The Lady Eagles Fall to the Central Cambria in Semifinals

Lucia Isenberg

The Lady Eagles breaking from a timeout. The match was close but ultimately the Lady Eagles could not overcome the Lady Red Devils.

The Lady Eagles made program history this season by making it to the district semifinals and being one of the last four teams still playing in the District 6 AA playoffs.

The girls came out with a ton of energy and confidence thanks to winning the quarterfinals against a very good Cambria Heights team two days prior in their home gym, but underestimated Central Cambria’s game.

“I told the kids in the locker room I’ve been part of a lot of good teams, a lot of not so good teams,” coach Mike Kraft said. “It’s always a lot harder to lose by two than it is to lose by 10 because those errors become so magnified. That one pass that you shanked, that one ball you didn’t get over the net, it hurts when you go to bed at night.”

In the first set, the Lady Eagles started out with a bang and kept the game close for the first 10 points. The girls were passing well and Central Cambria’s defense couldn’t keep up. The momentum then shifted towards the middle of the set due to a very good server on Central Cambria’s team that went back and had a very long run against the Lady Eagles. This long run gave Central Cambria hope and they took off with it and won the first set 25-16.

In the second set, the Lady Eagles weren’t passing accurately and couldn’t find the court when swinging. Central Cambria ran a fast offense and the Lady Eagles couldn’t keep up in defense. Thanks to a service run by junior Makenna Bauer, the Lady Eagles slowly came back, but fell short giving the second set to Central Cambria with a score of the second set was 20-25.

The third set was different than the first two and the Lady Eagles came out with a fire. The Lady Eagles kept the game close, but at the end of the day Central Cambria’s height and big offense won the game for them with a score of 27-25.

The Lady Eagles finish out the season 14-5 making progam history by making the semifinals in the District 6 AA playoffs.

Stats:
Makenna Bauer – 12 kills, 1 ace, 9 service points, 5 digs
Miranda Goodman – 5 service points, 1 ace
Brianna Foy – 6 kills, 1 service point, 10 digs
Courtney Williams – 7 kills, 1 block
Mattie Cherry – 3 kills, 4 service points, 5 digs
Ebonee Rice – 8 digs, 1 service point
Reagan Irons – 7 digs