By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

JOHNSTOWN — Glendale didn’t have its best showing in the first set of Monday’s District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal girls volleyball game at Bishop McCort, so the Lady Vikings put everything they had into the second.

Glendale took a 12-10 lead on back-to-back kills by senior Riley Best, but a timeout by the Lady Crushers seemed to quell the Lady Vikes’ momentum.

McCort eventually took the lead on three consecutive service points, including two aces, by Cami Beppler, and though Glendale stayed within one or two points the rest of the set, it never regained the lead.

Bishop McCort rode that momentum to jump out to a big lead in the third set and eventually swept the match, 25-14, 25-22, 25-16, to advance to the semifinal round against top-seeded West Branch.

“It’s definitely tough not winning a set like that when it’s so close,” Glendale senior Alyssa Sinclair said. “It was back and forth the whole time, and it’s definitely physically draining too, because you’re playing more points.”

Jillian Taylor’s block for the Lady Vikings in the second set made it 22-21 McCort, but Starcia Bainey — who tied Beppler for the Lady Crusher lead with 15 service points each — came through with a kill. Best answered with one of her own, but Bishop McCort scored the final two points of the set to go up 2-0.

Glendale coach Brenda Hewitt said one of her team’s weaknesses was maintaining momentum through timeouts like the one McCort called down two midway through the second set.

“Overall they have stuck together and played well together,” Hewitt said. “We still never figured out how to get the momentum and keep the momentum. We seemed to get it and then flatten out and give our opponents time to catch up. We don’t seize that momentum to keep carrying us forward in a tough, competitive match.”

Glendale fell behind, 17-5, in the third set before a couple rallies that made the final score closer.

“It absolutely carries over (when you lose a close set),” Hewitt said. “I think the girls are frustrated, because we definitely did not play our best out there.”

McCort senior Bria Bair closed out the match with the final kill after Glendale had pulled within 24-16.

“I think the second set is where we got our momentum, and we carried that into the third,” Bair said. “The first set, we took it pretty easily, but the second set, we went back and forth. Once we took that, we had a lot of confidence and momentum going into the third set and wanted to finish it off.”

The Lady Vikings were coming off a win over Saint Joseph’s in the first round.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come,” Sinclair said. “Glendale won its first-ever playoff game this season. Hopefully this can carry over to next season too.”

Though Glendale lost twice to West Branch in the regular season, the Lady Vikings were hoping for another chance to take on their Inter-County Conference foe.

“It meant a lot to the girls to advance in the playoffs at least into the second round,” Hewitt said. “Obviously, they wanted to go farther, but will and want don’t get you there — it’s performance, and we just didn’t perform tonight.”

Glendale will lose eight seniors — Best, Sinclair, Taylor, Ava Krause, Payton McCully, Jocelyn Mooney, Gianna Romano and Alyvia Rutter.

“I’ll always remember the bus rides with all of my friends,” Sinclair said. “And singing all the way to all of the games. We were a very close group. We have all played together since seventh grade.”

Hewitt said this year’s senior class has helped the future of the program as well.

“The girls are super good kids,” Hewitt said. “They pulled the underclassmen under their wings and helped progress their skills. They have a lot of talent. It’s just a good group of kids.”

SERVICE POINTS

GLENDALE: Rutter 5, Ka. Cavalet 4, Sinclair 4, Taylor 3, Best 3, Krause 2, Mooney 1.

BISHOP McCORT: Bainey 15, Beppler 15, Boring 5, Marion 4, Gallucci 4, Newcomer 2.

Team records: Glendale (14-5); Bishop McCort (12-5).