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EBENSBURG -- Playing in a rugged Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference has certainly made a difference for Bishop Carroll volleyball this season.
That tough schedule certainly prepared the top-seeded Lady Huskies for their first game of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs, getting a sweep over No. 4 Ferndale by scores of 25-17, 25-16, 25-15 in the district semifinals.
Bishop Carroll will be playing in its first district championship since 2019, and will be looking for its first title since the Lady Huskies won it a year earlier in 2018.
"We're in a tough conference, and it helps us throughout the season against some really good teams in triple-A and double-A, even quad-A teams," Bishop Carroll coach Kate Patrick said. "It definitely prepares us going five sets against those teams and playing in high-pressure situations.
"We're excited, and I think we can make a good run for states, too."
The Lady Huskies were playing their first game in 17 days after receiving a bye in the district quarterfinals. The Lady Yellowjackets defeated No. 5 Williamsburg in straight sets in the quarters on Tuesday.
One of the challenges the Lady Huskies presents is the amount of hitters they have, and perhaps none of them were more impressive than senior outside hitter Olivia Gregg.
Gregg finished with 23 kills for the night, including 11 of them in the first set alone. She also added six service points.
"I think we played really well today," Gregg said. "We really came out strong, which helped us keep laying strong the whole way through."
"Bishop Carroll is a great team," Ferndale coach Rebecca Tallari said. "They have a lot of great hitters, in the middle and the outside. We knew it was going to be a challenge."
Ferndale held brief leads in each set, but none of them were by more than two points and all were early in the set.
Not only was Gregg seemingly putting down kill after kill, but middle hitter Emily Olienyk also put down seven kills.
"I feel like we have such a good team," Olienyk said. "Getting to this point and being able to play more games, it's really such a big achievement for us, especially from where we started."
"Having multiple hitters is big. It's easier to track one hitter, but we have multiple hitters," Patrick said. "That's the advantage we have in districts and moving to states."
The two teams were knotted at 8 in the first set, but Grace Blake started a rally at the service line to give the Lady Huskies a 12-8 lead. An ace by Blake ended the first set with a 25-17 win.
Once again, the two teams were close through the first 20 points of the second set, but Bishop Carroll turned it up later in the set to pick up at 25-16 win.
Carroll led 4-2 early in the third set, but the Lady Yellowjackets' Gracin Wagner served up four straight points to give her team a brief 6-4 lead.
That was mitigated by the Lady Huskies rallying for seven of the next nine points and Carroll closing it with a 25-15 win.
In the other semifinal on Thursday, No. 2 Saint Joseph's beat No. 6 Portage in four sets to meet Bishop Carroll in the championship on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
"We always want to come in and play our game and execute on our side," Patrick said. "I think either way they can put up a tight game, but we just have to come out strong and do our job."
SERVICE POINTS
FERNDALE: G. Wagner 6, M. Wagner 5, Tallari 2, Regan 2, Stern 1, Zonin 1.
BISHOP CARROLL: Blake 12, Strait 6, Gregg 6, Smith 6, Myers 5, Olienyk 4, Koscho 2.
Records: Ferndale (11-10); Bishop Carroll (14-5).