[Baltimore Sun] No. 3 Glenelg volleyball drops opening set, rallies to beat No. 9 Centennial, 3-1
Read Time:4 Minute, 50 Second
Third-ranked Glenelg volleyball found its backs against the wall multiple times on the road Tuesday against No. 9 Centennial. However, their confidence never wavered thanks to positivity and high energy.
Senior libero Olivia McDonough leaned on those concepts in a critical situation. McDonough stepped to the service line, her team down five late in the third set of a tied match. By the time she was done, the Gladiators’ nine-point run put them ahead by four.
The Gladiators closed out a tightly contested third set, 27-25, and rode that momentum through the fourth as they closed out a come-from-behind 3-1 victory, 23-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-18.
“I just think to myself that I want to win and want to make my teammates happy,” McDonough said. “So, I just take a deep breath and think, ‘Just get the ball over, stay aggressive and just focus on myself. Nothing else matters, except this serve right here. Just make sure it goes over and it’s aggressive.’”
After losing to the Eagles in each of the past two regular seasons, Glenelg (7-0) entered Tuesday’s match hungry. However, the young Eagles also proved ready for the marquee matchup. Centennial senior setter Joy Chen spearheaded the charge with several aces and two serving runs that pushed the Eagles to a first set victory.
In the three-minute break between sets, first-year Gladiators coach Nicholas Sharp’s message was simple: “Relax, don’t force it and play your game.” The Gladiators showed their poise in the second, pulling away late. Glenelg took advantage of several Centennial attacking answers, evening the match at one set a piece.
The third was a back-and-forth battle. Every time one side seemed ready to pull away, the other seemingly responded. Glenelg roared back to have four set points. Yet, Centennial (4-3) rallied to even the score at 24. After Centennial fended off a fifth set point, the Gladiators leaned on some of their most experienced players, including McDonough and fellow senior right side hitter Avery Hubbard.
“Definitely having that experience of being in these tough situations lets us have a handle on the situation,” Hubbard said. “We know that we can win these games. It’s just a matter of keeping everybody calm, keeping ourselves calm, because from past experience, we know that’s the key. You can’t get frantic in those tough situations. You just have to stay calm and keep playing your game.”
Centennial struggled to answer after losing the third. The mistakes that plagued the Eagles in the second set returned and put them in an 11-2 hole. That margin proved too tough to overcome as the Gladiators moved closer to the victory. Centennial fended off four-match points, but the deficit was too substantial as the Gladiators closed out the win to remain undefeated.
“The grit that they showed, I really thought that was good,” Centennial coach Mike Bossom said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought Glenelg did a lot of good things and they made a play here or there that we didn’t. I think we made a little too many errors. We weren’t super consistent when we needed to be, but overall, even with those errors, they just never gave up.”
Class 3A state semifinalists last season, the Gladiators have built on that success with a mix of faces new and old. That all starts in what McDonough described as “aggressive practices” with intense drills. Those practices help instill a winning focus and mentality that shines through on game days. It’s a collective motivation for all six players on the floor and what helps them function as a cohesive unit.
They are all driven by what Hubbard described as “energy and passion for the game.” The Gladiators are hoping that laser focus gets them to their ultimate goal of a state title.
“The consistency, but no doubt it’s the mental fortitude and mental toughness,” Sharp said of what’s impressed him about this group. “It’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to get down on yourself and other teammates, but they’re staying together and staying strong.”
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0