ACCIDENT — Even after losing to Northern Garrett twice in the regular season, Fort Hill is confident it can turn things around in their third meeting.
No. 2 Fort Hill and No. 1 Northern will meet for the Class 1A West Region I championship on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Accident.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will move on to the state quarterfinals this weekend.
Northern (17-5) defeated Fort Hill (13-4) 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) in the Sentinels’ second match of the season on Sept. 14 in Accident.
After starting the season 0-2, the Sentinels won 10 of their next 11 matches. Their only loss in that span was to Northern on Sept. 29 in Cumberland.
But the Sentinels played much better the second time around against the Huskies in a match that went to four sets.
Fort Hill led 24-23 in the first set before Northern claimed three points in a row to win the first set.
The Sentinels then earned the second set 25-19 before the Huskies closed the match with two sets of 25-17.
“It’s always hard playing away, and it’s definitely hard playing out there,” Fort Hill coach Jordan Fradiska said after his team’s win over Mountain Ridge on Friday. “Obviously, they beat a good team in Clear Spring. We took a set from them this year. Obviously, there’s no moral victories.”
Fort Hill is coming off a sweep over No. 3 Mountain Ridge in the semifinals. The Sentinels needed five sets twice to beat the Miners in the regular season.
The Sentinels’ only two losses in Western Maryland Athletic Conference play came to the Huskies. Fort Hill’s other two losses came to non-conference opponents in North Hagerstown and Hampshire — both of those matches went to five sets.
Aside from their four losses and the two regular-season matches to Mountain Ridge, the Sentinels have dropped just one set.
Fort Hill is seeking its second region title and first since its state-championship winning team in 2013.
“I think if we come together and play like we did tonight with the energy we had, I think we’ll do just fine,” senior captain Tatum Bishop said.
“We’ve grown a lot as a team together. We are all friends outside of here, so I think we have good chemistry as a team.”
Northern is coming off a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Clear Spring in the semifinals in a rematch of last year’s region final. The Blazers, who won the state championship last season, claimed the first set 26-24 before the Huskies earned the next three sets.
The Huskies finished undefeated in West MAC play, and all five of their losses came in a tournament in Hedgesville.
Northern is seeking just its second region title and first since winning the state championship in 1985.