ACCIDENT — After No. 2 Fort Hill scored the first four points of Wednesday’s match, it seemed as if the Sentinels would finally turn the tide against No. 1 Northern.
But after finding themselves in an early hole, the Huskies dominated the rest of the match in a 3-0 win (25-15, 25-15, 25-11) in the Class 1A West Region I final at The Igloo.
The Huskies (18-5) will host a state quarterfinal game either Friday or Saturday, while the Sentinels’ season comes to an end.
“Hats off to them, they played a good game,” Fort Hill coach Jordan Fradiska said. “I thought that they really took everything out because they were hitting our hands on the blocks. A lot of tip balls out, a lot of tip balls on the floor. We couldn’t really put it together.
“We started out fast, and this isn’t what I thought was gonna happen. We sizzled off, the atmosphere was great, the crowd got into it, the momentum switched and it was over after that.”
Addison Noechel’s tip at the net put Fort Hill (13-5) on the board before a block by Caniyah Plummer and a kill by Adalyn Rice extended the lead to 3-0.
Summer Welsh then served a ball that the Huskies couldn’t return for an ace that made it 4-0.
After the Huskies scored three unanswered points, Rice stopped the run with a kill that put the Sentinels’ lead at 5-3.
The two teams then went back-and-forth during the next few points. Fort Hill’s last lead in the set was at 9-8 after an ace from Fynnlea O’Rourke.
From that point on, it was all Northern. The Huskies closed the set on a 17-6 run, ending it on a Cam Niner kill.
“I don’t mind being behind, especially before the first 15 points,” Northern coach Jamie Bailey said. “Especially with this team. (When) we get behind a bit, there’s never been a big momentum shift for them. They just dig it right out and keep on going. They were ready.”
Errors started to pile up for the Sentinels beginning in the second set. The Huskies jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the set, forcing Fradiska to use a timeout.
Northern kept riding its momentum, ending the set on a 17-13 run. Just like the previous set, Cam Niner clinched the second set on a block to give the Huskies a 2-0 set advantage.
The Huskies started the third and final set with a 6-2 lead. After each team scored a point, Northern started to pull away thanks to a Niner block and a Josie Wampler ace for a 9-3 advantage.
Northern extended its lead to 15-5 before an error stopped the run. The Huskies closed it out with a 10-6 run, officially punching their ticket to the state playoffs on a Charli Krause block.
Violet Taylor led the Huskies’ offense with 22 kills. Samara Streets joined Taylor in double digits with 11 kills. Krause and Niner contributed nine and seven kills, respectively.
Setter Mazzy Morel orchestrated the offense with 49 assists.
As a team, the Huskies recorded 52 kills, 28 digs, eight aces and seven blocks.
“I don’t know what their ceiling is,” Bailey said. “We’re gonna keep pushing around it. We’re gonna keep doing the same drills and just see how far we can take it. I don’t see why we can’t take states this year.”
For Fort Hill, seven seniors played in their final game: Noechel, O’Rourke, Caiti Willison, Tatum Bishop, Leighton Thomas, Corrine Spriggs and Ava McFarland.
Despite losing that many players, Fradiska is hopeful his team can learn from playing in a region final after being swept by eventual state champion Clear Spring in the region semifinals last season.
“Obviously, having seven seniors (leave) always hurts with the leadership and the guidance that they show,” Fradiska said. “So yeah, it’s gonna hurt a little bit. But hopefully we can rebound off of that and get better.
“We have a good group of juniors. We have two freshmen. I think if we just stay in the weight room and in the gym over the summer, we can get better and be here again.”