Bald Eagle and State College advance in girls volleyball state playoffs

Bald Eagle Area girls’ volleyball advanced to the PIAA state quarterfinals Saturday with a first-round win over Serra Catholic Tuesday, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, and 25-15.

The Eagles had a huge night from both middles, combining to have 20 kills and 0 errors with a .488 hitting percentage.

Taylor Kilmer’s 13 kills and Katelyn Smitchko’s 7 kills led the way. Grace Hugar had 12 kills, while Elita Brown had 8, and Lacee Barnhart chipped in with 6.

Coach Larry Campbell was relieved his team bounced back after the shaky second set. “We came out and started hitting the balls to target,” Campbell said.

Madison Rockey dished out 46 assists to go with her 2 blocks and 3 kills. Lexi Skripek led the way defensively with 32 digs. Brynne Bisel’s added 3 aces.

State College advances

The Lady Lions jumped out early and dominated the first set, though the Highlanders kept things tight the rest of the match.

Jess Irwin led the way with 14 kills, followed by Leah Henderson and Kacy Sekunda each with 8 and Kate Lachendro with 7.

Henderson collected a team-high 18 assists, while Sekunda added 17. Lachendro had 10 digs, and Katie Finlan and Erin Lutz each had 9. Lutz also had 3 aces.

This story was originally published November 7, 2018 at 1:04 AM.