. "Probably the most important game of the season. And she played really well. The fourth and fifth game you look at the lineup and half of the lineup is freshmen. And they made some freshman mistakes. But, by and large, they came through and played well."
    Hook said the Tigers were prepared for just such a scenario. "I'm glad that we practice with Sarah," she said. "Because we were able to adjust. But they have completely different sets so it's hard to adjust. I'm just glad we did."
    Hook had a team-high 23 kills. Swartout added nine and Rachel Bowles provided five. Caldwell collected 21 assists and Williams handed out 18. Erica Brown and Victoria Werner each recorded 17 digs to lead a Tiger defense, although not as fundamentally sound as Wilson would like, still managed to keep several points alive by hustling and scrambling.
    Two goals met. One to go.
    "(Going undefeated) was actually our goal from the beginning," said Hook. "We had three goals. Go to states. Have an undefeated season. And beat Bel Air. So by finishing our undefeated season by beating Bel Air was just terrific."
    Rising Sun will face Perryville in the UCBAC championship match Wednesday, October 30 at North East High at 6 p.m.
    The Tigers will be playing for their second league crown. Rising Sun captured the first UCBAC title in 2004.
    Wilson says Rising Sun still has room for improvement. "So, what do we need to work on?," Wilson said. "We need to work on going back to revisit some of the basics. We've had little problems creep in. Our blocks haven't been as solid as I'd like it to be. We're a little late getting outside. Our passing was actually very good [against Bel Air], but we had some defensive miscues we need to straighten out. People not quite in the right position … Our serving was off. I'll attribute most of that to the pressure of the game because we've been serving much, much better than that. So we'll work on the basics, serving, passing, work one-on-one with the setters. We'll do some hitting. But, by and large, what we're going to do in practice is split into six on six and go at each other as hard as we can."
    Rising Sun swept North Harford 25-16, 25-15, 25-13 Monday, October 21.
    Hook registered eight kills and Erin Harkey had seven. Erika Dixon served a team-high four aces and Caldwell and Breanne Haley each contributed three.