Broadneck and Wootten Advance to Maryland State Championship

I was at Paint Branch high school Tuesday night to watch Broadneck defeat Perry Hall and Wootten send Howard down to their first defeat. Surprisingly, all of them were sweeps, though Howard getting swept stood out as the major shocker.   Class 4   Broadneck easily swept over Perry Hall winning in three 25-14, 25-11 and 25-13. This was my first time watching Broadneck play. Their two outsides [player_tooltip player_id='721753' first='Kennedy' last='Smith'] and [player_tooltip player_id='721759' first='Anna' last='Graves'] bring the power and athleticism to put the ball away. Kennedy has the more powerful swing but Anna offers skills to allow her to play six rotations. Kennedy lists at 6'0" and easily attacked balls over the block.    Barrett won a top performer award in our August Prep Dig Expo. Now she is one win away from winning a state championship. What would be left after that? Perhaps a national championship setting for Metro.   She runs a 6/2 for Broadneck, sharing the setting duties with [player_tooltip player_id='721762' first='Sydney' last='Lawrence']. She also sets a 6/2 for Metro. The Bruins have not been to a state championship in five years. The last time they won was in 2009 when they took their third straight championship.   Barrett hopes to bring that history back to the Bruins. As a sophomore she can make that three year run starting tomorrow.    [player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='721762' first='Sydney' last='Lawrence'] share the setting responsibilities. At 5'9" Sydney is an inch taller than Barrett and stays in the front row. Both do a good job distributing the ball. At times their sets seemed a bit tight. Against Perry Hall the pins were still able to hit around or off the block. This will prove more difficult against the taller Richard Montgomery.   While they have four players on their roster listed at 6'0" or over only two played in this match. The 6'1" Addison Sladky plays middle. She ran some good quick tempo sets in the middle and also hit some balls from the right side. The other middle Addison Britton is smaller at 5'9". She hit her position well. Perry Hall played most of the match out of system so there was very little blocking responsibility for Broadneck. One thing I am certain of is I don't think there is a team in the country that starts two middles named Addison.   Libero Chloe Richie did not get much of a chance to show off any digging skills. Most of the balls Perry Hall hit over the net were free balls. Against Richard Montgomery they will get more of a chance to show off their skills.   In the second Class 4 match Ricard Montgomery held off Churchill in five. The Rockets won the first two 25-18, 25-20. Churchill came right back and grabbed the third and fourth sets 25-19, 25-18. The Rockets prevented the reverse sweep by beating them in the fifth set 15-12. This was the third time the two have faced each other and all the matches have been won by Richard Montgomery.   Frosh [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] led the team in kills with 13. Her older and smaller sister [player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell'] collected eight blocks, four of them solo. [player_tooltip player_id='309030' first='Corinne' last='Howard'], a Howard Bison commit, showed her prowess at the net with 13 blocks, eight of them solo. [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic'] collected a triple double with 10 kills, 20 digs and 16 assists. She also served four aces, but more importantly scored 18 points with her serve.   Championship match - Richard Montgomery vs. Broadneck   Class 3    Taryn sets a 5/1 for Wootten. They earned a spot in the finals by defeating the previously undefeated Howard. It has been since 1989 when they last won a state championship. That was the last year of a seven year run for Wootten. They were also playing in class 4A.   Taryn runs a 5/1 well. She moves quick on the court and has good hands. Her sets also include all areas of the court. Against Howard she was setting bic sets to [player_tooltip player_id='438097' first='Haile' last='Ma'] and slides to middle Kirsten Sinkler.   Last year Taryn earned a first team placement on the All Mongomery County team. She also won a spot with Metro as one of their setters.    Howard came into this match undefeated. Wootten lost three but they were all against quality opponents (Georgetown Day, Richard Montgomery and Churchill). Georgetown Day won the DC state championship. Both Richard Montgomery and Churchill played each other in the Class 6 semi-finals.   Surprisingly, the only competitive set was the first, otherwise Wootten dominated. For the most part Howard was ahead in the first set. Late in the game a [player_tooltip player_id='325600' first='Taryn' last='Su'] ace serve gave Wootten a 20-18 lead. Howard was able to regain the lead 23-22 on a kill from left side [player_tooltip player_id='702631' first='McKenna' last='Brown']. A serve into the net gave the ball back to the Patriots. They could not capitalize as a double contact call was made against their middle Kirsten Sinkler. Down 24-23 [player_tooltip player_id='438097' first='Haile' last='Ma'] buried a ball down the line. Howard fans were adamant that the ball was out and the set over. The line judge disagreed extending the game while the serve returned to Wootten. A [player_tooltip player_id='438097' first='Haile' last='Ma'] ace and a kill by Naimi Cho-Khaliq ended the first set 26-24.   Howard struggled with passing all match. As evidence by the 52 sets to the outside with only 13 to the middles. It made for a tough night for setter [player_tooltip player_id='698761' first='Imagine' last='Peltier']. She spent most of her night scrambling behind the three meter line chasing errant passes. As a result Howard hit only .172 as a team. Three consecutive hitting errors put the Lions behind 8-13. A rare opportunity to make a quick kill in the middle was buried by [player_tooltip player_id='506629' first='Dylann' last='Loggins']. That seemed to give the Lions some momentum. [player_tooltip player_id='702631' first='McKenna' last='Brown'] followed with a kill and a [player_tooltip player_id='374421' first='Miranda' last='Ball'] ace closed the score to 13-17.   After a time out a [player_tooltip player_id='325604' first='Sara' last='Foster'] kill returned serve to Wootten. With the score 20-15 [player_tooltip player_id='438097' first='Haile' last='Ma'] took over with two kills and then finished off the set with two aces. It was the first time this season Howard had lost two sets.   Unfortunately, now down two sets to zero there was no comeback juice on the sidelines for the Lions. Passing continued to break down and they got behind early in the third set. A [player_tooltip player_id='325604' first='Sara' last='Foster'] kill gave the Patriots a 2-1 lead. Howard failed to catch a lead after that. A [player_tooltip player_id='325600' first='Taryn' last='Su'] setter dump extended the lead to 9-5. Howard showed some life after two [player_tooltip player_id='181305' first='Riley' last='Poholsky'] aces and a [player_tooltip player_id='702631' first='McKenna' last='Brown'] kill pulled them to within one again 12-13.   A Lion hitting error gave the Patriots the serve back. Another hitting error followed and it was back to back aces by Naimi Cho-Khaliq that elevated the lead to five at 17-12. [player_tooltip player_id='438097' first='Haile' last='Ma'] also took over towards the end with three kills and an ace. Down 24-16 Howard crawled back with two kills from [player_tooltip player_id='720806' first='Jackie' last='Klugh'] and a timing mix-up between [player_tooltip player_id='325600' first='Taryn' last='Su'] and middle Kirsten Sinkler. Kirsten made up for the error crushing the next set from Taryn off the block from the right side for the 25-19 win and an advance to the finals of the state championship.   Both teams have excellent setters in [player_tooltip player_id='325600' first='Taryn' last='Su'] for Wootten and [player_tooltip player_id='698761' first='Imagine' last='Peltier'] for Howard. Taryn received the passing and could operate her offense. Imagine found herself making the majority of her sets from beyond the three meter line.   In the other class 3 match another undefeated team fell as North Hagerstown swept Northern. Northern failed to reach 20 points in the match.   Championship match - North Hagerstown and Wootten, shockingly just like I predicted at the start of the season.   Class 2   Class 2 saw Centennial get an opportunity to defend their championship with a sweep over Eastern Tech. Williamsport also advanced with a 4 set win over Calvert. No details available about those matches.   Championship match - Centennial and Williamsport.   Class 1    We break our focus on setters to take a look at a talented middle in [player_tooltip player_id='436117' first='Sidney' last='Turner']. She first came to our attention more than a year ago when she played for Liberty at the Shamrock festival. They took third place with their only loss coming against a talented [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] team that won the tournament. Sidney played an impressive middle to earn a spot in our rankings.   Now she has gotten Boonsboro to a state championship. They have not won one since 1984. They did reach the finals in 2007 but lost to South Carroll. Ironic that Boonsboro eliminated South Carroll in a regional, beating them in five. For South Carroll it was their only loss of the season.    Boonsboro advanced to the championship with a sweep over North Dorchester. Clear Spring did the same against Paterson Mill.   Championship Match - Boonsboro vs Clear Spring   Summary of Preseason Predictions Look Good for Maryland   Because I did not feel confident in picking a class two champion in my preseason picks I am potentially 3 for 3 since all the high schools I predicted would win the state championships, Richard Montgomery, North Hagerstown and Boonsboro have advanced to the finals. Interesting that for Class 4 I picked Churchill as the other possible winner but they lost to Richard Montgomery in the semifinals. For Class 3 I picked Wootten as an alternative champion. They will play North Hagerstown in the finals.   Taking a look at Class 2 I did not think Centennial would repeat as state champion but I could not find another high school that stood out. For Class 1 I picked Boonsboro and my watch out pick was Smithsburg. Unfortunately, Smithsburg got eliminated by Boonsboro early in the Regionals, losing in five.   So I'm feeling good about my Maryland high school champion preseason picks. The year 2024 could see a repeat in all the classes of the champions from last year.   Of course, once I get that confidence that I am an expert in Maryland volleyball, reality will strike and I will fail to make any correct future predictions. To see my preview of the high school season see below.   <a href="https://prepdig.com/2024/07/reviewing-the-maryland-state-champions/">Reviewing the Maryland State Champions | Prep Dig</a>

I was at Paint Branch high school Tuesday night to watch Broadneck defeat Perry Hall and Wootten send Howard down to their first defeat. Surprisingly, all of them were sweeps, though Howard getting swept stood out as the major shocker.