Central Cambria defeats Forest Hills in 5 sets for spot in District 6 Class 3A volleyball semifinals
· Yahoo Sports
EBENSBURG, Pa. – Monday night’s District 6 Class 3A girls volleyball quarterfinal between No. 4 Central Cambria and No. 5 Forest Hills looked every bit like an even match from the moment the opening serve was launched.
Both sides landed their own fair share of punches to force a decisive fifth set, and even heading down the stretch, no team let down.
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It would take a pair of Mara Pablic kills in the closing points of the match to land the knockout blow as the Red Devils survived the deciding set 20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 15-12.
“I knew it was going to be like this because we’re pretty even,” Central Cambria coach Leah Montgomery said. “You just got to put it all out there. It’s a playoff game. You got to put it all out there.”
Pablic ended the night recording 17 kills and 17 digs. Forest Hills defeated Central Cambria in five sets Oct. 1 in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference match.
Central Cambria’s (14-5) reward is a Thursday night matchup at No. 1 seed Richland, which swept River Valley. The Rams swept Central Cambria Oct. 13.
The Red Devils jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in the fifth set, thanks in part to a pair of finishes from Pablic and one of Eryn Kauffman’s 10 kills.
Riley Kauffman finished with 44 assists and 11 digs.
The Rangers (11-7), though, came right back as Nicoletta Berzovec and Sierra Smay landed one kill each to tie the set at 7-all.
“We stopped hitting those hard balls,” Forest Hills coach Cassie Layman said. “When we did, we were getting those points. We were winning those long rallies. Our serving was very aggressive. I’m very happy with how we played tonight. It could’ve gone either way for either team.”
Both sides traded the next seven points before Pablic’s finish, which helped spark a 3-0 run to end the match.
“The girls are tough," Montgomery said. "They can be up, and the next point, they’re down. That first set, they looked like they already lost the set. You just can’t do that. You got to get rid of the mistake and then you got to push forward, and do the next game. You just can’t let that get to you; you got to keep playing.”
Layman’s team brings back much of this year’s squad, but seniors Kiera Smith and Mya Papcunik will graduate.
“We have a lot of underclassmen who really stepped up into some roles," Layman said. "We lost a big senior class last year, and those girls stepped into those roles, and they dominated. It was like we didn’t miss a beat at some points. What should’ve been a year that we were rebuilding, taking our lumps, we were on the same trajectory as we were in the past years.”