Bald Eagle advances to the girls’ volleyball state championship

Bald Eagle Area advanced to the PIAA 2A girls’ volleyball state championship game with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16 win over defending state champion Freeport Tuesday at Clarion Area High School.

The victory advances BEA to the state championship game Saturday against Holy Redeemer at Cumberland Valley High School at 1 p.m. Holy Redeemer defeated Delone Catholic, 23-25, 25-13, 25-23, 18-25, 15-10.

BEA had a season-high 58 kills, led by Grace Hugar’s 16, and 13 each by Lacee Barnhart and Taylor Kilmer.

“With us spreading things out and running that quicker tempo in the middle, I felt like it caused a lot of seams and gaps and it really put a lot of pressure on them defensively,” said Bald Eagle coach Larry Campbell. “But give them credit, they battled their rear-ends off. That was a good win.

“We play well when we’re having fun and we’re loose and we’re free,” Campbell said. “That’s one of the things we harped on: just play and have fun. Look around, live in the moment, play and have fun.... When we do that, with the talent we have, and the mental toughness those kids have, we’re a pretty tough out.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 8:28 PM.