Bald Eagle Area girls’ volleyball sweeps Westmont Hilltop to reach District 6 Class 2A championship

Between every point Bald Eagle Area won Thursday night, the Lady Eagles fed off Madison Rockey’s relentless energy as they have all season.

Rockey led the team’s celebrations with a smile, fired fist pumps and offered constant encouragement for her teammates throughout top-seeded BEA’s 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-18) win over fourth-seeded Westmont Hilltop in the District 6 Class 2A semifinals. The Lady Eagles seized control from the start and rolled to the sweep to clinch a spot in the district championship game and the PIAA playoffs.

And Rockey played a large part in the dominant performance with her intensity and leadership.

“I think it’s important to make sure the whole team’s up, no one gets down, so if we get one point it can be a huge difference in the end,” Rockey said. “I think that every point that we score is really important and just to get super-excited about everything is a good thing.”

The Lady Eagles (18-0) will take on West Shamokin in the District 6 championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Altoona. They showed why they’re the top seed and still unbeaten Thursday night, putting together big runs to put away the Lady Hilltoppers in each set. Rockey paced the team with 39 assists and tied for the team-lead with two blocks. Grace Hugar finished with 15 kills, Jordan Anderson added 10 kills and Alyson Onder recorded 17 digs for BEA.

“We’re all confident,” Hugar said. “We all have the same goal, which is to go to states and win. We all just worked towards that goal together.”

The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set and never allowed Westmont Hilltop to threaten. In the second set, BEA fell behind 13-10 when coach Larry Campbell took a timeout.

“We weren’t having any fun,” Campbell said. “One of the things that I strive (for) is that we come in there and this is fun. I tell ‘em if you’re not having fun in the gym, get out. We talked about — we had to clean up a few things technically — but we just weren’t having fun.”

Rockey has ensured that hasn’t happened often for the Lady Eagles this season. She thought about how she could help the team this year and soon found herself developing into a vocal and animated leader. Last year, she said she was a “quiet kid” on the court, but she’s embraced her role this season.

“This year, I don’t really know what happened,” Rockey said. “I just became a whole new person I guess.”

Her coach offered high praise after Thursday’s victory.

“Madison Rockey is the best leader I’ve had in my gym,” Campbell said. “She’s only a sophomore. Everyone listens to her. … The kid’s the energizer kid, she’s dynamic and she leads by example and she leads with her words, and the kids follow.”

The Lady Eagles played with focus and energy with Rockey leading the way as they easily clinched their spot in the title game. Rockey was in seventh grade, still learning about the sport, when she watched BEA capture its last district title. She knew that day that she wanted to be part of a championship team for the Lady Eagles.

“I’ve dreamed about this forever and now it’s happening,” Rockey said.

Rockey and her teammates have been working toward capturing the gold medal, too. And the unbeaten Lady Eagles are playing with confidence heading into Saturday’s title game.

“They all get along. They all work together,” Campbell said. “It’s something that you kind of feel with teams. We’ve had successful teams (the) last two years, we’ve been like 15-1 and 14-2 and this year the record’s nearly the same, but the feel is just so much different.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Bald Eagle Area girls’ volleyball sweeps Westmont Hilltop to reach District 6 Class 2A championship."