By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
DUKE CENTER, PA — Despite some late-set struggles, including a comeback in the third, the Otto-Eldred volleyball team burst into the playoffs with a hard-fought sweep of Johnsonburg.
Over the past handful of years, the Lady Terrors have been a common face in the District 9 Class A postseason. Churning out playoff berths, as well as an All-Star or two, the experience O-E had amassed helped them focus on the fine-tunings rather than the preparing for the bright lights.
“Honestly, we worked a lot on serve-receive and I told them they had to get ready mentally,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Amber App. “I guess they listened because they showed up mentally tonight.”
In the opening set, the Lady Terrors started their playoff campaign with a push, scoring at will as they continuously fed their notorious powerhouse slammer Rayel Hakes. Their opening stretch contained five unanswered points and placed them atop an 8-3 lead, however, after calling a timeout to stop the snowball, the Ramettes responded.
Starting with back-to-back blocks, Jburg began weathering the storm. Finding ways to handle and return the high velocity spikes that were sent over the net, the Ramettes slowly turned the tide with four unanswered points of their own. Whereas O-E had previously built their lead with quick kills, the game slowed into long rallies which built pressure as well as anticipation. Unfortunately for Jburg though, it would only last so long.
Continuously wearing down the defense, the Lady Terrors broke loose once again, firing off on a 14-3 run that saw eight unreciprocated points. Despite a short-lived revival from their opponents, O-E tacked on the first win of the night at 25-15.
O-E carried that same home town heat into the second, where they opened with another barrage of kills. Finding early plays from Hakes, Baylee Francis and Ayla Van Scoter, the Lady Terrors quickly amassed a 9-2 advantage.
“(Our runs) started with being able to get the ball back over the net first of all,” said App. “Then it was about setting to the middle, to Rayel. Go to Rayel. Everyone else can hit just as well but (Hakes) really gets the momentum going. It keeps the rhythm going.”
Firing on all cylinders, O-E commanded their court to a 19-9 lead. But once again, Jburg found some life late. Returning to their fluid, return-everything-and-anything web of defense, the Ramettes chipped away at the massive deficit ahead of them, ultimately bridging the gap to just two at 23-21.
Pressed against a wall, the Lady Terrors closed out the night with two quick kills, escaping with a 2-0 set lead.
All the traction the Ramettes had found came to a head in the third. After initially going down 4-1, Jburg began finding an early spark. Scoring on their own slams, as well as capitalizing on O-E miscues, they earned the first tie of the night at 5-5, taking the first lead of the night thereafter at 8-7.
Feeling the gut punch, the Lady Terrors appeared out of sync. Missing rotations, miscommunications and inaccurate shots over the net, O-E failed to stop the skid as they allowed Jburg to pull away on a 7-1 scoring run, taking a 13-8 lead.
Taking a timeout of their own, O-E’s scrappiness led the way back. Diving for returns, fighting the attrition of long sets and needing to work by committee, the Lady Terrors slowly began turning the tide. Their effort cut the gap to just two at 15-13. Leaning on pure hustle, an ace from Emma Button ended the game of catch up to knot the set at 17-17 and, seeing the game back to even, O-E roared back in front.
Their 2-0 run that tied the set eventually rolled into a 7-1 stretch, putting the Lady Terrors up 23-18. Although they surrendered two more points, O-E carried the torch to the finish line, with Lexi Prince scoring the final, night-sealing kill.
“I just think (we) really started to lock in. We didn’t want to go into another set,” said App. “We wanted to end it and show everyone we could do it in three and they did. They rallied together and no more balls hit the floor and we came back and won it.”
Hakes finished the night with 17 kills and 13 digs while also viciously defending the net with 10 blocks. Jahden Smith came away with 20 digs while Francis had 11 digs and 12 kills. Emma Button ran the offense for the Lady Terrors with 32 assists, also recording nine digs.
Reaching the District 9 quarterfinals for the third straight year, O-E has their hands full. Pushing past Jburg, they now see the top-seeded Elk County Catholic Crusaders, the Class A champions from 2023.
“We just have to focus, not just in the first two sets, but in every game we play,” said App. “ECC is a really good team so we have to get out there and do our thing.”
