But, it was one that ended up largely going against Hollidaysburg.

The Lady Tigers couldn’t overcome several attack errors and service errors, mixed with a relentless Lady Eagle offense, as they ended the season falling in a sweep 25-16, 25-16, 25-20 at the Hollidaysburg Area High School Gymnasium.

“You’re trying to play super, super aggressive, but you can’t make errors,” Hollidaysburg coach Brandon Stitt. “You got to know how to walk that line, when to walk that line. We made so many errors.

“It’s not just us making errors — hats off to Oakland Catholic. They were forcing us to make the errors. Their block is huge, they’re putting pressure on us serving, hitting. We’re in uncomfortable spots, we were just unable to get our feet underneath us.”

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Addi Basenback digs an Oakland Catholic serve.

Hollidaysburg finished the year at 19-3.

The Lady Eagles wasted no time in set one jumping out to an 11-3 lead as Josie Fontana deposited one of her 16 kills, forcing the Lady Tigers to use both of their first timeouts early.

Elena Krummert had 19 digs while Raegan Mascaro contributed 27 digs for Oakland Catholic.

“When you’re that big, there’s not really a way to stop them,” Stitt said of Fontana, who will be heading to Richmond to play basketball. “You can only slow them down and manage it.”

Late in the first set, Hollidaysburg looked like it was starting to flip momentum a bit as Kynlee Budny and Lena Ransom teamed up for a kill. Makenzie McLanahan later added an ace, which cut the deficit to 22-15.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Skylee Bailey is challenged by Oakland Catholic's Zephaniah Troxler-Scott (left) and Raegan Mascaro.

Budny finished the night with eight kills, and McLanahan had four aces with 11 service points.

Set one, though, ended on three of the Lady Tigers’ eight attack errors to give Oakland Catholic the opening stanza.

Both teams opened set two trading points, but the Lady Eagles took momentum again as Zephaniah Troxler-Scott, followed by Fontana, helped build a 5-1 run for an 11-7 advantage.

It wasn’t long after that the Lady Tigers struggled at the service line as they missed on four straight opportunities, stopping their chances at grabbing momentum.

Fontana took over again as she registered two finishes with a block while Rory O’Connell put away a kill to help finish off set two.

“We talked a lot about energy and being resilient in practice,” Oakland Catholic coach Jenna Potts said. “We were so ready. This is our first state playoff win in program history. We’ve had an amazing season. We did have that bitter taste in our mouth (following the loss to Beaver in the WPIAL final), but we just wanted to keep going.”

Set three, though, it appeared Hollidaysburg found its footing as it jumped out to a 7-2 lead, thanks to a pair of finishes from Budny and two McLanahan aces.

Both teams went back and forth trading points as Jessica Becker helped sustain the advantage with an ace of her own along with a kill from Addi Basenback.

Oakland Catholic, though, thwarted the momentum as it went on a 15-4 run, highlighted by Fontana registering three more kills before Troxler-Scott added two more to finish off the match.

The Lady Tigers will say goodbye to five seniors –three starters. The group helped propel Hollidaysburg to a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference East Division championship in 2024 and four straight appearances in the District 6 championship — two championships.

That also includes a state playoff win back in 2022.

“They got us back on the map,” Stitt said. “We won three (D6 titles) in four years, then we got complacent. That’s probably what I’ll remember. The team that finally snapped us back into ‘hey, you got to put the work, it’s not going to be handed to you to get us these district titles.'”

Stitt is optimistic about what lies ahead for the Lady Tigers as much of the same roster will return in 2026. The program, though, is likely facing a new class assignment as girls volleyball will become the latest PIAA sport to move to six classes beginning next year.

“We’re looking forward to it, and I’m glad that we were able to get this under our belt,” Stitt said.

Oakland Catholic will now face Greencastle-Antrim on Saturday in the quarterfinal round.

SERVICE POINTS

HOLLIDAYSBURG: Basenback 1, Baird 2, McLanahan 11, Stanek 1, Becker 4, Budny 1

Records: Oakland Catholic (20-2), Hollidaysburg (19-3).