The clock finally struck midnight for No. 10 Reservoir.
After pulling out heart-stopping wins over Howard County rivals Glenelg and Atholton to advance to last night's Class 2A state volleyball semifinal, the upstart Gators took top-ranked Liberty to the brink in each of the first two games.
In the end, however, the Lions' defense and athleticism prevailed as the defending state champions gained the final with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-21 win at CCBC-Essex.
"We could not get in sync tonight," said Liberty coach Dave Trumbo. "We made a ton of errors. Some of it was them, I think, and some of it was us. I thought our defense was just as good as theirs, except they didn't hit the ball quite as hard."
All-Metro hitters Meghan McConville and Stacey Krebs each had 15 kills for Liberty (18-0), which will go for its second straight 2A crown Saturday at noon at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum against Rising Sun, which beat Hereford in the other semifinal.
The Lions now have won 37 straight matches. They have lost only a single game all season. Reservoir (13-6), however, twice came agonizingly close to changing that figure.
In the first game, the Gators, led by Lauren Miller (eight kills) and Jamie Thomas (six), were ahead 19-17 before giving up six straight points. Taking advantage of Liberty errors, Reservoir was able to cut the lead to one before Krebs' kill gave the Lions the game.
The second game was even tighter, with the Lions blowing a 23-17 lead.
Reservoir then withstood two game points before Jess Chiaramonte scored the game-winner.
The downfall for the Gators, who often wore down opponents with standout serving and defense, came on offense.
"Tonight, we served this team very well and our defense was incredible, but for some reason we could not hit a ball," said Reservoir coach Toby Gearhart. "We kept giving it right to them, and they're too good to not make them work hard on defense."
Liberty took control of the third game, scoring eight of 10 points for a 22-16 lead before Krebs closed out the match with a kill down the line.
"We knew that they would be a good team," said McConville. "I don't think we underestimated them. I think we just didn't get off to the best start that we could have. That was a lot tougher than any of our other matches."
Rising Sun 3, Hereford 0: Amy Krummel set the tone in the first game, serving 10 straight points with six aces to spark the Tigers to a 25-16, 25-7, 25-15 victory in a state Class 2A semifinal at CCBC-Essex.
The Bulls (15-4) continued to struggle with their passing, managing little power offense throughout the match. The Tigers (15-3) served 16 aces - nine of them in the first game.
"We have a strong offense. We just didn't get a chance to show it," said Bulls senior outside hitter Kim Wareheim, who led her team with six kills.
The Tigers, however, passed well and showed a balanced attack. Katie Miller had 10 kills and Amanda Coale nine. Setter Staci Krummel finished with 22 assists.
In the third game, the Bulls mounted a bit of a comeback, helped by strong serving from Jennifer Martin and a couple of Megan Applebaum kills. They rallied to within 16-11, but the Tigers quickly regained the momentum.
The Bulls, in their first appearance in the state tournament since 1999, were looking for their first title in 25 years. Instead, the Tigers will go after their first-ever state volleyball championship.
While the Tigers, from Cecil County, celebrated their win, the Bulls tried to focus on what they had accomplished by getting to the state semifinals.
"It's been amazing," said Wareheim. "Ever since my freshman year, I've wanted to get this far. Our team won regionals and that's an accomplishment in itself. Our team is so close and we worked really hard."
Elkton 3, Loch Raven 0: The Golden Elks had a height advantage over the Raiders, but it was their smallest player, 5-foot-2 Brittany Fleming, who sparked the Cecil County team to a 25-12, 25-15, 25-14 victory in last night's Class 1A semifinal.
Fleming, a senior outside hitter with a 26-inch vertical leap, had nine kills and made only one hitting error all night.
"She was a beast," said Loch Raven setter Jodie Fridinger. "She was very impressive, and she was big for their team."
But Fleming was just the start for an Elkton team that overwhelmed the Raiders (14-5) at the net. Noel Webster had eight kills and Brooke Lyon seven.
The victory earned the Elks (16-3) a berth in Saturday's 5 p.m. title match at the University of Maryland against two-time defending champion Williamsport, a 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23 winner over Poolesville in the other 1A semifinal.
