September 24, 2008|By Mike Frainie | Mike Frainie,Special to The Baltimore Sun
Usually, a St. Paul's School for Girls volleyball game is the Bailey Webster show. Webster showed up as usual, but so did the supporting cast, and the host Gators needed every ounce of their effort to defeat Mount de Sales, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12, in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference showdown.
In addition to Webster, one of the country's most highly recruited volleyball players, the third-ranked Gators (6-0) got big games from libero Liz Vlk (16 digs), setter Hailey Fitzgerald (52 assists) and outside hitter Joanna Durham (17 kills, eight digs) in the win.
"This is awesome," said Webster (34 kills). "My adrenaline is still flowing. We wanted this so bad, and we felt we had nothing to lose. We played great as a team today, and that was the difference."
The Gators won two of the first three games before slipping a little in the fourth. The No. 2 Sailors (4-1) used the net play of 5-foot-10 Kasey Mercier (21 kills) and 5-9 Katy Buck (18 kills) to get back into the match, sweating out a 25-23 win to take the fourth game and regain the momentum.
The last game was tied at 12 before the Gators closed out the match, scoring the last three points on Samantha Wajer's block, Webster's kill and an attempted kill by Mercier that sailed wide.
"We were playing well as a team in the last game," Vlk said. "Bailey was getting her kills, Hailey was getting her sets, and everything was clicking."
Girls soccer
No. 2 River Hill 1, No. 7 Wilde Lake 0:: One awkward bounce in the first half and organized play in the back went a long way for River Hill at Howard County rival Wilde Lake.
Kathryn Rodgers converted a penalty kick in the 19th minute - awarded after an unintentional hand ball inside the penalty area by a defender - and a cohesive effort on defense took care of the rest as the Hawks (6-0, 5-0 in the county) came away with a 1-0 win over the Wildecats (4-2, 4-1).
The Hawks have allowed just one goal in their undefeated start, with defenders Becky Perrault, Amy Song, Stephanie Norman and Alex Vega back from last year in front of goalkeeper Carylynne Hudson.
Perrault said: "It's a lot of hard work. We have to make sure we talk to each other and communicate. As long as the forwards and the midfield play with us, we'll stop the other team from coming forward and have an open player at midfield or forward to pass it up to them. We can't let them score. That's all we have to do, and that's our goal."
After the Wildecats controlled play for the first 10 minutes, the Hawks settled in and took advantage of the game's first scoring opportunity midway through the first half. A long throw from Song inside the penalty area was cleared weakly by the Wildecats. The ball was sent back into the box, where the hand ball occurred, drawing the penalty shot. Rodgers went to the right side, scoring her fourth goal of the season. GLENN GRAHAM
No. 1 McDonogh 1, No. 5 Archbishop Spalding 1, 2OT:: Senior midfielder Gigi Mangione opened the scoring in the game's 10th minute for the Eagles (7-0-1) and the host Cavaliers (6-1-2) answered on a goal from Maggie Morrison with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Field hockey
Glenelg 1, No. 12 Atholton 0, OT: : When Lauriann Parker's long pass came to her near the far post, Julie Corona thought she could score with a quick tap of her stick. But it took a second effort, much like the one her Gladiators team needed to upset the previously unbeaten Raiders (6-1, 4-1 in Howard County) in overtime.
Corona's goal, on a second quick shot after the first barely reached the goal line behind keeper Maddie Bottomley, gave the visiting Gladiators (5-2, 5-0) a 1-0 victory with 2:28 left in the 10-minute seven-on-seven overtime period.
"That was a close one," said Corona, a senior forward. "I jabbed it first and it didn't totally go in, so then I had to get my full stick and push it in there."
In their fourth overtime game this fall, the Gladiators got a strong eight-save performance from goalie Courtney Knill, including a terrific diving stop late in the first half.
KATHERINE DUNN
