Volleyball team wins district match and moves to states

Archbishop Carroll’s varsity volleyball team will move on to state competition next week after winning three sets Tuesday against Philadelphia’s Northeast High School to capture the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 12 Championship.

In the first set, the Patriots started strong but would later struggle, trailing Northeast, 16-12. The Patriots took back momentum and closed in so that Northeast was up by only two with a score of 19-17. Carroll’s Charlotte Welsh scored four straight points, including an ace, and won the first set for the team with a score of 22-20.

The Patriots started off the second set strong with a 6-1 lead. That lead soon became 11-3 as Maryrita Swope scored three straight points, which led Northeast to call a second timeout. As the set progressed, Northeast changed the pace, coming back and cutting their deficit to three with a score of 13-10.  A steady back and forth favored Northeast as they closed in further on Carroll’s lead. The score was 21-20 Patriots. The evenly matched pace continued as Northeast was able to tie the game up to 24 apiece. The set had to be won by at least two points. Maggie Quinn helped Carroll win the set, 28-26.

Early in the third set, the teams exchanged points and tied at 8-8.  Midway, Carroll took a timeout, up only 1 point at 18-17. Following the timeout, Carroll gained the advantage. Strong spikes by Paige Gibbons finished off the sweep, and Carroll won the third set 25-19.