Patterson Mill upsets Mountain Ridge, 3-2, in state quarterfinal

Nov. 13—FROSTBURG — After five highly competitive sets of volleyball, No. 7 Patterson Mill held on to upset No. 2 Mountain Ridge 3-2 on Saturday evening to take the Class 1A quarterfinal playoff.

"Throughout the playoffs, this team has been down by a lot," Patterson Mill head coach Brandon Jones said. "They just don't give up, they're gonna fight for every point. They're gonna give their best and they were able to come back in this one and hold it together."

The Huskies (15-4) won the second set 25-21 and the final two sets 25-13 and 15-11. The Miners (15-3) won the first and third sets 25-22 in both sets.

"You lose, you're done," Mountain Ridge head coach Valery Broadwater said. "That's what you take away. It's not rocket science, we didn't play well. Made too many mistakes, at this level against good teams they take advantage of every mistake you make."

All five sets were highly competitive and all featured several ties and lead changes throughout. The first set had 10 ties and nine lead changes. The biggest lead in the first half of the set was by three points when Patterson Mill led 10-7.

Neither team led by more than two as they went back and forth in scoring. Tied at 22 late in the set, a kill by Ella Snyder and an ace by Mia DeCarlo clinched the set for the Miners.

The second set was competitive as well, there were five ties and four lead changes early. The Huskies led 10-9 and then went on an 11-1 run to lead 21-10.

"Finishing is something we've worked on in practice all season," Jones said. "It's hard in those rallies to lose one of those long rallies and come back with the energy and fire in that next point. To be able to finish gives them more drive moving into that next point."

Mountain Ridge responded with six unanswered points to cut its deficit to 21-16. Despite being out scored 5-4 in the final plays of the set, Patterson Mill held on to win after Zoe Valan found Grace Bonhoff for a kill.

Unlike in their past couple of games, the Miners struggled with errors. They finished with 28 including 23 in the final three sets.

"Putting the ball on the court, putting it in areas where they're not" Broadwater said of the errors. "Sometimes, you have to mix up your offensive game. I didn't feel we did a good job at that."

Mountain Ridge led 5-2 early in the third set after Snyder recorded back-to-back kills. The Huskies went on a 5-3 run and led 9-8. Patterson Mill led for most of the set until the Miners went on an 8-5 run to regain the lead at 18-17. Mountain Ridge closed out the set on a 7-5 run and Kailtyn Simpson found Snyder for a kill to win the set.

The Huskies trailed 4-3 early in the fourth set, but came back and led for the remainder of the set. A 6-3 run gave Patterson Mill a 10-6 lead. The Huskies took the momentum and went on a 12-6 run to increase their lead to 22-12. They scored the final three points and won 25-13.

"Credit to Patterson Mill, they are an extremely good defensive team," Broadwater said. "Everything we were sending over, seemed like they were getting it up and transitioning into their offense. I felt we handled their offense, I felt like their tips hurt us a little bit which we should've been prepared for. We weren't in the right spots sometimes."

The final set was more like the first three with five lead changes and four ties. Mountain Ridge led 6-2 before Patterson Mill scored five unanswered to lead 7-6. Leading 12-11 late, a Miners' error and a kill by Ella Laurentius set up match point.

"I could just see it in their faces," Jones said. "They were ready, they tasted victory and they didn't let up."

An ace by Josie Otremba won the match.

For Mountain Ridge, four players finished with double-doubles. Simpson had 19 assists, 14 points, three digs, one ace and a block. Snyder finished with 18 kills, 18 digs and a point. Avery Tipton had 21 assists, 21 digs and 10 points. DeCarlo contributed 24 digs, 13 kills, 12 points, two aces and a block.

"It can be anybody, any given night," Broadwater said. "We don't win or lose because certain particular people play well. We win or lose as a team. I felt everybody made mistakes tonight they could've eliminated because they were unforced mistakes."

The Miners finish as Western Maryland Athletic Conference and 1A West Region champions and tied a school record with 15 wins.

"This team has accomplished so much in the last two years," Broadwater said. "They're an awesome group of girls. Very proud of them, they're fun to be around. They work hard at everything. They're gonna be very successful in anything they do in life."

For Patterson Mill, Otremba had a triple-double with 29 digs, 18 points, 14 kills, three aces and a block. Bonhoff also had a triple-double with 15 points, 13 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Laurentius scored 11 points with nine kills, three digs, one ace and a block.

"She found the holes on the court, she got it done when we needed it," Jones said of Laurentius. "I'm gonna miss her a lot. Ella helped us take this win home tonight."

The Huskies advance to the state semifinals on Monday against South Carroll.

"At the beginning of the season, we really didn't see ourselves as this level of a team," Jones said. "As we practiced and we got better, we really started to gel. We felt like we could accomplish great things and as we got towards the end of the season, I thought this team could run with almost anyone. They did, they played some bigger schools and beat them. I believe they're ready for this 1A title fight."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.