Bel Air girls volleyball passes test from Aberdeen for 3-1 regional semifinal victory

Randy McRoberts, The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
·3 min read

Nov. 9—The Bel Air girls volleyball team got a good test from visiting Aberdeen on Monday, but the Bobcats passed with a 3-1 win over the Eagles in a Class 3A North Region II semifinal, 25-6, 25-13, 27-29, 25-20.

The match was a battle of Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference champions. Bel Air won the Chesapeake Division and Aberdeen won the Susquehanna Division.

"I feel like we have a ton of potential, but I just feel like we can still be very sloppy at times," Bobcats coach Dave Simon said. "It's exciting because I actually feel like we can clean that up. What concerns me a little bit is, we're running out of time."

The Bobcats went up 9-3 on a Brooke Hopkins kill and 11-4 on a Tia Pegler ace in the first set.

Aberdeen coach Jimmia McCluskey called timeout and out of it, things only got worse for the Eagles. They did score the next point, but Bel Air junior Kayden Hardenbrook took the set over with her serve.

Hardenbrook served four straight aces as the lead rose to 15-5. Hardenbrook served seven more points, including four more aces as Bel Air's lead ballooned to 23-5.

"I definitely went back there with some drive, I wanted to just get it done," Hardenbrook said. "We decided that we were going to come out strong."

Aberdeen jumped ahead, 4-1, in set two, but Bel Air battled back and led 10-7 after Olivia Mannion's block. The Eagles, though, rallied on the serve of Citlali Arzabala, who served Aberdeen to an 11-10 lead on a Jocelyn Kruger kill.

The set was tied at 11 and Hardenbrook was back to serve. One ace was among five points served by the junior outside hitter and Aberdeen called another timeout down, 16-11. The Eagles managed just two more points in the set that ended with a tip kill from junior right-side hitter Jadyn Betters.

The Bobcats looked primed for a sweep, leading 11-9 in set three on two Hopkins aces, but Aberdeen rallied. Sophomore Lia Lucas served the Eagles to a 14-11 lead. The Aberdeen lead was 16-13 on a Jasmin Adams kill and it continued to grow. Kruger (10 kills) put one down for a 21-15 lead and a Samauria Williams kill pushed it to 22-15 before Bel Air made a little comeback.

The Bobcats closed within two, 22-20, but Aberdeen a Savanna Murdock kill quelled the rally. The teams traded points with each sitting on set point, but it was Aberdeen pulling out the win on a Kruger kill.

"I am super proud of this group of girls, on how hard they worked and they didn't come in intimidated," McCluskey said. "The beginning was a little rocky, but that's to be expected because they haven't played anybody with hitting skills to this level."

In the fourth set, Aberdeen was within a point, 10-9, but two hitting errors gave Bel Air a 12-9 edge and Mannion followed with an ace. Anna Kane's kill pushed Bel Air's lead to 17-12.

A block from Williams had Aberdeen within three, but a block by Keira Tyndall capped two points for the Bobcats, who led, 22-17.

The Eagles showed no quit, getting within three points, but Bel Air put the set and match away with Hardenbrook putting down her final kill.

"It's an amazing feeling, that's why I play volleyball," Hardenbrook said. " I love the sport, I can't see myself not playing it."

Hardenbrook finished with 11 kills and 12 aces. Kane had six kills and three aces and Megan Cassaday also had six kills. Pegler had 25 assists. Murdock had 11 kills for Aberdeen, while Adams had four blocks and Williams had three.

The Bobcats will host Edgewood in Wednesday's region final. The Rams knocked off top-seed Patapsco, 3-1.