CUMBERLAND — After splitting the two regular season meetings, No. 3 seed Fort Hill won the most important, sweeping No. 6 Mountain Ridge in Wednesday’s West Region I Quarterfinal.
The Sentinels (11-5) won 25-23, 25-12 and 28-26.
“I told the girls before we started, we only have one sweep all year,” Fort Hill head coach Jordan Fradiska said. “I set up a new rotation, I put Tatum (Bishop) back at my libero. She’s the quickest on the team, I maybe should’ve made that a little sooner. But you know what, it’s whoever gets hot in playoff time. I think we’re looking pretty good right now, that might’ve been the best game we’ve played all season.”
Fort Hill led for most of the first set, taking a permanent lead at 7-6 on a service error.
The Miners (6-10) hung around, keeping the margin within four points the rest of the set.
“It’s the WestMAC (Western Maryland Athletic Conference), it’s Mountain Ridge and Fort Hill,” Fradiska said. “Anytime you play them, they’re gonna keep it close. No matter if you’re up by 10 or down by two, it feels like the same match no matter what.”
Leading 23-20, the Sentinels committed three consecutive errors to even the score at 23.
Addison Franz assisted on kills on the set’s final two plays, one to Adalyn Rice and the second to Ella Bennett to win the set for Fort Hill.
“Just didn’t feel we handled the pressure very well,” Mountain Ridge head coach Valery Broadwater said. “Made some mistakes, too many mistakes against a good team.”
Bennett and Rice each had seven kills.
The Sentinels took the lead at 4-3 on an ace from Summer Welsh early in the second set, and never looked back.
Fort Hill went on a 17-5 run, capitalizing off 10 Mountain Ridge errors to take its biggest lead of the night at 21-8.
“It felt like we started making less mistakes,” Broadwater said. “First game, serve service we lost four points, that was crucial. In a tight game, that makes a big difference. Second game, just started settling down and playing a little bit, but then felt like we got too hesitant.”
Franz and Addison Furstenberg teamed up for a kill on set point.
Franz finished with 28 assists, seven digs and seven points while Furstenberg recorded 12 kills and five blocks.
The third set was the most competitive with 11 ties and six lead changes.
Haley Metz teamed up with Rice for a kill to put the Sentinels in front 6-5.
Metz contributed 14 digs, five kills and five assists.
Fort Hill went on an 11-4 run led by Franz with four assists and an ace to stretch the lead to 17-9.
The Miners rallied with a 9-1 run led by Kealana Pua’auli’s four kills and Aubreigh Wilson’s three assists to even the score at 18.
“Just started settling down and playing, we have a lot of heart and don’t give up,” Broadwater said. “At some point, you just need somebody to end the point and we didn’t do that.”
Wilson finished with a triple-double of 17 assists, 11 digs, 10 points, two aces and two kills while Pua’auli added a double-double of 21 digs, 15 kills and three points.
The rest of the set featured five lead changes and seven ties.
“I think we got ahead of ourselves a little bit, let them get back in,” Fradiska said. “Got a little bit lackadaisical and I just pulled them aside and said their backs are against the walls, not ours. Let’s go out and play like it.”
Tied at 26, Caniyah Plummer’s kill at the net gave Fort Hill a 27-26 lead.
On match point, Franz set up Furstenberg for a kill to secure the sweep.
Mountain Ridge’s season comes to an end, along with the high school careers of seniors Wilson, Chloe Haggerty, Macy Barth, Avery Mathews, Addison Skidmore, Kayden Wilson, Anne Baker and Destinee Johnson.
“They’ve meant a lot, they’ve stabilized,” Broadwater said. “We’ve had winning traditions here at Mountain Ridge and we try to continue that. They were a big part of that.”
Mathews recorded four points, three assists, three kills, two digs and two blocks while Johnson added an assist with four kills, four digs and two blocks.
Summer Welsh and Ava McFarland each had 10 points while Bishop added 29 digs.
The Sentinels advance to the Region Semifinals at the No. 2 seed Clear Spring on either Friday or Saturday.
The Blazers (11-5) swept Allegany (6-10) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Clear Spring won the state title in 2022 and 2023 and finished as the runner-up last fall.
“Clear Spring is Clear Spring,” Fradiska said. “Finalist that got us last year. We’re not gonna go down there and let them walk on us. We’re gonna go down there and play, we’re ready for the task.”