Volleyball

Many area volleyball fans thought Friday's match between Centennial and North Hagerstown would be a dream to watch. It turned out to be a nightmare for the No. 2 Eagles. North Hagerstown (18-1) outscored, played better defense and hustled more than Centennial (18-1) to win its second consecutive Class 3A title, 25-20, 25-22, 25-12, at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum tonight. Peyton Wallech led the Hubs with 21 kills, while Trisha Mockapetris led Centennial with 15 kills.

Top-ranked Arundel won a backyard brawl Thursday night by defeating a scrappy Eleanor Roosevelt volleyball team, 25-20, 25-15, 25-18, in the state Class 4A volleyball semifinals at Ritchie Coliseum. Now the Wildcats (19-0) will see whether they can knock out the neighborhood bully for the state championship. The bully comes in the form of Sherwood. The Warriors are winners of 56 straight matches and have ended Arundel's season the past two years — in the state semifinals in 2010 and the state championship last year.

The Baltimore City Girls Volleyball Showcase will be held Friday at 6 p.m. at Baltimore City Community College. The annual event, featuring the city's best high school players, will have Poly's Kendall Peace-Able and ACCE's Todd Henning coaching the Division I team and City's Rolynda Contee and FAST's Sara Jamaal coaching the Division II team. Admission is $5 for the event.

For Trisha Mockapetris, a trip back to the state championship was a must. On Wednesday night, Mockapetris and her Centennial teammates made sure that happened. The No. 2 Eagles played an aggressive but smart style to defeat La Plata of Charles County, 25-13, 25-14, 25-10, in the Class 3A state volleyball semifinals at Ritchie Coliseum. Centennial (18-0) will face defending Class 3A champion North Hagerstown in the title game Friday at 8 p.m. at Ritchie Coliseum. The Hubs defeated No. 4 Bel Air, 3-0, in the other semifinal.

Howard Community College Cross country The HCC men's and women's cross country programs competed at the NJCAA National Division III Championships, Nov. 7-11, in Delhi, N.Y. The men placed fifth overall, while the women finished in seventh place. Filagot Dinku earned All-American status by placing third overall with a time of 28:10. Andrew Parlette was named second team All-American with his seventh-place run in 28:39. HCC's top two runners were followed by Ed Richardson (51st in 30:58)

Loch Raven's visit to the Class 2A state semifinals didn't last long. Forty-six minutes after opening introductions, the Raiders had to fight back tears as they walked off the court. They were ushered out quickly by Williamsport, 25-4, 25-5, 25-7, yesterday at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum. "We were really overmatched," said second-year coach Matt Smith, whose program was making its second straight appearance after a four-year absence. "Williamsport was faster, taller.

Undefeated No. 2 Centennial (17-0) swept visiting Howard on Friday to win the Class 3A East regional girls volleyball championship, 25-21, 25-13, 25-17. Senior Trisha Mockapetris recorded her 200th kill of the season in the win, and sophomore Meghan Kelley also helped lead the offense. Mockapetris had 17 kills and nine digs, and Kelley added 15 kills and 12 digs. The Eagles will attempt to win their 15th state title, starting with the state semifinals at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum on Wednesday.

With each win, Bel Air's volleyball team reaches deeper into uncharted territory. Wednesday night, the No. 5 Bobcats took another step, defeating visiting Hereford, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19, in a Class 3A North semifinal. Tia Williams led Bel Air with 12 kills, and Celeste Roland added 11. The top-seeded Bobcats (18-0) will play host to Towson in the regional championship Friday night, something this group has never experienced. "We came out a little nervous, but we were OK once we settled down," said Williams, a senior.

Howard Community College Volleyball The HCC volleyball team continues to have one of the best seasons in program history. The Dragons captured their first Region XX/District G tournament championship after defeating Loraine Community College (Ohio) in five games on Oct. 28. The team will travel to Rochester, Minnesota to compete in the Division-III NJCAA Nationals, which run Nov. 7-11. It will be the first appearance at Nationals for the program. HCC won its conference with a perfect 11-0 mark, and finished the regular season with a 19-2 overall record.

Top-ranked Arundel kept falling behind No.6 Severna Park on Wednesday in the first Anne Arundel County girls volleyball championship. But the host Wildcats (15-0) managed to come back in every set except one to win, 3-1. Last year, Arundel beat Howard County's River Hill in the District V championship. The Falcons (12-3) led 19-17 in the first set before Arundel scored six straight points. The Wildcats came back after being down 17-7 in the third set and went on a 14-1 run to close out the fourth.