Lady Tigers fall short in five sets

Photo for the Mirror by Tim Weight Hollidaysburg’s Addi Basenback (right) goes up for a block against Central Mountain on Wednesday.
WINGATE — When a match goes five sets, even the smallest errors can add up fast. In the case of the fifth set, those errors can add up even faster.
Wednesday night, the Hollidaysburg girls volleyball team committed three attack errors and a service error during set five as the No. 2 seed Lady Tigers fell to top-seeded Central Mountain, 26-28, 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 15-8, in the District 6 Class 3A championship at the Bald Eagle Area High School Gymnasium.
That brought their season to a halt for the second year in a row in a district title match that went the distance.
“Unforced errors all night,” Hollidaysburg coach Brandon Stitt. “We were able to get them out of system, and they just kept the ball in play. They played a great match. They kept giving us the ball and letting us make the error, and we played right into it.”
Hollidaysburg kept set five close until an attack error set off a 6-0 match-deciding run, finished off with one kill apiece by Cora Myers and Katelyn Bowman.
Early on, the Lady Tigers dug themselves into a 20-14 hole in set one, but an Emily Clapper kill with a Kenzi McLanahan service ace helped set off 7-2 run, which tied the opening stanza at 22.
A Clapper kill followed by a Central Mountain attack error gave the Lady Tigers the opening set.
The Lady Wildcats flipped that momentum by going on a 7-1 run during the second, led in part by a pair of kills from Gabrielle Beaubrun and Kylie Rauch, which helped them take a 21-12 lead.
“(Beaubrun)’s a phenomenal player,” CM coach Chip McCann said. “Our girls know she’s phenomenal, and any chance they can get the ball to her, they do. She’s not going to do the same thing time after time and make a mistake. She encourages the setter to give the ball to the other girls, too.”
Hollidaysburg pulled within four after a pair of aces from Nora Stanek, but that’s as close as the Lady Tigers got before dropping set two.
Central Mountain, after navigating some early trouble, went on a 6-0 run as Olivia Sorgen and Rauch registered a pair of finishes to give the Lady Wildcats a 14-11 lead.
Hollidaysburg pulled back to a tie, but a Lady Tiger double contact violation thwarted the rally.
“Serve receive, serving deep, making them chase balls instead of playing the right to them,” McCann said. “When we seemed to have troubles it was whenever we would send a free ball right to a girl standing in a spot.
“That was a great high school volleyball match. Hats off to Hollidaysburg; they’re a good program.”
In set four, Hollidaysburg took control, going on a 12-2 explosion as it picked up finishes from Addi Basenbeck, along with two aces and a kill from Cierra Shoop to jump out to a 20-12 lead.
Central Mountain rallied back to get to within two, but Shoop and Delayni Baird teamed up for a block to force the fifth frame.
Hollidaysburg will graduate three seniors in Shoop, Clapper and Kaitlyn Lenhart. Stitt is proud of what they have achieved.
In a year where the Lady Tigers saw plenty of turnover, they finished off the 2024 campaign with a 17-4 record and a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference East Division championship.
Stitt, wrapping up his first season as head coach, is now turning his focus to next season.
“Hopefully, next year third time will be a charm, and we can figure out how to win this game because right now it’s elusive to us,” he said. “We’ve got to spend next year learning how to be in these pressure moments, how to finish, how to perform when the pressure is on the line. We’ll get there, and I’ll get them there.”