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LORETTO -- It's one thing to have an ace up your sleeve, but early in the fourth set of Saturday's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference girls volleyball championship, the Hollidaysburg Lady Tigers found seven of them at DeGol Arena.
Seven straight service points (aces) that is.
Those came on the serves from setter Delayni Baird who had all of them to power her team to an early 11-4 run as they hung on to take their first-ever conference crown over Bald Eagle Area (25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22).
"She is a powerhouse," Hollidaysburg coach Brandon Stitt said of his setter. "She hits the ball harder than guys that I've played against. Whenever she's back there on that service line. It's her having that confidence in herself. When she gets on a roll like that, I don't want to be back there passing it."
Baird finished the match with 24 assists, four kills, a block and eight aces.
"The first ball I have to get it over the net," Baird said. "But after every single ball that goes over, I build that confidence in me that allows myself to hit the ball as hard as I can, and know that I have the chance to get as many as points for the team as possible."
The Lady Tigers avenged their only loss of the season which came last Tuesday night on their home floor in a reverse sweep after sweeping the Lady Eagles on the road Sept. 3.
Hollidaysburg (19-1) landed the first punch in set one as Kynley Budny helped break a 14-14 tie with one of her 17 kills along with her 12 digs. That was followed by a pair of kills from Lena Ransom -- one she teamed up with Brooklyn Bogetta -- to help take a 19-14 lead.
Jessica Becker ended the first set with an ace to give the Lady Tigers the early advantage. She recorded 13 digs.
Bald Eagle Area (15-4) answered, though, as Kinsey Clark stuffed home a point which set off an 8-2 run that helped the Lady Eagles take a 20-14 lead. Clark -- who also had 16 digs -- added two more kills and Emily Smith added one of her 11 finishes to help take set two while adding 17 digs.
The Lady Eagles kept the grip on the match in set three as Addelyn Fisher came up with an ace and a pair of her 12 kills to give BEA 10-7 lead. That led Stitt to taking a critical timeout.
"Bald Eagle got up after the first set and they started pushing back," he said. "So far this season when we've been pushed, we haven't been able to push back all of the time. It got them a little extra energy, a little extra self-confidence."
It was a little rocky, but the Lady Tigers took over as Kynlee Budny generated four kills to take a 16-14 lead. She had 17 finishes along with 12 digs.
The Lady Eagles did pull within one late, but Baird and Budny each added finishes of their own to help put away set three.
"We made a couple of errors, they served tough," Bald Eagle Area coach Larry Campbell said of the turning point in set three. "We just played Monday night. They've been the best team in the league the whole year."
After the initial outburst from Baird, Ransom and Budny helped sustain the advantage as Hollidaysburg took a six-point lead, thanks to five kills combined from the two.
The Lady Eagles made one last push, tying the match at 22, but Makenzie McLanahan came up with one of her 17 digs on the match point to clinch the title.
"I feel like when we finally built the confidence within our team, we were able to get as many points as possible, which created space and points," Baird said. "That allows us room for mistakes where if it were a close game, it would set our team back."
The Lady Tigers will open the District 6-8-9 Class 5A Playoffs hosting Mifflin County on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The winner will face either DuBois or Allderdice at Mount Aloysius on Nov. 7.